Tapestry thumbnail 1
Tapestry thumbnail 2
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Not currently on display at the V&A

Tapestry

1680s (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Tapestry woven in silk and wool on a woollen warp, 10 warp threads to the centimetre. It is divided into two panels by a column wreathed with ivy.

On the left is the November scene with a man and woman engaged in beating the flax stems which have already been steeped in water. The flax stems are arranged in semi-circles around them. Behind them is a tree which has lost most if its leaves and there are cottages and other trees in the background.

On the right is the December scene with a pig being killed. In the foreground a man is cutting a pig's throat and an old woman is catching the blood. In the background, a young man is scraping a dead pig and a woman is pouring liquid over it to help in the process. Behind them, a man and a boy are making a bonfire. Cottages, a tree and other peasants are in the background.

Top border with two swags of fruit and flowers, and in the centre is a medallion with the names of the two months. The side borders have two tiers of ornamental vases with heavy swags of fruit and flowers hanging from them. The bottom vase on the left has on its base the sign from the zodiac for Sagittarius and the one on the right has Capricorn, the signs of the two months in question.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Tapestry-woven in silk and wool
Brief description
Tapestry woven in silk and wool, made by Thomas Poyntz, England, 1680s
Physical description
Tapestry woven in silk and wool on a woollen warp, 10 warp threads to the centimetre. It is divided into two panels by a column wreathed with ivy.

On the left is the November scene with a man and woman engaged in beating the flax stems which have already been steeped in water. The flax stems are arranged in semi-circles around them. Behind them is a tree which has lost most if its leaves and there are cottages and other trees in the background.

On the right is the December scene with a pig being killed. In the foreground a man is cutting a pig's throat and an old woman is catching the blood. In the background, a young man is scraping a dead pig and a woman is pouring liquid over it to help in the process. Behind them, a man and a boy are making a bonfire. Cottages, a tree and other peasants are in the background.

Top border with two swags of fruit and flowers, and in the centre is a medallion with the names of the two months. The side borders have two tiers of ornamental vases with heavy swags of fruit and flowers hanging from them. The bottom vase on the left has on its base the sign from the zodiac for Sagittarius and the one on the right has Capricorn, the signs of the two months in question.
Dimensions
  • Weight: 37.5kg
  • Top edge width: 3945mm
  • Bottom edge width: 3925cm
  • Proper right length: 3314mm
  • Proper left length: 3275mm
Weight including roller
Credit line
Presented in memory of Mrs Letitia Willet Garrison, by her sister, Miss Lillie Bell Randell
Object history
Purchased by the donor at the sale of talestry from Houghton Hall, Christies, St James, 24 June 1902, lot 133. She paid £150.
Collection
Accession number
T.160-1931

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Record createdJuly 20, 2004
Record URL
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