Illustration: Herbert Arthur Bone. tapestry from the Idylls of the King series, 1876-1886.
Herbert Arthur Bone produced the Idylls of the King tapestry series between 1876 and 1886. The series was based on the long poetry cycle by Alfred Tennyson, which proved enduringly popular throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century. These tapestry series were also enduringly popular and were produced over sometimes lengthy periods. Bones series took a decade to complete and was produced by the Royal Windsor Tapestry Manufactory, a rival to William Morris own Merton Abbey works. Morris was particularly irritated that the Windsor works had pre-empted his own ideas for the revival of large scale tapestry production and was vocal about the intervention of the Widow, at least privately, regarding Queen Victoria's benefaction of the Windsor project.
Interestingly the Idylls of the King mined the same territory as Morris and his medieval penchant for romance and past glories. However, Bone was in no way plagiarising Morris, but was in fact tapping into the rich Victorian psyche that saw the King Arthur story as, in some ways at least, reflecting their own age as a form of second golden age. Tennyson and many other creative Victorians who used the Arthurian legends, peppered their versions with medieval interiors and exteriors, even though the legends were set well before medieval England existed. The Victorian penchant for the Gothic Revival in some ways denoted the connection between the two worlds. Although contemporary critics pointed out huge inconsistencies between medieval fantasy and the Victorian reality of the industrial revolution, which included the categorising of much of the English population as raw material, the analogies continued unimpeded. That ultimately the Arthurian legends were a tragedy, reflecting the ultimate failure of the golden age, might well have reflected the Victorian insecurity that underlay much of the bombastic approach to Queen and Empire
The single tapestry illustrated in this article shows a scene whereby Arthur forgives Guinevere. The line of text at the bottom of the tapestry is a quote from Tennyson's Guinevere from Idylls of the King. It reads as Lo! I forgive thee as Eternal God forgives. Farewell. However, the farewell portion comes a few lines after the initial text and is part of the section that reads: But hither shall I never come again, Never lie by thy side; see thee no more - Farewell! Not exactly a resounding forgiveness, but more one that has moral implications and standards attached, something the average Victorian would have well understood, particularly as it involved the moral male and the immoral woman, a moral fault line that ran through much of the era. This is something that should be remembered when viewing Victorian reflections of the medieval, they were only merely reflections. How the Arthurian legends were interpreted says much more about the interpreters than it does about the original, something that will be analysed about our own contemporary interpretations of myth and legend by future generations.
Although the Royal Windsor Tapestry Manufactory proved successful, particularly having Queen Victoria as a near patron, it never quite found itself in the same category as the Merton Abbey works. Although a number of wealthy clients bought from the Windsor works, and the company imported some of the finest French and Belgian tapestry workers, there seems something missing creatively from the project as a whole. Comparing the Idylls of the King series of tapestries for example, with the Holy Grail sequence produced by Morris & Co from the work of Edward Burne-Jones, shows a conservative reticence on the part of the Windsor work, to explore or expand creatively. There was perhaps a little too much dependence on French renaissance style production and finish and not enough on the introduction of an English approach to tapestry.
Interestingly Morris got the idea for a revival of English tapestry production from viewing the Bayeux tapestry in Normandy. Although the Bayeux is an embroidered tapestry, Morris still felt that a revival of English craft skills for which the Bayeux was personally a representation, was achievable. In contrast, the Royal Windsor Tapestry Manufactory was created by two Frenchmen, Henri Henry and Marcel Brignolas. This is not to imply that either Henry or Brignolas were incapable of creatively rivalling Morris because they were French, it has much more to do with the idea of importing traditional French techniques and staff wholesale, literally reproducing a French company at Windsor, rather than attempting to create a wholly and uniquely English approach as Morris tried to do.
The Royal Windsor Tapestry Manufactory perhaps says much about the importation of techniques and skills into an area with different cultural and historical parameters. Although the Windsor works were careful to use as many English styled themes as possible, it did not change the fact that the tapestries appeared somewhat alien to the English craft system. Morris, on the other hand was exceedingly careful to maintain an approach to the textile crafts that was predominantly English based. By the end of the 1880s, the Windsor works closed because of a combination of overpricing and financial irregularities. Morris Merton Abbey works was still to produce some of their finest work and possibly some of the best tapestry work ever produced in England.
Reference links:
Watching the Approach of Danish Raiders from the English Coast Giclee Poster Print by Herbert A. Bone, 24x32Royal Windsor Tapestry Manufactory, 1876-90 (Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead historical records publications)
Sketches of the Royal Tapestry Manufactory at Windsor, from "The Illustrated London News" Giclee Poster Print, 18x24
The Pond of William Morris Works at Merton Abbey Giclee Poster Print by Lexden L. Pocock, 42x56
HISTORY OF THE MERTON ABBEY TAPESTRY WORKS FOUNDED BY WILLIAM MORRIS.
A historical guide to Merton Abbey Mills: A stort history of textile printing on the river Wandle at Liberty Mill - now Merton Abbey Mills
Idylls of the King
Dore's Illustrations for "Idylls of the King" (Dover Pictorial Archives)
Legends of King Arthur: Idylls of the King (Tennysons Legends)
The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics)
Idylls of the King - The Passing of Arthur by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Chronic Song Of The Lotus Eaters
