Needlepoint
Tapestry - by Samantha Taylor - Trades of Talavera Needlework
Rug Kits
Composed of eight
different needlepoint designs - 43 x 43 inches ( 111 x 111 cm.
) - Copyright 1996 Jan Voich
Trades of Talavera Rug - an exclusive Needlework Tapestries Collection adapted from Seventeenth Century Spanish Tiles. Available as Needlework
Kits or Canvases - Trades is a total of eight different designs
- joined together.
The Trades Tapestry
Kits should be acquired together to guarantee a matching
dye lot of the fibers. The Finished Needlework may be used as
Rugs and Wall Hangings. See the next three pages for Table Covers - Headboards
or Bench Covers. The individual tapestries ( central motifs
) are lovely in frames - as pillows or cushions and are available
for purchase separately.
Payments
are processed via Paypal and a Paypal account is not required.
The paypal system will guide you through the transaction using
any major credit card or a PayPal account.
Availability:
Usually ships in 2-3 days
European
Customers may use PayPal above or the following links - to purchase the eight > Tapestry
Kits
.
We spent the last
day of 2003 looking for more tiles from this Talavera School
- and found not one even similar. Our tiles were painted by
a man who is now 88 years old. He would bring them to Madrid
- leave them with our gypsy supplier - and we had our pick.
This was 30 years ago now.
We were disappointed
with the selection available today - the paintings are careless
and stylized. The artists show no pride. We are still searching
for better quality to translate into needlework tapestries -
and will now move on to other Spanish provinces.
History
of Majolica Ceramics
The
tiles used to create this needlepoint tapestry - inspire us
to write a brief history of majolica - which begins in Spain
- year 711 when the expanding Moorish empire first set foot
on the Iberian Peninsula.
Moors
from North Africa crossed the Straits of Gibraltar - and then
- settled in the area of southern Spain - which they called
Al-Andalus - now named - Andalusia.
This
dominant Moorish presence in Spain - created a splendor and
cultural refinement - rivaling the court of Baghdad. Muslim
Spain continued until the years 1400.
This
incredible Muslim empire within Spain - became an exciting meeting
place for scholars - artists and scientists. The Cultural Center
of the World - - it was during this cultural and artistic explosion
that Hispano-Moresque potters first began producing tin-glazed
earthenware. The ceramics from this period is called lusterware
and is the forerunner of majolica - as we know it today.
The Needlepoint
Tapestry - seen above - is an excellent example of the colors
used in this exquisite pottery.
During
the thirteenth Century - Seville was one of the largest European
cities exporting Hispano-Moresque lusterware all over the world
- from her ports. By the first half of the fifteenth century
the Spanish lusterware was the highest valued ceramics in the
world. Excellent examples of lusterware dating back to the thirteenth
century have been found in England. Today - sadly - most of
this is industrialized and rarely made by artisans.
The
first ceramic lusterware centers - were in the southern cities
- Seville and Malaga. The ceramics produced in Malaga was named
- obras de malica or obras de malique - it is
VERY probable that the word majolica is a derivation
of Malaga and Mallorca combined.
When
the Moorish Empire in the Iberian Peninsula began to decline
- artisans from southern Spain migrated to Spanish Levant -
found on the east coast of Spain. This is when the Ceramics
of Manises and Paterna began producing works that easily
rivaled that of Andalusia. These towns surrounding Valencia
are still producing very beautiful tiles to this day.
While the popularity
of lusterware slowed - the pottery centers of Spain also moved
to Talavera de la Reina in Toledo. Talavera is synonymous
with Spanish majolica and continues to be so to this day.
Majolica from
Talavera de la Reina is a fusion of many styles - the Christian
Gothic from the middle ages - the indelible style of the Italian
Renaissance - Flemish influence of the Dutch masters - traces
of Oriental porcelains of the Tang and Ming dynasties and
- of course - the Moorish influence.
Our goal is to
translate the beauty of these ceramics into Needlepoint
Tapestries - thus preserving this art for future generations.
We - of course will not be here - yet the art will continue
to flourish in these and other tapestry rugs.
The very few
of us who design Historical European Needlepoint are proud
and completely fulfilled with our quest to > preserve world
art and encourage the evolution of the same.
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