My Latest Discovery: World War One Tapestries

 

I can't remember ever thinking about this topic before until I was reading an article about the Sir John Monash Centre at the Somme, which is undergoing some tough times.  (More on that in a future article.)  Anyway, they are quite proud of their tapestry, so I decided to explore and see if there are other notable tapestries commemorating the Great War.  Here's what I've found so far. (I'm not sure all of them meet the full definition of a tapestry.)

Click on Images to Enlarge

1.  Sir John Monash Centre, Fouilloy, Somme, France

Morning Star by Lyndell Brown, Charles Green, 2.5 x 5.04 m

According to the designers: “This tapestry aims to communicate to non-Australians and to Australian pilgrims an understanding of the places for which the Australians fought and the imaginary spaces they carried with them.”

2.  Town Hall Walsham-Le-Willows, Suffolk, England

IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES, 1914–8,  2.4 x 6.1 m by Local School Children

For the Centenary, artist Helen Dougall was commissioned with the help of the Big Lottery funding to work with schoolchildren in Walsham-le-Willows in Suffolk to make a batik wall hanging commemorating those who died in the First World War. The names of servicemen who came from Walsham-le-Willows are included in the design.

3.  Hoover Institution, Stanford University, California

Ravaged, 5 x 5.6 m, by Floris Jespers

This enormous tapestry honors Herbert Hoover and the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB), which Hoover founded in 1914 to bring food to Belgium and northern France, both under German occupation. Fully titled The United States Saved Belgium from Starvation during the War and When Peace Came They Helped to Rebuild the Country and Its Scientific Institutions, the tapestry depicts U.S. soldiers sailing to fight in Belgium in 1918, CRB ships bringing food to Belgium throughout the war, and, in the center, Herbert Hoover next to the burning University of Leuven, whose library was destroyed by German troops in the summer of 1914 and which Hoover helped rebuild. Woven by the manufacturer Chaudoir in 1939 for the Belgian Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair (1939–40), the tapestry was shipped to the United States before Belgian citizens were able to see it. It was displayed in Belgium in 2014 and then returned to the Hoover Institution Archives.

4.  Gordon Highlanders Museum, Aberdeen, Scotland

Gordon Highlanders in the First World War, three - 1 x 1 m panels, Designed by Andrew Crummy

Another Centenary project, these panels were unveiled in 2015. Couldn't find much information on its design

5. St. Paul's Cathedral, London

WWI Remembrance Altar Frontal, 3 x 1.5 m, by Wounded Canadian Soldiers, Designed by the Royal School of Needlework

Sir Arthur Stanley, governor general of Canada 1888–1893, (of Stanley Cup fame) commissioned the frontal as a  rehabilitation project for wounded soldiers.  One hundred thirty-eight Allied soldiers from many countries, most of whom had never used a needle and thread before, created this tribute to their comrades. Once thought lost in the WWII bombing of St. Paul's, the piece was rediscovered and has apparently been displayed during remembrance events.

6. Stoke-on-Trent's Potteries Museum, Staffordshire

For the Fallen, 22 x 3 m, by a Team of Artists (Only One of Nine Sections Shown)

This nine-piece wall hanging depicts a panorama of the battlefields fought over by the 5th North Staffords during the First World War together with a list of the names of 906 soldiers of the regiment who lost their lives. It is painted on canvas normally used to make kitchen blinds.  The first reunion of the 5th North Staffords took place in 1920 at King’s Hall, Stoke. The dinners became an annual event, and it was proposed that a memorial canvas be created to mark the tenth anniversary in 1929. The banner design was the concept of Major Tom Simpson, who worked closely with a team of artists, at least two of whom (W. Sheard and Cyril Johnson) were also former members of the battalion. The fabric was donated by Gordon Dyke of Bratt & Dyke’s department store in Hanley. Photos of most of the sections can be found HERE.

As of this writing, I'm unable to discover the current status of the display of the section shown above or if there are plans to display the other sections of the complete work.

7. St. Edmundsbury Cathedral, Suffolk

WWI Centenary Altar Frontal, by volunteers with contributions from the Cathedral Shop

Discovered by James Patton

(Please let me know in the comments if you have any additional or more current details on  any of these works.  MH)