How to Select and Care for a Tapestry

    Just as you wouldn't select and care for a TV the same way as you would for a computer monitor, the different forms of fine art each require special attention and consideration. And among the various art forms, tapestry is definitely unique, requiring specialized knowledge. How many other arts are textiles? So, if the idea of having a tapestry hanging in your home is an appealing one, you need to know some basics about tapestries before parting with your money.
    With TVs and computer monitors you talk to an electronics expert, so with tapestries, who better to talk to than someone who creates tapestries, a tapestry artist. I was lucky enough to have tapestry artist Pamela Topham fill me in on the basics of tapestry care and selection when I visited her at her studio in Sag Harbor, New York. Here's what I discovered.

What to Look for When Selecting a Tapestry:

    Because tapestries are woven together with different types of fabric, the actual sturdiness and durability of the piece is important. You know how frustrating it is to have a shirt fall apart at the seams, imagine how you'd feel if your newly purchased, expensive piece of art popped a seam? To find a well-made tapestry, Pamela suggested looking around at numerous different works to get a feel for how tapestries are structured.
    "I think that if you were looking at it, it should look firm and strong," Pamela said. "It shouldn't be sort of wobbly. It should lie fairly flat. It's not a painting and it is sometimes they can have a little more movement than a painting, but if they were free hanging you might have a little bit of a ripple because they are woven."
    According to Pamela, the more tapestries you see in person the better feel you will have for the different levels of fineness, and the better you'll be able to spot a poorly woven piece.
    In addition to finding a well-structured piece, you need to find a tapestry that captivates you with its subject.
    "I think that you would look at the imagery in the same sense that you select any kind of art," Pamela suggested. "You know, that it's an image that you would want to live with, that can hold your interest for more than a moment. I know that when I've looked at a lot of art, and I think that it's very clever, but I might not want to live with it every day because once you've gotten over the cleverness of it does it still interesting?"

How to Care for a Tapestry:

    Once you've figured out which tapestry is worth the honor of hanging in your home, you'll want to take care of your investment. And as with most things, preventative measures are much better than reactive ones. Pamela suggested keeping your tapestry away from vents and out of sunlight. Keeping your tapestry away from vents will prevent it from becoming a dust collector and protecting it from sunlight will prevent fading.
    "That did happen to me once," Pamela said. "There was a skylight and then in the winter when the sun was low the light went right across it every day, and it did fade the silk in that piece. I was able to fix it, sort of, but that was a lesson and that's, why you don't want it in direct light."
     Besides dust and sunlight, Pamela suggested keeping your tapestry out of any area that is smelly or damp, like a kitchen or bathroom. "I wouldn't put it in the kitchen," Pamela said. "No place that's going to be damp or smelly. You don't want your tapestry smelling like the garlic you cooked last night."
    Even if you take all the preventative measures, you may still find yourself in a situation where you need to clean your tapestry. Pamela had a suggestion for that as well.
    "Basically, you would use a screen, like a window screen, and you can vacuum over the screen to get surface dust off," she said. "That way you're not directly vacuuming, you could pull ends out of the tapestries. You might suddenly have little things floating out, you know? You wouldn't want that."
    If there's more than just dust that needs to be taken care of, you should consult a professional. After all the time and money invested in your woven artwork, you don't want to inadvertently damage it. And even though it is cloth, don't even think about putting into your washing machine. Trust me on that.