Not currently on display at the V&A

March Diver

Tapestry
1985 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

William Jefferies trained at Edinburgh College of Art and the Royal College of Art, London. From 1976-77 he worked at the Edinburgh Tapestry Company, also known at Dovecot Studios. The athletic male body, a regular and central element of his imagery, is the subject of March Diver and a particularly good example of the most typical aspects of his work. Pronounced variations in texture through the use of widely assorted yarns and exotic and experimental weaving techniques are his other major trade mark and March Diver is a veritable patchwork of small areas of these variations. The combination of so many variants in yarn and weave usually leads to distortions in the finished piece and it is a measure of Williams Jefferies' skill and commitment to tapestry that such problems have been avoided. The technical skills which assemble these differently textured building blocks into a sound structure is complemented by Jefferies' ability to compose a coherent image from them.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMarch Diver (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Woven tapestry wool and hemp
Brief description
Wool and hemp woven tapestry 'March Diver', designed by William Jefferies, Great Britain, 1985
Physical description
Wool and hemp woven tapestry depicting an athletic male diving.
Dimensions
  • Height: 70.5cm
  • Width: 115.5cm
Production typeUnique
Object history
Purchased. Registered File number 1991/1953.
Production
Reason For Production: Retail
Subjects depicted
Summary
William Jefferies trained at Edinburgh College of Art and the Royal College of Art, London. From 1976-77 he worked at the Edinburgh Tapestry Company, also known at Dovecot Studios. The athletic male body, a regular and central element of his imagery, is the subject of March Diver and a particularly good example of the most typical aspects of his work. Pronounced variations in texture through the use of widely assorted yarns and exotic and experimental weaving techniques are his other major trade mark and March Diver is a veritable patchwork of small areas of these variations. The combination of so many variants in yarn and weave usually leads to distortions in the finished piece and it is a measure of Williams Jefferies' skill and commitment to tapestry that such problems have been avoided. The technical skills which assemble these differently textured building blocks into a sound structure is complemented by Jefferies' ability to compose a coherent image from them.
Collection
Accession number
T.161-1991

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdMarch 13, 2006
Record URL
Download as: JSON