TAPESTRY
Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth kept a
staff of tapestry workers or arras-makers, of
which the chief members were usually of
foreign birth. (fn. 1) Amongst the adherents of the
Dutch Church in 1550 were Hendryck
Moreels, 'tapitsier,' and Roelandt de Mets,
living in St. Martin's-le-Grand, and the first
of these is probably the 'Henrhicus Moreels (fn. 2)
tapestarius in opere Reginae' of a return of
1561. Another of the queen's workers at
this time was John Celot, and the names of
several other tapestry-makers are to be found in
later returns of the reign of Elizabeth, living
for the most part within the limits of the
City of London.
A small tapestry manufactory was set up at
Fulham by some Walloon refugees at the end
of the 17th century. The parish register of
burials (fn. 3) records the name of 'William King,
Clarke at the Manufactori' in 1699, and that
of 'Richard fflower, a weaver, from the Manufactori' in 1700.
Early in the next century another attempt
was made to introduce the manufacture of
tapestry into Middlesex. James Christopher
Le Blon, a Fleming by birth and a mezzotint
engraver by profession, some time subsequently
to 1732 'set up a project for copying cartoons
in tapestry, and made some very fine drawings
for that purpose. Houses were built and
looms erected in the Mulberry-ground at
Chelsea (see p. 134 ante), but either the expense was precipitated too fast or contributions did not arrive fast enough', and the
enterprise proved a failure. (fn. 4) Le Blon is said
to have died in a hospital at Paris in 1740.
A more noted manufactory for weaving
carpets and tapestries was started by Peter
Parisot, a Frenchman domiciled in England,
in 1753. Parisot's undertaking is described
by himself in a scarce little book entitled An
account of the new manufacture of Tapestry
after the manner of that at the Gobelins; and of
Carpets after the manner of that at Chaillot
&c. now undertaken at Fulham, by Mr. Peter
Parisot, 1753.
Parisot had engaged some workmen from
Chaillot whom at first he employed at Paddington, but afterwards removed to Fulham, where
this manufacture had already been established.
Here he procured spacious accommodation
for his business and for instructing young
persons of both sexes in the arts of drawing,
weaving, dyeing, and other branches of the
work. In his book Parisot speaks of the
patronage of the Duke of Cumberland, who
gave him great financial help; other members
of the Royal family, including the Princess
Dowager of Wales, also supported the work. (fn. 5)
His goods however were too expensive, and the
manufacture soon declined. George Bubb
Dodington the diarist, who lived at Fulham,
records a visit he paid to this factory on
8th March 1753:-'We went to see the
manufacture of tapestry from France, now set
up at Fulham by the Duke. The work both
of the gobelins and of chaillot, called savonnerie,
is very fine, but very dear.' (fn. 6)
According to Giuseppe Baretti, Parisot was
a renegade priest, once a noted Capuchin,
whose real name was Pere Norbert, and his
failure was due to his own shortcomings as a
spendthrift. (fn. 7) Within three years of its establishment the Fulham manufactory, which
was chiefly devoted to the production of velvet
pile carpets, had to close its doors. Parisot
left Fulham for Exeter in 1753, and on
12 January 1756 his whole stock was sold off.
The highest price reached at the sale was
£64 1s., given for 'a magnificent large carpet
18 ft. by 13 ft. of a most elegant and beautiful design'. A catalogue of the collection
consisting of four small pages (the only known
copy) is in the British Museum.
The various items mentioned in this
catalogue (fn. 8) show clearly the nature of Parisot's
business. Amongst the fire-screens after the
manner of the Gobelins one bore a representation of a 'landscape with two doves billing,'
another a 'Chinese pheasant with a green
parrot and a butterfly,' and others, such fables as
'the Monkey and the Cat', 'the Fox and
the Crane' and 'the Bear and the Bees.'
Amongst the stock also were chairs similarly
adorned; one 'large seat for a chair, depicting
in the background a range of hills at a distant
view, and a fountain in the middle; the
border of which is ornamented with flowers.'
Cotton-work after the manner of the manu
factory at Rouen in imitation of needlework
was represented by large pieces with birds and
flowers. Besides these there were also firescreens, chairs, and velvet carpets after the
manner of the velvet manufactory of Chaillot
with similar designs. Three of the carpets
had been worked by Parisot's apprentices,
'natives of England,' as a note on the catalogue informs us.
Another 17th-century factory of which no
information appears to exist was set up in Soho
Fields, the site of Soho Square. (fn. 9)