The Lewknor Table Carpet

This ornamental table covering celebrates the aristocratic lineage of an English family, the Lewknors. It was made for an heiress, Constance Lewknor, who- like her queen, Elizabeth- remained single and independent throughout her life. Constance spared no expense for the carpet and the six matching cushions that originally accompanied it, apparently commissioning them from Flemish weavers working in Enghien (thirty miles southwest of Brussels), the recognized European center for such foliage-focused, or verdure, tapestries. The fruit in the border is a typical Enghien design, but the artfully naked boys and flower-strewn ground of red (Lancastrian) roses, white (Yorkist) roses, honeysuckle, and lilies suggest that an English cartoon, or preparatory drawing, for the central section was sent to Flanders.