Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries Stirling Castle

Storytelling and Weaving at Stirling & West Dean Tapestry Studio

Sep 1, 2008

The Unicorn is Found tapestry is expected to be unveiled in Scotland shortly. Here's a guide to The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries on display at historic Stirling Castle.

Medieval tapestries were valued for their storytelling and beauty. Many patrons commissioned tapestries as an expression of wealth. Tracy Chevalier in The Lady and the Unicorn (Harper, 2003) offers the fictional account of "Jean Le Viste, a fifteenth-century nobleman close to the King, hires an ambitious artist to design six tapestries celebrating his rising status at Court”.

Tapestries, then and now, require great craftsmanship and take a long time to weave at great cost. With high competition for places on prestigious textiles art courses in North America and Europe, there are talented weavers who can work on recreating tapestries for projects like The Hunt of the Unicorn series at Stirling Castle in Scotland.

The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries at Stirling Castle

The Scottish royal collection is known to hold ‘the historie of the unicorne’ tapestries in inventories from 1539. Historic Scotland with the Quinque Foundation, the Guild of Weavers and other sponsors have collaborated on a project to recreate The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries for display at Stirling Castle. The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries are being hand-woven by well qualified international weavers. Weavers of The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries work in the temporary Tapestry Studio located within the walls of Stirling Castle, Scotland and at West Dean Tapestry Studio, West Sussex, England.

Visitors to the Historic Scotland attraction Stirling Castle can view the weaver/s at work on The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries and read the studio-based exhibition. Every day at 1pm the weavers stop their work for a 30 minute talk to visitors about medieval tapestry weaving techniques and process. At other times, an expert steward in the Stirling Castle Tapestry Studio can answer visitors’ questions and discuss Unicorn tapestry bibliographic resources.

At the time of writing, three completed tapestries, each measuring 3.3m by up to 3.8m, are on display at Stirling Castle:

A fourth tapestry, The Unicorn is Found, is expected to be unveiled in 2008 as part of the tapestry display in the restored The Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle. Mary Queen of Scots was crowned at the age of 10 months in The Chapel Royal and it was also the site of the baptism of Prince Henry, first son of James VI.

Unicorn Tapestries at the Cloisters Museum at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET) currently display a set of unicorn tapestries in the Cloisters Museum. The unicorn tapestries at The MET appeared in the inventory of French duke, Francois VI de la Rochefoucauld, in 1680 and date from 1495-1505.

Historic Scotland acknowledges that “The MET has been key to the project by giving HS permission to copy the originals and allowing the weavers unique access to study them” in Background to The Stirling Tapestries Project. Historic Scotland The Stirling Tapestries Project also includes further information about The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries’ principal funder The Quinque Foundation, the family foundation of Mrs Helen Buchanan of Exeter, Rhode Island, USA.

Permission for the writer to photograph Stirling Castle for online media publication was granted by the Historic Scotland Stirling Castle Education Officer.

The copyright of the article Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries Stirling Castle in Castles/Forts/Cathedrals Tours is owned by Susan Morris. Permission to republish Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries Stirling Castle in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.