{"title":"Bayeux Tapestry: The Comet and the King","description":"\u003cp\u003eThree scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry: the comet of spring 1066, read as an omen; the Norman knights charging at Hastings on 14 October; and the death of King Harold that evening. Two mugs or more get the set price automatically at checkout.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"bayeux-tapestry-halleys-comet-1066-mug","title":"Bayeux Tapestry: Halley's Comet, 1066 – Porcelain Art Mug","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tz-label\" style=\"border-top:1px solid currentColor;border-bottom:1px solid currentColor;padding:0.9em 0;margin:0 0 1.4em;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"font-size:0.72em;letter-spacing:0.16em;text-transform:uppercase;opacity:0.65;margin-bottom:0.5em;\"\u003eThe work on this mug\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"line-height:1.55;\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eHalley's Comet\u003c\/em\u003e, 1066\u003cbr\u003ewool embroidery on linen\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"font-size:0.8em;opacity:0.7;margin-top:0.6em;\"\u003ePhotograph by Myrabella, 7 March 2013, Wikimedia Commons, released by the photographer into the public domain\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpring, 1066. A comet blazes across the night sky over England. Men stand rooted to the ground, arms flung upward, unable to look away. \"Isti mirant stella\" — these men marvel at the star — reads the stitched inscription above their heads. A few paces on in the embroidered narrative, King Harold sits at Westminster as a messenger leans close to deliver the news.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is Scenes 32–33 of the Bayeux Tapestry: the most celebrated panels of the most famous medieval artwork in existence. Probably commissioned within years of the Norman Conquest by Bishop Odo of Bayeux — William the Conqueror's half-brother — the nearly seventy-metre wool-on-linen chronicle recorded the events of 1066 with dramatic economy. The comet, Halley's, had been observed by chroniclers across Europe and Asia that spring. In the tapestry, it is unambiguously an omen. At Hastings in October, the omen proved correct.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027 the tapestry is on view at the British Museum in London – the first time it has been shown in England since it was made. The panel at the centre of the attention is the one wrapped around this mug. Tazzarte is not affiliated with the British Museum or the exhibition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReproduced from a photograph of the original eleventh-century embroidery. The wool was dyed with three plants — madder for the reds, woad for the blues, weld for the yellows — and nine hundred years have taken the edge off all three. The colours here have been lifted back so that they read with full intensity on white porcelain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe fourth product image shows the same scene as Charles Stothard engraved it. The Society of Antiquaries of London sent him to Bayeux in 1816 to copy the whole tapestry; James Basire cut the plates, and their publication in 1821–23 was the first time a complete colour reproduction had been put before the public. Stothard drew the embroidery after the damage of the Revolution and before the nineteenth-century repairs — which is why his plates are still the reference for what is original stitching and what is later mending. One thing he did not draw: a fragment left Bayeux during the campaign and surfaced in London. The South Kensington Museum sent it back on 14 August 1872. Who removed it has never been settled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first of a series of three: the comet, then \u003ca href=\"\/products\/bayeux-tapestry-the-norman-charge-at-hastings-1066-porcelain-art-mug\"\u003ethe Norman charge at Hastings\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/bayeux-tapestry-the-death-of-harold-1066-porcelain-art-mug\"\u003ethe death of Harold\u003c\/a\u003e, where the omen is fulfilled. All three together: \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/bayeux-tapestry-the-comet-and-the-king\"\u003eBayeux Tapestry: The Comet and the King\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"tz-material\"\u003eFine porcelain, 10 oz — 104 mm high, 75 mm across the base. The image runs around the body; handle and rim stay white. Dishwasher and microwave safe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBayeux Tapestry, scenes 32–33, wool embroidery on linen, c. 1070s, Bayeux, Normandy. Photograph by Myrabella, 7 March 2013, Wikimedia Commons, released by the photographer into the public domain. Fourth image: Charles Alfred Stothard, \u003cem\u003eThe Tapestry of Bayeux\u003c\/em\u003e, engraved by James Basire, Society of Antiquaries of London, 1821–23; Internet Archive, Public Domain Mark 1.0.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelected by Dr. Walther Fuchs for the Tazzarte collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tazzarte","offers":[{"title":"Fine Porcelain — 10 oz","offer_id":57838947303755,"sku":"bd212831-ea2a-4e6a-97d0-dd3534b07b3f","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0816\/8475\/8859\/files\/f17a3bf6-942d-4c7b-91a2-11f24b650ce3.webp?v=1783751513"},{"product_id":"bayeux-tapestry-the-death-of-harold-1066-porcelain-art-mug","title":"Bayeux Tapestry: The Death of Harold, 1066 – Porcelain Art Mug","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tz-label\" style=\"border-top:1px solid currentColor;border-bottom:1px solid currentColor;padding:0.9em 0;margin:0 0 1.4em;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"font-size:0.72em;letter-spacing:0.16em;text-transform:uppercase;opacity:0.65;margin-bottom:0.5em;\"\u003eThe work on this mug\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"line-height:1.55;\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eThe Death of Harold\u003c\/em\u003e, 1066\u003cbr\u003ewool embroidery on linen\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"font-size:0.8em;opacity:0.7;margin-top:0.6em;\"\u003ePhotograph by Myrabella, Wikimedia Commons, released by the photographer under CC0\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eHastings, 14 October 1066, late in the day. Under the words HAROLD REX INTERFECTUS EST – here King Harold is killed – the embroiderers set two figures. One stands with a shaft at his eye; a few steps on, another is cut down by a horseman’s sword. Which of them is Harold has long been argued over, and the arrow may owe something to nineteenth-century repairs. What is not in doubt is the place of the scene in the story. That spring, on the same embroidery, men had pointed at a comet in the sky. Here the omen is fulfilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe last of a series of three: \u003ca href=\"\/products\/bayeux-tapestry-halleys-comet-1066-mug\"\u003ethe comet of 1066\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/bayeux-tapestry-the-norman-charge-at-hastings-1066-porcelain-art-mug\"\u003ethe Norman charge at Hastings\u003c\/a\u003e, and the death of Harold. All three together: \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/bayeux-tapestry-the-comet-and-the-king\"\u003eBayeux Tapestry: The Comet and the King\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"tz-material\"\u003eFine porcelain, 10 oz — 104 mm high, 75 mm across the base. Handle and rim stay white. Dishwasher and microwave safe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBayeux Tapestry, scene 57, c. 1070–1077; wool embroidery on linen. Photograph by Myrabella, released under CC0. Public domain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelected by Dr. Walther Fuchs for the Tazzarte collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tazzarte","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58710359408971,"sku":"36e61c85-2d0f-47d0-a7d4-93e1b938550f","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0816\/8475\/8859\/files\/dbbcb519-8ba1-4816-a4dc-0e976c6da9d1.webp?v=1791186473"},{"product_id":"bayeux-tapestry-the-norman-charge-at-hastings-1066-porcelain-art-mug","title":"Bayeux Tapestry: The Norman Charge at Hastings, 1066 – Porcelain Art Mug","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tz-label\" style=\"border-top:1px solid currentColor;border-bottom:1px solid currentColor;padding:0.9em 0;margin:0 0 1.4em;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"font-size:0.72em;letter-spacing:0.16em;text-transform:uppercase;opacity:0.65;margin-bottom:0.5em;\"\u003eThe work on this mug\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"line-height:1.55;\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eThe Norman Charge at Hastings\u003c\/em\u003e, 1066\u003cbr\u003ewool embroidery on linen\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"font-size:0.8em;opacity:0.7;margin-top:0.6em;\"\u003ePhotograph by Myrabella, Wikimedia Commons, released by the photographer under CC0\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eHastings, 14 October 1066. Above the riders runs part of a long stitched sentence – ET SAPIENTER AD PRELIUM. Duke William has urged his men to make ready, manfully and wisely, for battle against the English army. Below it the Norman knights ride out, lances raised, horses at full stretch, and in the lower border the animals keep pace. It is the moment between the omen of the comet in spring and the death of King Harold that evening.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe middle of a series of three: \u003ca href=\"\/products\/bayeux-tapestry-halleys-comet-1066-mug\"\u003ethe comet of 1066\u003c\/a\u003e, the charge, and \u003ca href=\"\/products\/bayeux-tapestry-the-death-of-harold-1066-porcelain-art-mug\"\u003ethe death of Harold\u003c\/a\u003e. All three together: \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/bayeux-tapestry-the-comet-and-the-king\"\u003eBayeux Tapestry: The Comet and the King\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"tz-material\"\u003eFine porcelain, 10 oz — 104 mm high, 75 mm across the base. Handle and rim stay white. Dishwasher and microwave safe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBayeux Tapestry, scene 51, c. 1070–1077; wool embroidery on linen. Photograph by Myrabella, released under CC0. Public domain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelected by Dr. Walther Fuchs for the Tazzarte collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tazzarte","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58710456893771,"sku":"f57dc0b1-d93b-4453-af2d-e911c91251ec","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0816\/8475\/8859\/files\/8a6012ec-72cf-4948-9e51-f08e9facdf68.webp?v=1791188407"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0816\/8475\/8859\/collections\/tazzarte-bayeux-tapestry-halleys-comet-1066-porcelain-art-mug-ambience-v3_3d1c251c-1bda-4b05-8408-e31d319bc053.jpg?v=1791186754","url":"https:\/\/tazzarte.com\/collections\/bayeux-tapestry-the-comet-and-the-king.oembed","provider":"Tazzarte","version":"1.0","type":"link"}