View Within This Collection - Napoleon Chairs l Napoleon II l Original Needlepoint

Needlepoint by Samantha Taylor - Napoleon II

Please select photo to view the original Napoleon Needlepoint Tapestry

Napoleon II - 19 inches square (design) - canvas size 27 inches square - 12 mesh - Copyright 1999 Jan Voich

Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 days

NAPOLEON II  NEEDLEPOINT KIT - STNAP ..... $225

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Napoleon II was originally worked in bold colors - typical of the era. We chose to reproduce the actual shades of this needlepoint seat faded from 200 years of use. The yellow outline was originally stitched with silk. The now pistachio background was a shocking chartreuse and the red much louder. The background color may be changed to navy or Wine - depending on personal preferences.

We add extra canvas to fit this needlepoint design to any chair - fire screen or cushion.

This magnificent needlepoint reproduction may also be used as a fire screen.

A History of Needlepoint and Tapestries.

Tapestries became status symbols amongst the aristocracy in the Middle Ages. They also had much practical use - providing insulation for castle walls - covering openings and giving privacy around beds. Kings and nobles took them on their travels from castle to castle for reasons of comfort and prestige. Tapestries often changed hands after battle - and since the victor*s door and window openings might be a different size the acquired hangings might be cut up or even joined to other tapestries.

A tapestry wall-hanging in your home brings not just interior beauty but also a sense of history. European weavers have produced these textiles for centuries - including medieval - renaissance and Arts and Crafts periods.

Tapestries have been woven for hundreds of years in diverse cultures. Both ancient Egyptians and the Incas buried their dead in tapestry woven clothing. Important civic buildings of the Greek Empire - including the Parthenon - had walls covered by them. However it was the French medieval weavers who brought the craft to fruition.

In the 13th and 14th centuries the Church recognized the value of tapestries in illustrating Bible stories to its illiterate congregations. Few of these have survived. The oldest existing set is the Apocalypse of St John - six hangings 18 foot high, totaling 471 foot in length which were woven from 1375 to 1379 in Paris. This was the center of production until the Hundred Years War ( 1337 - 1453 ) caused the weavers to flee north via Arras to Flanders ( now Belgium and northern France ).

Medieval weavers extracted their dyes from plants and insects in a range of less than twenty colors. For example - red came from madder - poppies or pomegranates and wood produced blue ( a process that was so profitable in 16th century France that importing woad from the East was punishable by death ).

Medieval weavers used working sketches which they freely adapted with imagination and sometimes humor. By the Renaissance these had become full-sized working drawings ( cartoons ) which were rigidly copied by the weavers. Thus tapestries became mere copies of paintings rather than independent works of art. In 1515 Raphael was commissioned by the Pope to paint cartoons for the *Acts of the Apostles* tapestries for the Sistine Chapel. His introduction of perspective and composition together with the use of finer yarns dyed with up to 300 color shades led to the subservience of tapestry to painting for over 300 years.