Illustration: Marianne Stokes. Ehret die Frauen tapestry, 1912.
Marianne Stokes for all her connections with Morris & Co and the perception, through at least part of her work, of an inbuilt English Pre Raphaelite style, was in fact Austrian. She was born Marianne Preindlsberger in Graz in southern Austria. She became Stokes through her husband the English landscape artist Adrian Stokes and settled in England, living for many years in St Ives, Cornwall.
Marianne Stokes had many ties with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with a number of her fine art paintings being either inspired or directly influenced by German and Austrian themes. She, along with her husband, made a number of working trips to Austria and Slovakia where she was particularly interested in folk costumes, producing a number of paintings of local Slovakian people.
The tapestry Ehret die Frauen (Honour the Women) which was inspired by a line from the 1796 poem Wurde der Frauen (Woman's Worth) by Friedrich von Schiller, was produced for Morris & Co in 1912. Although the tapestry was produced sixteen years after the death of William Morris, the shadow of Morris & Co's founder was still very much in evidence and Stokes tapestry fitted seamlessly within the parameters of the general style of the company, though to be fair the work could equally have been incorporated into the German medieval revival of the nineteenth century. Admittedly, the decorative theme might seem a little dated for 1912, but it has to be remembered that gothic and medieval inspired interior accessories whether textiles, wallpaper or furniture were still very much available right up until the beginning of the First World War and indeed into the 1920s.
Illustration: Marianne Stokes. Self portrait.
The tapestry itself represents five different aspects of the virtues of womanhood. The women featured from left to right are Schutz (Protection or Courage), Pflege (Nurture), Liebe (Love), Wissen (Wisdom) and Treue (Fidelity). The Schiller verse in full Ehret die frauen sie flechten und meben, himmlische rosen ins irdische leben (Honour the women, they braid and weave heavenly roses into earthly life), is written within the border of the tapestry. The English translation seems to differ a little from person to person, but the general implication seems to be the same.
Although part of the tapestry stable of Morris & Co, this is not a pastiche of Edward Burne-Jones who supplied much of the tapestry output of the company. Stokes was an original and much regarded artist in her own right and this particular example has proved to be so popular that it is still being produced as both a tapestry and oil painting to this day. Some of the companies supplying tapestry copies of Ehret die Frauen are listed below in the Further reading links section, as are a short list of books and posters featuring Stokes work that can be found on Amazon.
Further reading links:
Scarletquince.com
Thetapestryhouse.com
European-wall-tapestries.com
The-tapestry-shop.co.uk
Aucassin and Nicolette Fine Art Poster Print by Marianne Stokes, 24x36
With Utmost Fidelity: The painting lives of Marianne and Adrian Stokes
1888 Marianne Stokes Fine Art Cornish Milk Boy Taylor
Madonna and Child - Marianne Stokes: Counted Cross Stitch Chart (Regular print)
Ehret die Frauen - Marianne Stokes: Counted Cross Stitch Chart (Large print)
Snow White in Her Glass Coffin is Mourned by the Dwarfs Giclee Poster Print by Marianne Stokes, 18x24
A Young Girl Picking Flowers Giclee Poster Print by Marianne Stokes, 9x12
The Young Girl and Death, c.1900 Giclee Poster Print by Marianne Stokes, 18x24
Hungarian Journeys: Marianne and Adrian Stokes - Landscapes and Portraits 1905-1910
