Plymouth Congregational Church Tapestry

The Plymouth Congregational Church Tapestry. The Plymouth Congregational Church Tapestry.

The Plymouth Congregational Church tapestry (Minneapolis, USA) is a commemorative embroidery based on the four seasons. The tapestry was commissioned by Mary and Paul Carson (he was then minister of the Congregational Church) and designed by the British illustrator, Pauline Baynes. The embroidery was started in 1971 and took about forty years for the four panels to be finished.

Each panel is made from Irish linen embroidered with wool yarns (crewel embroidery). A total of 47 types of stitches were used and before each needler started they had to produce a sampler proving their mastery of each stitch. The end product is 7.6 m long and 4.9 m wide.

The embroidery consists of four panels:

  • Spring: Renewal of life
  • Summer: Summer of the First Amendment based on the American First Amendment (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof....”)
  • Autumn: Colonial era Thanksgiving feast
  • Winter: Christmas Tree

The embroidery was presented to the church on 15 July 2012.

See also the TRC Needles entries on the Bayeux tapestry; New World tapestry, Overlord embroidery and the Quaker tapestry.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 20 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:13
Published in Commemorative and commissioned textiles
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