3-053-742 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Vienna Exhibition: tapestries for wall decoration - the Apostles Paul and John, 1873. Example of '...very fine art-manufacture produced by an English firm, Messrs. Thomas Tapling and Co. They contribute to the exhibition various pieces of tapestry of the fabric called patent Axminster, each woven in one piece (without seam) by machinery. These tapestries are intended for altar-pieces, screens, or other wall decorations, and represent Christ and his apostles. The figures, taken from the celebrated statues by Thorwaldsen in the cathedral of Copenhagen, are larger than life, and were arranged and coloured for the working design by Mr. E. T. Parris, historical painter to her late Majesty Queen Adelaide. Each figure can be woven separately, or two or more may be grouped together, thus adapting them for panels of any size, as well as for a great variety of ecclesiastical decorative purposes. The adaptation of the patent Axminster fabric to this class of design was made by the senior partner of the firm, Mr. Thomas Tapling, with the view of producing works similar in character to the celebrated tapestries of Gobelin and Beauvais, but by machinery instead of by hand, within a very limited time, and at a moderate cost'. From "Illustrated London News", 1873.