Tapestry Commissioning

Commissioning process

Your commission

The first stage in commissioning a tapestry commences with a visit to the Workshop for discussions with the Director and Studio Manager.
At this stage, a range of design ideas and artists appropriate to the project are discussed, without obligation. This is an essential starting point for a successful tapestry.

Commissioning a tapestry is an exciting experience and, once the decision to proceed is made, detailed discussions between the client, the artist and the weaver are undertaken prior to the artist producing his or her design. A firm quotation, giving both cost and completion date, is supplied at this time.
Once the quotation is accepted, the responsibility then becomes that of the Workshop’s skilled weavers. While the tapestry is being woven, clients are encouraged to visit the Workshop and share the experience of seeing the project grow on the loom.
When the weaving is complete, an informal ‘cutting off’ ceremony is usually arranged at which you are invited to cut the tapestry from the loom.

Commissions and tapestry style

Most of the Workshop’s tapestries are large-scale commissions specifically designed for venues such as corporate headquarters, art centres, museums, embassies and high commissions, banks, hotels, schools, universities, hospitals and churches as well as commemorative tapestries to celebrate anniversaries and milestones. Domestic sized tapestries for homes and offices are also frequently commissioned by private collectors.

The Workshop uses the traditional hand-made Gobelins technique of tapestry used in mid-fifteenth-century Europe.

Our 370 colour palette is unique giving limitless interpretive options. Colour mixing offers optical delights that set our work apart from other chromatic mixes used in other mediums.

With care, fine tapestries live for centuries while maintaining their sensual richness and warmth – long outlasting many other art forms.

How long does a commission take?

As no individual project is the same, lead times vary with each tapestry. Variables that influence leads times are: the time frame for the artist’s design development, complexity of design, size of the tapestry, how finely the tapestry is woven, and how many weavers the project will accommodate.

To proceed

If you would like to enquire further, please call (03) 9699 7885 or email us.