Tapestry

Object Type
There was great variety in the late 17th century in the types of wall coverings available to wealthy customers, but tapestry-woven hangings such as this nearly always had pride of place in both private and state apartments, particularly in bedchambers. Sometimes their use was seasonal, for example at Ham House in Surrey, where tapestries covered the walls in winter and woven silk hangings were used in summer.

People
John Vanderbank's workshop, where this tapestry was woven, was the leading English tapestry manufactory in the late 17th century. Vanderbank was Yeoman Arras-maker to the Great Wardrobe, supplying the royal family from his premises in Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, London, from 1689 until his death in 1717.

Design & Designing
When tapestries such as this were described as 'hangings with India ffigures' the word 'India' included a variety of oriental styles not distinguished from each other at the time. Vanderbank's tapestries of this type include elements of Chinese, Indian and Turkish decoration, with European figures and motifs as well. One of the figures here, the Japanese Priest, comes from an illustration to John Ogilby's translation of Arnold Montanus's Atlas Japannensis, published in London in 1670. The nature of the design, with numerous small motifs apparently randomly juxtaposed, allowed for relatively easy customisation of the tapestries to exactly the dimensions required by the client.