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Devonshire Hunting Tapestries

Decorative and Craft Objects

The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries are a group of four large medieval tapestries, probably woven in Arras in northern France between about 1430 and 1450, individually titled Boar and Bear Hunt, Falconry, Swan and Otter Hunt, and Deer Hunt. Each panel stands over thirteen feet tall and the four together stretch about one hundred thirty three feet wide, depicting richly dressed men and women hunting in a forest setting. The tapestries belonged to the Dukes of Devonshire and hung at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire until 1957, when they passed to the British government in a tax settlement and were allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where they remain.

Facts
Year Created
1440 1
Probably woven in Arras between about 1430 and 1450; individual panels dated by costume style from the 1420s to the 1440s.
Medium
Woven tapestry 1
Location
Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1
Connections

In Form

Tapestry, Art Forms

15th-century Flemish woven hunting-scene tapestry set.

In Movement

15th-century Flemish tapestry work in the International Gothic idiom, matching the existing Apocalypse Tapestry precedent.

Sources
1. Devonshire Hunting Tapestries (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Wikipedia, Devonshire Hunting Tapestries, lead paragraph (materials and weaving sentence)
    The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries are a group of four medieval tapestries, probably woven in Arras, Artois, France, between about 1430 and 1450.
  • Wikipedia, Devonshire Hunting Tapestries, lead paragraph (Victoria and Albert Museum sentence)
    The tapestries were then allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where they remain.
  • Wikipedia, Devonshire Hunting Tapestries, lead paragraph (dating sentence)
    The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries are a group of four medieval tapestries, probably woven in Arras, Artois, France, between about 1430 and 1450.
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