Lewes tapestry

The children of Lewes Meeting have produced their own tapestry of 'The Peaceable Kingdom'

A group of children at Lewes Meeting have produced a stunning tapestry panel of Quaker artist Edward Hicks’ famous painting ‘The Peaceable Kingdom’.

The Sussex Meeting has one of the several versions of the painting in their Meeting house and this prompted Leslie Ann Leonard, who had attended a Quaker tapestry design course at Kendal, to help the children produce a tapestry panel of their own.

Leslie said, ‘I had been wondering how the Lewes children could create a small tapestry themselves, when the connection with the Hicks painting presented itself. All children love to draw animals, and ours – then aged three to nine – were no exception. We looked carefully at the Hicks painting and the fact that there were both “fierce” and “cuddly” animals together with the children. Our children drew some amazing pictures. These include everything from worms, insects, snakes and a hedgehog to large carnivores and herbivores and people (some of whom are purported to be family members). There are air, land and sea animals. They are imaginative and beautiful: a dinosaur, a six-legged horse and a chicken with chicken pox, among others. And, of course, there are trees, grass, flowers and a sun. Most of the animals are smiling, as they do for children!’ Thirty-one children participated in the project during the two years it took to make.

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