Our Story

History of the studio

The Stephens Tapestry Studio has its roots in the north of Swaziland, (now Eswatini), a tiny monarchy between South Africa and Mozambique.

In the the late 1940s Coral Stephens moved from Johannesburg with her husband Robert Stephens - Bob – to a remote mountainous region where he established a commercial forestry operation. Coral’s well-meaning friends had given her a small loom to keep her occupied in what was to surely be a tedious life for a housewife. Coral, however, had no intention of being bored or a housewife.

Sylvia Mantanga, a Xhosa woman, had come with Coral from Johannesburg. Sylvia had been taught to weave by Swedish missionaries at a rural school in the Eastern Cape province where a burgeoning industry of angora goat farming was taking place. Angora goats produce the rich robust mohair with which Coral Stephens fabrics became synonymous.

  • Sylvia Mantanga

  • Coral Stephens

Friends from Johannesburg and investors in the forestry plantation – many from Europe and UK – visited Boshimela often staying for weeks at a time. Invitations became sought after to the house where lunch merged into afternoon tea and then to sumptuous dinners which ended well after midnight. 

News spread about the curtains and carpets that adorned the house and orders began to flow in, initially from houseguests and then their friends.

Coral’s reputation for bespoke and avant garde fabrics gained increasing traction and ultimately caught the eye of a famous American textile designer, Jack Lenor Larsen.

He developed a range with Coral and her fabrics were launched in the USA. Prestigous orders for corporate clients, theatres and private homes followed. 

Murrae Stephens, Coral’s grand-daughter in law, took over the business in 2001.

Under her direction the studio continues to thrive and Coral Stephens handwoven fabrics have increasingly become a mainstay for interior designers around the world.

Preparing the mohair at the original CoralStephens studio in Eswatini

Murrae Stephens, Coral’s grand-daughter in law, took over the business in 2001.

Under her direction the studio continues to thrive and Coral Stephens handwoven fabrics have increasingly become a mainstay for interior designers around the world.

Marguerite Stephens, Coral’s eldest daughter, was a child when the weaving business began, and she grew up with mohair, looms and weaving well entrenched in her DNA.

Her journey back into the life to which she was always destined to live was through studying occupational therapy at the University of the Witwatersrand where she learned weaving as a tool for her patients. 

 

Cecil's woodblock tapestry that hangs in Marguerite's home

In the early 1960s Marguerite and Coral went to an exhibition of South African artist Cecil Skotnes.

A woodblock on the show caught Coral’s eye and she told Cecil it would make a marvelous tapestry.

When he agreed, Coral – in her inimitable way – declared that her daughter would weave it. Thus Marguerite’s career as a tapestry weaver began.

Cecil’s tapestry sold instantly and he and Marguerite split the proceeds. He also gave her the woodblock which still hangs in her Johannesburg home, as does an edition of that first tapestry.

Marguerite collaborated extensively with Skotnes in the early days  but she soon started working with a broader range of South African and global artists.

Her tapestries began to show at fairs around the world and adorn the walls of blue chip companies, convention centres, stock exchanges and the homes of eminent collectors.

Mags installing the Royal Hotel tapestry,designed by Judith Mason

Famously in the early 1980s, a 23m tapestry made in collaboration with Judith Mason was commissioned for the Royal Hotel in Durban where it still hangs today.

Mags and William in the tapestry studio at the beginning of their collaboration

In the 1990s Marguerite met up with a young William
Kentridge. William was immediately taken with the amplified textural interpretation of his work and he has ever since worked extensively with the studio.

It is in a large part through this collaboration that tapestries produced in the Stephens Tapestry Studio are shown in the world’s best known museums and galleries, and are coveted by collectors around the world.

Kentridge tapestries are sold and exhibited mostly
through William’s three primary galleries – Goodman Gallery (Johannesburg, Cape Town and London), Marian Goodman Gallery (New York, Paris and London) and Lia Rumma Gallery (Naples, Milan).

 

Christine in studio

The third generation of Stephens women is now running the tapestry studio. My name is Christine Weavind (I know, I know – my mother married phonetically well).

I formally took over the Stephens Tapestry Studio at the end of 2016. I learned to weave when I was 7, sitting beside my mother at the loom. I began rendering cartoons when I was about 17 and, while I continued studying and ultimately working as a financial journalist, I remained involved in the business.

The Johannesburg and Eswatini studios combined now employ 30 women, some of whom are grandchildren of the original team employed by my grandmother.

The Stephens Tapestry Studio is an all women operation – except of course for some of the artists – and some of the goats.