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Threads Through Time

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A Mother and Daughter Team in Love with French Antiques, Tapestry and Carton Restoring

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Not all decorative textiles are tapestries — and this is where the confusion often begins- Fun fact: The famous Bayeux Tapestry isn’t a tapestry at all! It’s an embroidered linen cloth. The image was stitched onto the fabric rather than woven into it, making it one of history’s most famous misnamed textiles.

Cross stitch is created by stitching coloured cotton threads onto an existing piece of fabric, one small X at a time, following a pattern.

A tapestry is something entirely different. It is not embroidered onto fabric — it is the fabric. On a tapestry loom, strong vertical warp threads are stretched tightly under tension. The weaver then passes coloured weft threads backwards and forwards by hand, gradually building both the cloth and the image at the same time.

Working from a full-size design, traditionally called a carton, highly skilled weavers recreated every figure, fold, flower and landscape in coloured thread.

As each section was completed, the finished tapestry was rolled and disappeared from view. The weavers continued working on the next section until, months later, the entire tapestry could finally be cut free from the loom

These great wall hangings were used to decorate large stone interiors, provide some insulation, tell stories and display immense wealth, taste and status.

Printed fabric is different again. The cloth is woven first, and the design is then applied to its surface using dyes, inks, carved blocks, engraved copper plates or, later, mechanical rollers.
#Tapestry #TextileHistory
#aubusson #Weaving
#HistoricTextiles by @threads_throughtime

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3 months ago

Hidden beneath every great tapestry lies a masterpiece that few people ever get to see…

These beautiful oil paintings on linen are not paintings made to hang on a wall. They are tapestry cartons – the full-size design for a chair back placed beneath the warp threads of the loom. As the weaver worked, they looked through the threads, carefully translating every brushstroke into woven silk and wool. In this case, it was woven to upholster the back of an elegant French chair.

What makes this even more fascinating is the material. Earlier tapestry cartons were often painted in oil or distemper on linen or canvas, while many later workshops from 1845 increasingly used gouache on paper. The fact that this example is painted on linen suggests it belongs to an older weaving tradition, possibly dating from the late 17th or early 18th century.

This fragile linen has been carefully conserved by mounting it onto a support, preserving the original painted surface for future generations as these working designs were never intended to be works of art in their own right. Yet today they offer us a rare glimpse into the hands, eyes and imagination of the artists and weavers and even the wool spinners and dyers. Let’s give credit to the whole team 🦋 #Tapestry
* #TapestryArt
* #TapestryWeaving
* #CartoonForTapestry
* #FrenchTapestry
* FrenchFurniture
* DecorativeArts
* TextileArt
* TextileHistory
* ArtHistory
* HistoricTextiles by @threads_throughtime

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3 months ago

Come and find us with our inspirations, vintage ribbons and fabrics cuttings- get in touch with your creatively crafty self @bedfordmakersmarket Sat 4 July Mill Street Bunyan meet Bedford 🌸10 til 4 taken in Bunyan Meeting Church by @threads_throughtime

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3 months ago

Who wants to help me with explore Robert Leeson’s 1817 passport 🤪All comments and clues welcomed. #1817 by @threads_throughtime

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This French pastoral tapestry appears closely connected to the 18th-century Aubusson tradition during what many historians consider its golden period (roughly 1740–1790), when government-supported artists and dyers from the Royal Gobelins workshops were sent into Aubusson to elevate the artistic and technical quality of production.

At the time, the River Creuse and surrounding wool industries made Aubusson an ideal centre for dyeing and weaving, while artists such as Dumons, Julliard and later Jean-Baptiste Huet helped shape the romantic Rococo pastoral aesthetic we now instantly recognise shepherdesses, cattle and village life, floral borders, classical ruins and gardens with soft dreamlike landscapes.The more I study this tapestry, the more I wonder whether the figures gathered in the centre are surrounding a garden pedestal or even a sundial rather than simply a tree stump.

A sundial in 18th-century garden feels strangely perfect for Threads Through Time. What are your thoughts ?

What I love most is that while these tapestries projected peace, beauty and pastoral harmony… Europe itself was moving through upheaval:
religious conflict,
migration of skilled weavers,
economic change,
political tension,
and the movement of artistic knowledge across borders. The threads survived anyway.

And centuries later, we’re still reading their stories.

#ThreadsThroughTime #Aubusson #JeanBaptisteHuet #Rococo #FrenchTapestry PastoralArt TextileHistory HistoricInteriors WovenHistory DecorativeArts AntiqueTapestry ArtHistory LouisXVI Gobelin TapestryRestoration by @threads_throughtime

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4 months ago

Today I’ve been diving into the writings of George Leland Hunter and his beautiful discussions on the great French weaving traditions of Aubusson tapestry.

Hunter writes about celebrated designers and artistic influences connected to the Aubusson workshops — names like Boucher, Huet, Dumons, Lille and Nancy — each reflecting different artistic schools, regions, weaving ateliers, or decorative styles that shaped the evolution of tapestry across Europe.

What I’m beginning to love is how tapestry is never “just decoration.”
It’s storytelling. Politics. Fashion. Nature. Mythology. Status. Emotion. Memory.

Every weaving centre had its own visual language:

🪡 Aubusson became known for its softer pastoral scenes, romantic landscapes, florals, chinoiserie, and flowing Rococo elegance.

🪡 Gothic tapestries often carried bold reds, symbolic storytelling, flattened perspective, and allegorical meaning.

🪡 Baroque works introduced dramatic light, shadow, movement, and theatrical grandeur.

And behind every tapestry were entire worlds of anonymous weavers, dyers, cartoon painters, merchants, and workshops — people whose hands literally carried stories through time.

The more I study these works, the more I realise that tapestries are like woven time machines.
Threads Through Time, quite literally 🧵

(Source inspiration: writings of George Leland Hunter, early 20th-century textile historian)

#ThreadsThroughTime #Aubusson #Tapestry #HistoricInteriors #TextileHistory FrenchTapestry WovenStories Rococo GothicArt BaroqueArt AntiqueTapestry InteriorHistory ArtHistory HistoricTextiles WeavingHistory by @threads_throughtime

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4 months ago

There’s something deeply humbling about holding a piece of paper that has survived revolutions, wars, generations… and human hands from over 230 years ago.

Today I found this extraordinary handwritten French Revolutionary document, complete with traces of its original wax seal still attached, whispering its story through fragility yet somehow enduring carrying the energy of a world in the middle of transformation.

What fascinates me most is not just the history, but the humanity hidden inside the handwriting. Someone sat and carefully wrote these words during the chaos of the French Revolution, likely in 1794, under the newly formed French Republic. The language itself reflects that dramatic shift in consciousness — old royal titles stripped away, citizens renamed, property inventoried, authority reorganised.

The document references the placing of official seals on a house and possessions belonging to a “former lieutenant of the admiralty,” with a citizen appointed to guard the sealed items “day and night.”

I can almost feel the tension beneath the ink:
fear, responsibility, political upheaval… and ordinary people trying to navigate extraordinary times. Even the dates are poetic — Floréal, Prairial, Messidor — the beautiful nature-based months of the French Revolutionary calendar, replacing the old religious system with one rooted in seasons and the land itself.

As someone fascinated by ancestral memory, storytelling and our battle of beliefs this sends my cells wobbling 🦋

Thoughts on Translation?

“We, commissioners delegated by the canton of the district … having observed the matter, have appointed for the guarding of the seals at the house of the former lieutenant of the admiralty, Citizen Honoré Galerne, who has sworn an oath to watch day and night over the preservation of the seals affixed upon the inventoried effects, under his responsibility.

Signed by us on the 4th day of Floréal, Year II of the Republic.”

#French Republic #1793 #ancestry #battles #frenchantiques by @threads_throughtime

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5 months ago

Tapestry painting ~ pattern of the past . What past patterns are still in your life … which ones serve who you are today? @intuitionlegacy . Notice if intuitively you know which to preserve and which to release to recycle to the earth 🦋#patternsofthepast #intuition #legacy #creative by @threads_throughtime

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2 years ago

Having fun with my kids making seasonal apple and blackberry crumble and felting cute guests.
#family #presentmoment #abundance #gratitude #intuition #seasonaleating #creativity #parenting by @threads_throughtime

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2 years ago

Step into a world of enchantment. 17th C Antique Belgium Tapestry transcends you to rooms of the past, but now longing to be in your space and become part of your story . 🌹Each thread weaves a tale of passion and beauty from the heart of France, crafted with skill that has transcended centuries. glance invites a flirtation with history and luxury. 🏰. #AntiqueFrenchTapestry #EleganceTimeless #HistoricCharm #LuxuryLiving #HomeDecorLovers #FrenchArtistry #TapestryTales #SeductionByArt #InteriorDesignMagic” by @threads_throughtime

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3 years ago

“Embracing the Wild Within 🌿✨

Dear Parents,

In the heart of every child beats the rhythm of nature’s untamed spirit. As guardians of these young souls, it’s a beautiful journey to witness their natural wildness — a vibrant testament to the uniqueness of nature itself.

Let’s celebrate this wildness, not with an intent to tame, but with a desire to nurture. It’s in their unfiltered laughter, their boundless curiosity, and their fearless exploration of the world around them that their true selves shine brightest.

Remember, every flower in the garden blooms in its own time and way. Similarly, each child grows and thrives on their unique path. By accepting and honoring this natural diversity, we cultivate a garden rich in color, life, and possibilities.

Encourage their dreams, support their adventures, and stand back as they leap towards their own discoveries. The wildness within them is not a storm to be calmed, but a wind that propels them forward into a future where they can truly be themselves.

Here’s to the wild ones, the dreamers, the adventurers. May we provide them the space to grow, the strength to stand tall, and the freedom to roam. For in their wildness lies the magic of our future.

#EmbraceTheWild #ParentingJourney #NatureInspired #LetThemBeLittle #WildAndFreeChildren” by @threads_throughtime

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3 years ago

Hydrangea drying time again as we cosy down together 🌸 by @threads_throughtime

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3 years ago