An Arts and Crafts Tapestry lunette panel depicting an Allegory of Love, woven by the Merton Abbey Mills, attributed to Morris & Co.

Major Eustace Robb, Great Tew Park, Oxfordshire

Angel's wing and headdress executed in silk. Upper end corners folded under approximately 12 inches. With scattered small slits at color changes; some now re-stitched. Some further re-stitching; not extensive. Overall in good condition.
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The present tapestry depicts a woman with a portative (small pipe organ) and music, flanked by a cupid with bow in hand.  Such allegories of love were popular subjects for members of the Arts and Crafts movement.  In particular,  William Morris, like a painter in oils, used textile design to create figurative art on a grand scale and provide well-crafted decoration for his clients' homes.  Morris advocated the importance of handmade objects and the pleasure of work for the craftsman.  As he explained, "the noblest of the weaving arts is tapestry; in which there is nothing mechanical; it may be looked upon as a mosaic of pieces of color made up of dyed threads, and is capable of producing wall ornament of any degree of elaboration.... nothing vague or indeterminate is admissible.  But special excellencies can be expected from it" (William Morris, "Textiles," Journal of the Society of Arts, 1888, vol. 36, p. 1133).

This tapestry was produced by the Merton Abbey Mills, established by the Huguenots in the early eighteenth century and by 1881 the home of Morris & Co.'s workshops.  By the 1920s, the economic climate led to tapestry commissions for Morris & Co. becoming more scarce, but nonetheless some major works were undertaken in this period. Of particular note a hugely ambitious pair of biblical scenes entitled Old and New Dispensations were produced for a proposed church at Cranbrook. Each tapestry was 26 feet high and took years to complete. In this post-war period the capacity was also strained by the reduced number of skilled weavers.  A number of smaller commissions such as the present lot were undertaken at the time, and it is known that the Director, H. C. Marillier commissioned designs from freelance designers and artists. The design here is closely related to another Morris & Co tapestry of a standing figure holding a portative, designed by William Morris and with a background by John Henry Dearle, woven in 1890.