Quaker Tapestry
Encyclopedia
The Quaker Tapestry consists of 77 panels illustrating the history of Quakerism
from the 17th century up to the present day. The idea of Quaker Anne Wynn-Wilson, the tapestry has a permanent home at the Friends Meeting House at Kendal
, Cumbria
, England.
The design was heavily influenced by the Bayeux Tapestry
, and includes similar design choices, including three horizontal divisions within panels, embroidered outlines for faces and hands, and solid infilling of clothing, which is embroidered in the Bayeux Technique.
4,000 men, women and children from 15 countries worked on the panels between 1981 and 1989. The tapestry is worked in crewel embroidery
. In addition to using four historic and well-known stitches (Split Stitch, Stem Stitch, Chain Stitch, and Peking Knot), Wynn-Wilson invented a new corded stitch, known as Quaker Stitch, to allow for tight curves on the lettering.
Each panel measures 25 inches wide by 21 inches tall.
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
from the 17th century up to the present day. The idea of Quaker Anne Wynn-Wilson, the tapestry has a permanent home at the Friends Meeting House at Kendal
Kendal
Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
, Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, England.
The design was heavily influenced by the Bayeux Tapestry
Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered cloth—not an actual tapestry—nearly long, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings...
, and includes similar design choices, including three horizontal divisions within panels, embroidered outlines for faces and hands, and solid infilling of clothing, which is embroidered in the Bayeux Technique.
4,000 men, women and children from 15 countries worked on the panels between 1981 and 1989. The tapestry is worked in crewel embroidery
Crewel embroidery
Crewel Embroidery, or Crewelwork, is a decorative form of surface embroidery using wool and a variety of different embroidery stitches to follow a design outline applied to the fabric. The technique is at least a thousand years old...
. In addition to using four historic and well-known stitches (Split Stitch, Stem Stitch, Chain Stitch, and Peking Knot), Wynn-Wilson invented a new corded stitch, known as Quaker Stitch, to allow for tight curves on the lettering.
Each panel measures 25 inches wide by 21 inches tall.
List of the panels
- The Prism (Title Panel)
- George FoxGeorge FoxGeorge Fox was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war...
's convincement (A1) - James NaylerJames NaylerJames Nayler was an English Quaker leader. He is among the members of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early Quaker preachers and missionaries. At the peak of his career, he preached against enclosure and the slave trade....
's call to ministry (A2) - James Parnell: Meetings for Sufferers (A3)
- Richard Sellar (A4)
- The good ship 'Woodhouse' (A5)
- John WoolmanJohn WoolmanJohn Woolman was an American itinerant Quaker preacher who traveled throughout the American colonies and in England, advocating against cruelty to animals, economic injustices and oppression, conscription, military taxation, and particularly slavery and the slave trade.- Origins and early life...
(A6) - Conscientious objectionConscientious objectorA conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
(A7) - Manchester Conference 1895 (A8)
- OathOathAn oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...
s (A9) - George Fox travels to SedberghSedberghSedbergh is a small town in Cumbria, England. It lies about east of Kendal and about north of Kirkby Lonsdale. The town sits just within the Yorkshire Dales National Park...
(B1) - Mary Fisher, Elizabeth Hooton (B2)
- John BrightJohn BrightJohn Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
(B3) - Publishers of Truth (B4)
- Stephen GrelletStephen GrelletStephen Grellet was a prominent French Quaker missionary.He was born Étienne de Grellet du Mabillier in Limoges, the son to a counsellor of King Louis XVI. Raised as a Roman Catholic he was educated at the military College of Lyons, and at the age of seventeen he entered the body-guard of Louis XVI...
(B5) - Woodbrooke, Selly Oak, BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
(B6) - Service Overseas (B7)
- Quaker Peace Action caravan (B8)
- Swarthmoor HallSwarthmoor HallSwarthmoor Hall is a mansion in Swarthmoor, in the Furness area of Cumbria in North West England. It was the home of Thomas and Margaret Fell, the latter an important player in the founding of the Religious Society of Friends movement in the 17th century. It remains in use today as a Quaker...
, Ulverston (C1) - Margaret FellMargaret FellMargaret Fell or Margaret Fox was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends. Known popularly as the "mother of Quakerism", she is considered one of the Valiant Sixty early Quaker preachers and missionaries.-Life:...
, Mother of Quakerism (C2) - Keep your meetings (C3)
- Meeting housesFriends meeting houseA Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends , where meeting for worship may be held.-History:Quakers do not believe that meeting for worship should take place in any special place. They believe that "where two or three meet together in my name, I am there among...
(C4) - Meeting Houses overseas (C5)
- Meeting Houses in the Community (C6)
- Quaker schools (C7)
- MarriageQuaker weddingQuaker weddings are the traditional ceremony of marriage within the Religious Society of Friends.-Quaker marriage in history:After the local meeting had approved the couple's intention, an announcement would be made and posted in the market on market day. After this the wedding could take place...
(C8) - Pilgrimages (C9)
- Children and Young People (C10)
- The LeavenersThe LeavenersThe Leaveners are a performing arts organisation consisting of members of the Religious Society of Friends .They started at Britain Yearly Meeting in 1978 and have been growing ever since. They run a number of projects, most specifically for young people, some resulting in a performance but most...
(C11) - George Fox at LichfieldLichfieldLichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, Pendle HillPendle HillPendle Hill is located in the north-east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Clitheroe and Padiham, an area known as Pendleside. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill, separated from the Pennines to the...
(D1) - Quaker SimplicityTestimony of SimplicityTestimony of Simplicity is a shorthand description of the actions generally taken by members of the Religious Society of Friends to testify or bear witness to their beliefs that a person ought to live his or her life simply in order to focus on what is most important and ignore or play down what...
(D2) - Personal Devotion (D3)
- CoalbrookdaleCoalbrookdaleCoalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. This is where iron ore was first smelted by Abraham Darby using easily mined "coking coal". The coal was drawn from drift mines in the sides...
(D4) - Innocent Trades (D5)
- Quaker merchants (D6)
- Railways (D7)
- Quaker Botanists (D8)
- Quaker Doctors (D9)
- Quaker Scientists (D10)
- Industrial Welfare (D11)
- Query 19 (D12)
- Scott - Bader Commonwealth (D13)
- Fox at UlverstonUlverstonUlverston is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria in north-west England. Historically part of Lancashire, the town is located in the Furness area, close to the Lake District, and just north of Morecambe Bay....
(E1) - John Bellers (E2)
- Banking (E3)
- Criminal JusticeCriminal justiceCriminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
(E4) - Elizabeth FryElizabeth FryElizabeth Fry , née Gurney, was an English prison reformer, social reformer and, as a Quaker, a Christian philanthropist...
(E5) - Elizabeth Fry and the PatchworkPatchworkPatchwork or "pieced work" is a form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design. The larger design is usually based on repeat patterns built up with different colored shapes. These shapes are carefully measured and cut, straight-sided, basic geometric shapes...
QuiltQuiltA quilt is a type of bed cover, traditionally composed of three layers of fiber: a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding and a woven back, combined using the technique of quilting. “Quilting” refers to the technique of joining at least two fabric layers by stitches or ties...
s (E6) - First-day schools (E7)
- The Great Hunger (E8)
- Mary Hughes (E9)
- UnemploymentUnemploymentUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
(E10) - Friends' Provident InstitutionFriends ProvidentFriends Provident was an organisation offering life insurance based in the United Kingdom. It was founded as a mutual Friendly Society for Quakers, although it was demutualised in 2001 and became a publicly listed company, no longer linked with the Religious Society of Friends...
(E11) - William AllenWilliam Allen (Quaker)William Allen FRS, FLS was an English scientist and philanthropist who opposed slavery and engaged in schemes of social and penal improvement in early nineteenth century England.-Early life:...
(E12) - DerbyDerbyDerby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
Gaol (F1) - Trial of Penn and Meade (F2)
- Early Friends and slaverySlaverySlavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
(F3) - Daniel Wheeler (F4)
- Delegation to the Czar (F5)
- Relief Work: British IslesBritish IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
(F6) - Relief of suffering (F7)
- Friends' Ambulance UnitFriends' Ambulance UnitThe Friends' Ambulance Unit was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends , in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914–1919, 1939–1946 and 1946-1959 in 25 different countries around the world...
(F8) - Reconciliation (F9)
- Underground RailwayUnderground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
(F10) - William PennWilliam PennWilliam Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
and PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
(F11) - AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Milford HavenMilford HavenMilford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...
meeting (F12) - Quakers in DolgellauDolgellauDolgellau is a market town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the county town of the former county of Merionethshire .-History and economy:...
(F13) - Quakerism in New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
(F14) - Workcamps (F15)
- Building the institutions of PeacePeacePeace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
(F16) - Vigils for Peace (F17)
- World Conference 1991 (F18)
- Friends and the Boer War (F19)
- TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
(F20) - Friends in CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(F21) - The Netherlands 1940-1945 (F22)
- World Family and Friends (Final Panel)
Recommended Reading
- Greenwood, Ormerod and Wynn-Wilson, Anne, The Quaker Tapestry ISBN 0-245-60017-5