The Eyemouth Tapestry
This 15 foot long piece of canvas work commemorates 189 fishermen who died in a storm on 14th October 1881. It was worked on 10 count canvas by a team of 24 people.
The first panel
The second panel
The image of a sinking ship surrounded by drowning fishermen is full of symbolism:
- The bodies form a broken circle of life.
- The childlike drawing represents man's helplessness against nature.
- The mast forms a cross to symbolise the anguish caused.
- The boat gives the impression of a face to suggest there is another presence watching.
- The cliffs form a series of human profiles.
Here is a close-up of the cliffs.
The rocks on this part of the coast show complex patterns made of twisted strata, and these are suggested in this embroidery.
Two of the faces look towards each other in commiseration, one looks for help, and one reaches a hand out towards the onlooker. Whether the hand is helping the victims or calming the storm is an open question.
The rocks on this part of the coast show complex patterns made of twisted strata, and these are suggested in this embroidery.
Two of the faces look towards each other in commiseration, one looks for help, and one reaches a hand out towards the onlooker. Whether the hand is helping the victims or calming the storm is an open question.
The third panel
The next panel becomes more abstract. Working clockwise, the corners show:
- seagulls, whose cry symbolises the cries of the drowned men.
- the wind.
- the waves.
- The harbour wall, with one stone for each life lost.
The fourth panel
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