Tapestry – The Ultimate Wall Decoration
Tapestry – The Ultimate Wall Decoration
Lecturer: Susan Kay-Williams
Tapestries were the most expensive wall decorations in the Middle Ages and beyond. Often commissioned in sets, taking years to produce, they graced some of the most significant courts of Europe from the 15th century to the 21st.
This lecture will explore the making of tapestries and some landmark sets including those of the House of Burgundy, Pope Leo X and Henry VIII all made by the weavers of Flanders, as well as those of Louis XIV and the current Queen of Denmark made by the weavers of the Gobelins factory in Paris. It will explore the changing approaches and some of the stories translated into tapestry.
Susan Kay-Williams is the Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework, based at Hampton Court Palace. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Chartered Institute of Marketing and in 2015 was made a Fellow of the Society of Dyers and Colourists in recognition of her work on the history of dyes. Susan has a longstanding interest in textiles, especially colour, and published her first book, “The Story of Colour in Textiles” (Bloomsbury) in 2013. She has extensive lecturing experience, and has been invited to lecture in the USA, Canada, China, Japan and Taiwan as well as for the V&A and across the UK.