HOW TAPESTRIES ARE MADE
 | Jacquard weaving |
Three different stages are involved in the weaving process. As the first stage, a designer creates the artwork ("cartoon") for a new tapestry from an original document or museum illustration. Once the finished artwork is approved, it is interpreted into a technical design called a "mise en carte". From this technical artwork a "Jacquard" is produced. This is a series of perforated cards, a system invented in 1804 by Joseph Jacquard (1752-1834) enabling intricate designs to be woven.
Then the weaving loom is set up. This process is known as "warping" and is a lengthy and delicate operation, involving the attachment of approximately 12,000 horizontal warp threads to the corresponding number of vertical loom-heddles. When the Jacquard card has been placed on the loom, the trial process may now begin. The warp yarns run from the back to the front of the loom, while the shuttles carry the weft yards in the shuttles to pass correctly through the warps, thereby creating the design. Once an acceptable trial result has been achieved, the weaving process can begin.
The weaving process requires much skill and attention to detail. A weaver has various tasks to fulfil in overseeing the operation of a loom. His skills include placing the correct weft spools in the shuttles and renewing them when necessary, and controlling the weaving tensions. The weft yards are carefully selected from a vast range of different shades, in order to achieve the desired tones in the tapestry.
| Silk-screening |
This method of reproducing the original tapestries enables very authentic replicas to be created, with a genuine patina or 'aged' appearance. Tapestries produced by this method are particularly effective in period properties and in situations where an ancient look is required. The woven fabric of which the tapestry is composed has an irregular texture which closely resembles the antique tapestry stitch. The design is then created by means of each colour being individually applied through silkscreens. Approximately 16 colours are used in this process, commencing with the lightest colours in the tapestry, gradually working through to the darker colours, thereby building up many subtle shading effects and colour-tone graduations. These tapestries are made by hand, involving a lengthy production time, and the results are undoubtedly the most authentic copies of the original tapestries as we know them today.
| Hand-weaving |
A small range of exquisite hand-woven tapestries is produced on hand-operated Jacquard looms in France. These ancient oak-framed looms are replicas of those built in 1757and enable skilled craftsmen to weave their creations entirely by hand without any mechanisation, except for the facility of a Jacquard. This is a series of perforated cards, enabling intricate designs to be woven. This hand technique ensures a characteristic softness and finesse resembling the works of ancient tapestry ateliers, such as Beauvais, Aubusson and Flanders.
The operation is entirely by hand, demanding great skill on the part of the Weaver, who uses a small shuttle containing weft yarn to achieve intricate detail, and with his left hand he uses a comb to compact his weaving. Hand-woven Jacquard tapestries are composed of approximately 80% wool, 15% cotton and 5% artificial silk which creates the 'highlights' in various parts of the tapestries, such as in the clothing and the flowers. This painstaking method enables more shades to be utilised in the weaving process than is possible with a mechanical loom. The final product has a unique lustre and beauty, and is the culmination of much patience, skill and attention to detail on the part of the craftsmen who continue this tradition.