Sheldon tapestry cushion cover

Description

Tapestry panel, c. 1590-1610. A tapestry panel, recently made into a cushion cover, and possibly woven in the Sheldon tapestry workshops at Barcheston in south Warwickshire. This is one of a set depicting the story of Susanna and the Elders (one of the Old Testament Apocryphal books). This panel may have been cut from a larger piece, and is woven in coloured wools - principal colours being red/blue/green - although there has been colour loss.

Design shows Susanna, on the way to her execution, meeting Daniel. (Susanna is escorted towards the city shown in the upper right corner on a hilltop, over lesser hills outlined in dark green. The two pike men who are her gaolers are shown with dark brown pikes and steel helmets in blue and white; the one furthest away wears a blue and white tunic. The nearer one wears a yellow breastplate over a short tunic. His left hand grasps Susanna firmly; she is turned towards him and makes a gesture of denial. The Elders follow behind, the foremost man in a blue cloak and red robe. The small figure in a red tunic with white highlights and yellow hose is Daniel, the boy who spoke up for Susanna to contradict the Elders' slanders.

At first sight the foreground appears to have been heavily repaired, the roots of the large yellow flowers emerging, apparently, from a tiled floor; however this same feature is seen on a three-scene example once listed as being in the ownership of Frau Emma Budge (Barnard, 294-5, plate xlii,2).