The ‘carpet’ is now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum (acc. no. T.134-1928). It measures 4.9 x 1.8 m, but the tension of the embroidery stitches has pulled the canvas from a rectangular into a parallelogram. It has 43 cm wide borders, which used to hang down the edges of a table. It is worked in silk thread on a linen ground. The main stitch used is tent stitchwith about 62 stitches per square cm. About 23 different colours are used.
The main design is of a grape vine trellis, while the border shows a rural scene. This border is sometimes said to represent human progression, from a wild state to civilisation. However, it is feasible that it was simply celebrating country pursuits. The border includes hunting, lords and ladies, milkmaids, millers, a shepherd, a travelling pedlar with his packhorse, as well as a manor house, watermills and windmills. Such rural scenes were popular in furnishing decoration during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A professional embroiderer probably made the ‘carpet'. The absence of heraldry suggests it was made for the open market, rather than on commission.
Sources:
- LEVEY, Santina. M. and David KING (1993). The Victoria and Albert Museum's Textile Collection. Vol. 3: Embroidery in Britain from 1200 to 1750, London: Victoria and Albert Museum.
V&A online catalogue (retrieved 19 June 2016).
GVE