Devonshire Hunting Tapestries
The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries are a group of four magnificent "
The 6th Duke described using his 'spare' tapestry to insulate the Long Gallery at Hardwick Hall in the 1840s, a practice which saved these rare Gothic hangings from being discarded. The tapestries depict a Deer Hunt, Falconry, a Swan and Otter Hunt and a Boar and Bear Hunt. The hunt was a particularly powerful theme and would have been a familiar pastime to many of the high-born individuals and families who owned tapestries. Hunting was both a stylized sport and an important source of the only meats considered noble.
This detail is from the Boar and Bear Hunt Tapestry, made in the 1420s, and shows men carrying special
The dress of the participants is of the type worn at court, particularly that of Burgundy, which had control of the tapestry-weaving areas in the southern Netherlands. It is unlikely that any serious hunting took place in such restricting and exotic clothes.[2]
References
- ^ "The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-85177-365-7.
External links
- View the Tapestries
- "The sign of the dog: an examination of the Devonshire hunting tapestries", Ann Claxton, Journal of Medieval History, Volume 14, Issue 2, 1988