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The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries; Swan and Otter Hunt
Unknown1430s (made) - 1439
The Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
Swan and Otter Hunt, from The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries, 15th century.
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Details
- Title: The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries; Swan and Otter Hunt
- Date Created: 1430s (made) - 1439
- Location Created: Netherlands, The Kingdom of the Netherlands Europe
- Type: Tapestry
- Rights: Accepted by HM Government in lieu of tax payable on the estate of the 10th Duke of Devonshire and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum
- External Link: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O73327
- production: Unknown
- Subjects Depicted: leisure; wealth; women; men; hunters; Costume; headdresses; hats; castles; landscapes (representations); trees; spears (weapons); boats; seas; dogs (animals); horses (animals); equestrians; nobles (aristocrats)
- Place Part Of: The Kingdom of the Netherlands Europe
- More Information: In the 15th century, tapestries provided colour, warmth and draught-proofing in bleak rooms with stone walls. Those with narratives also provided entertainment and interest for the household and guests at a time of low literacy, when images were extremely important. The group of four Devonshire Hunting Tapestries of which this is one example belonged, until they came to the Museum in 1957, to the dukes of Devonshire. Large tapestries were not produced in England in the 15th century and had to be imported. A number of towns or cities in the southern Netherlands had workshops and it was in one of these that the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries were made. The earliest history of the tapestries is unknown but they were identified as being at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire in the 16th century, from an inventory compiled in 1601 for the Countess of Shrewsbury. This celebrated and four-times married noblewoman had Hardwick Hall built and furnished to her taste, which evidently included the15th-century hunting tapestries. The hunt was a particularly powerful theme and would have been a familiar pastime to many of the high-born individuals and families who owned tapestries. Hunting was both a sport and an important source of food. The otter hunt shown in this tapestry is rather gruesome, particularly to the modern eye. Otters were hunted not to eat but for their skins and because they consumed fish that were required for the table. Swan meat was, however, highly desirable and here boys are seen robbing a swan’s nest. At one time, swans could be owned only by the royal family, but as they gradually escaped into the wild they became fair game for other people, although theoretically they could only be hunted by licence. A ferocious bear hunt is seen on the right with oriental figures wearing turbans participating. The composition is made up of numerous scenes that each make sense separately. This device was often used in tapestry design so that if, as often happened, the tapestry were cut up or altered - for example, to go round a doorway or fit a smaller room - the narrative would still make sense.
- Materials and Techniques: Tapestry-woven
- Dimensions: Width: 1118 cm, Height: 424 cm
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