Tapestry, woven in wool and linen, Upper Rhine (Strasbourg ?), about 1450; Labours of the Months, July to December

A long narrow tapestry or Rücklaken (dorsal), with green ground and a series of groups of stiffly shaped figures representing the field labours of six months of the year (from July to December), with the names of the months woven on scrolls over each scene in Gothic letters. The names of the months, particularly 'fuilmonet' (September), 'herbstmonet' (October) and 'volrot' (which means full circle / December), are Alsatian dialect and establish the origin of the tapestry.

In July ('howmonet'), peasants mow and gather the hay. The next group ('ougst' / August) represents a man and woman in wheatfield. In September ('fuilmonet'), a man is harrowing with a horse and another is sowing seed. In October ('herbstmonet'), people are cutting bunches of grapes, carrying them and making wine. In November ('vitermonet'), two men are slaughtering an ox; and in December ('volrot'), a man and a woman are shown feasting at a table, as a symbol of the peasants enjoying the fruits of their labours.

Between each group is a single fruit tree.

Tapestries of similar form were often used to decorate the walls above the wooden panelling of a room, but they also appeared on the edges of wooden baldachins over beds, hanging down as frieze decoration.

Purchased from Canon Franz Bock

Formerly in the possession of the German antiquary Freiherr Joseph Maria Christoph von Lassberg (1770-1855), of Meersburg on Bodensee (Lake Constance)

A successful harvest was crucial in the middle ages. Manuscripts and tapestries sometimes illustrated the monthly labours required to make it successful. In this example, only half of the tapestry survives, showing the months of July to December.

Scrolls have the names of the months inscribed in the dialect of Alsace, where the tapestry was made. July shows the cutting and gathering of hay; August, the corn being reaped; September, harrowing and sowing; October, cutting the grapes and making wine; November, slaughtering an ox. In December the peasants enjoy the fruits of their labours with a good meal.

This long, narrow tapestry shows the activities of ordinary folk, not the heroics or exclusive pursuits of the nobility who owned most of the tapestries. Plain and utilitarian rural costume is shown, not the fancy patterned materials or modish styles of the upper classes. The simple tools and equipment give us some idea of the labour-intensive work involved although the charming depiction gives a completely false impression of the lives of rural people.

6-1867