Antiques & Collectibles
HELP! Rare Tapestry - Unidentified
Old original tapestry of a woman of royalty Who is she?
Have you seen this woman in a painting? Can you help identify this woman or this tapestry?
The condition of this tapestry is poor but it is a one of a kind portrait of a woman who apparently has some degree of royalty. I have not been able to identify this woman but after my research, I believe this Tapestry is English from the late 1600's to the early 1700's. Her dress seems to be the style of that period and the coat of arms is a very early simple style. Its obvious by the design of her clothing that she was a woman of some importance or wealth, the Ermine trim on her dress and her placement on a pedestal denotes some degree of royalty. It appears to me that she is possibly the widow of a Knight. The colors are faded but standard or flag has blue and possibly red stripes, the jousting helmet, garter, coat of arms, the Lilly in her hand, the plant and flowers with 3 pedals and the ribbon with a motto, all hold clues to the origins of this rare tapestry. I think her hat may give important clues too. I am not an expert in heraldry so I am asking for help to identify this tapestry, this woman or anything else about it that can be identified. If you can offer any information that might help with this task, please let me know. It would be appreciated!
Description
The tapestry is 54 inches wide X 75 inches tall, I think its made of wool, it was woven with Gold which is pretty worn off but there are still a lot of these little gold threads remaining. There are several styles of stitching in the designs, (see close up photos). It has a lot of aging and is damaged in several spots including approximately 2 inches missing from the bottom.
I bought this tapestry about 25 years ago from an antique store that had it carelessly laid over some furniture. I could hear some threads pop when I moved it to see the design, it was being damaged just being in the store! I knew it was special the instant I saw it and I immediately curious about the woman in the design! I had to buy it and rescue this damsel in distress! It had been so mistreated and abused, its faded and has stains, it's tattered at the bottom edge,. I'm not a tapestry conservationist but I had to do something to prevent further damage. I hand sewed wool backing to the back at the top and the bottom to lessen the stress on the most vulnerable points. It has damage from being nailed up several times and evidence that it had even been used as a rug! It was so weak at the top and bottom that its own weight would damage it without some kind of support. I had no choice but to hand stitch backing to it and carefully worked small nails through the stitches to fasten it to a board so that it could be hung up and kept flat. I would do it differently now but at the time I had to do something. I never did identify her but now I have decided to try again and ask for help. If you have any ideas at all, even if its just a guess, please email me, I will research any clues you may have. Thanks, Brent
Click thumbs for larger images
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LARGER PHOTOS
Time Machine 13 - Antiques & Collectibles