Old World Map

This world map tapestry shows the wonderful work of Frederik de Wit, a cartographer from the 17th century. Wit (1629-1706) was a Dutch artist from Gouda, Holland and created works of maps, city views and world maps in his lifetime. Bought at auction, most of his works were sold to Pieter Mortier, a geographer and publisher from Amsterdam. These works eventually were passed on to his son Cornelius, who together with Johannes Covens, founded Covens and Mortier in 1721, which became one of the biggest cartographic houses in the 18th century. Wit produced many atlases and maps, and each were so highly prized because of their accuracy as well as artistic beauty. Here in this beautiful work, we see most of the world’s outline drawn with some areas of North America and Canada missing from the map, as well as the eastern side of Australia. Decorative elements of constellations, Aristotle’s four elements, motifs from nature and mythological characters. It is an inspirational blend of science and art are seen to create a beautiful map as well as work of art. The colors are also wonderful, as we see greens, crimsons and blues among the stately sepia tones. The heading, Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula Auctore F. de Wit is seen at the top of the work, which means a new world map by the authority of F. de Wit. This world map tapestry is unlined and has a tunnel for easy hanging.