Tapestry
Tapestry is a weft-faced weave in which coloured weft threads are worked back and forth only within their own areas of the design, hiding the warp completely.
In tapestry weaving, the weft does not run from edge to edge. Each colour is woven back and forth only where the design needs it, and the wefts are packed down so tightly that the warp disappears. The image is built into the structure of the cloth, not printed or stitched on.
Is every “tapestry” a tapestry?
No. Embroidered hangings such as the Bayeux Tapestry are embroidery, and canvas work sold as “tapestry” kits is needlepoint. True tapestry is woven, traditionally on a high-warp or low-warp loom, and was the great prestige textile of European courts.
Sources
- Tapestry (AAT 300205002). Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Tapestry (Q184296). Wikidata
See also
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