Cleaning Tapestries

One of the main aims of the tapestry project at The Bowes Museum is to get a number of tapestries on display.

During the last two years I have worked on three large tapestries. I am now working on a tapestry called the ‘Presentation of the Virgin‘(after a woodcarving by Dürer), to make it strong enough to hang in the gallery.

Before support stitching could start, we had to clean it.

Because we could not remove all the dirt with a vacuum cleaner, we washed it in a washing table in the Museum. It took a whole day to wash, but seeing the brown, dirty water flowing away, was very satisfying. Now it is undergoing further conservation treatment. Visitors can see this conservation, which is mainly taking place in the gallery.

We also washed the tapestry ‘Crowned L’s, Clubs & Sceptres’, which will be on display in the near future. It has been made strong enough to be on display without a support fabric, so you can see the back and compare the differences to the front (colour, thread ends).

Below you can see how we washed the two tapestries.

Soaking

Blotting

Drying out

Turn over

Washing

Rinsing

InterOpera are returning to @TheBowesMus

InterOpera are returning to @TheBowesMuseum to launch Brass: Durham International Festival on 6 July. http://ow.ly/i/FaAP http://ow.ly/bgqAr

RT @sjmillinery: Girls @TheBowesMuseum l

RT @sjmillinery: Girls @TheBowesMuseum last night #glamour http://t.co/MLuUj22S

Amazing hat donated by @SJMillinery for

Amazing hat donated by @SJMillinery for 1st prize at our preview evening tonight modelled by Rosie with Stephen himself http://ow.ly/i/DvZb

A Beautiful Ruin

I’ve been trying to find out about an old armchair in our stores. It appears to be a genuine 17^th Century chair, but re-upholstered in the 19^th Century. Its status as a museum object is thus severely compromised. A consultant once said:

“This is an English chair, c. 1695, very high quality frame, with Victorian upholstery, feet cut and castors added.”

However, it is very similar to furniture from the Royal Palaces now at Knole in Kent; I showed photos on a study visit there to see if anyone knew more about it, or could comment further. Similar eagles on the chairs at Knole refer to Mary of Modena’ s marriage to James II. John Bowes bought an ‘easy chair’ in London in 1840, the bill is in  the County Record Office, when he was re-furnishing his home of Streatlam Castle, and I wonder if this is the one? He was an old fashioned guy who liked to keep things in the old style. Whatever it is, it is a beautiful ruin, but it may have some documentary interest. This is why museums keep some things in stores, for study and reference purposes, without showing them!

Howard Coutts, Keeper of Ceramics, The Bowes Museum

The Dacre Hall Chimneypiece

The Dacre Hall chimneypiece is now back in its original home in the Dacre Hall, next to Lanercost Priory in Cumbria. In March this year The Bowes Museum released it to go back on long term loan to the newly restored Hall. After consulting with The Bowes Museum’s Principal Keeper and Conservation Manager, Rupert McBain, the furniture conservator from Winston, and his staff spent a week carefully rebuilding and fixing the chimneypiece back in place around the fireplace it was originally made for in 1618.

There was a grand opening on Friday 23 when Bob Van Gulik, the Project Manager for the Dacre Hall’s restoration said: “It’s certainly not your average village hall and the mantel makes it even more special.”

The fireplace has an interesting history. After the dissolution of the monastries, Henry VIII gave Lanercost Priory to Sir Thomas Dacre who created a new hall in the old prior’s lodgings, and commissioned this chimneypiece for it.  The chimneypiece bears three coats-of-arms: that of Sir Thomas (left), his son Christopher Dacre (centre) and his second son Henry Dacre (right).

In the 17^th century the Dacres fell on hard times and the chimneypiece was removed to Kirklinton Hall, Cumbria. The fireplace was then purchased in 1952 by The BowesMuseum with the help of the V&A Museum Purchase Grant Fund.  Several years later the hall fell into disrepair and is now just a shell, so it was a narrow escape for the fireplace.

It then went on show at the Bowes until 2009 when it was removed and put into storage to allow for the new English Interiors Gallery on the first floor. There had been ongoing discussions with English Heritage and the Lanercost Hall Committee since 2007 for the long term loan of the chimneypiece to Lanercost Hall, its original home and in March 2012 it went back to its original home.

In the 17^th Century the fireplace would have been an awesome piece of architecture which Sir Thomas Dacre would have used to show how wealthy and powerful he was. There were very few similar examples anywhere else in the country, and the hall would have had painted walls with heraldic designs reflecting the fact that at one stage the Dacres were the 6^th most powerful family in the land.

Jon Old, Consservation Manager, The Bowes Museum

Wedding dress designed by Titanic survivor unveiled on centenary of disaster

This summer’s show in the Fashion & Textile Gallery at The Bowes Museum features a dress designed by Lucile which spotlights both the glamorous and dangerous worlds of 1912.

The fascinating story behind this exquisite wedding dress is revealed.  Apart from Lucile’s escape from the Titanic in April, 1912, the exploits of the bride and groom on their honeymoon in June 1912 are equally incredulous.

This is a story of pioneering aviation and the bravery of a bride and groom, as well as an appreciation of a beautiful gown created by the foremost fashion designer of the time.  Lady Duff Gordon, known as ‘Lucile’, had fashion houses in London, Paris and New York and was the first designer to stage fashion parades using beautiful models.

This creation, a seductive mix of shimmering soft satin, pearls and diaphanous layers exemplifies her signature style at the height of her career. Cecil Beaton considered that the Lucile ‘creations of this period are surely the loveliest….. drapery of filmy chiffon was weighed down with embroidery of almost incredible delicacy’.

The Lucile dress will make its appearance on 14^th April in The Fashion & Textile Gallery at The Bowes Museum.  At present it is nestling in tissue paper in its own special box in the textile conservation room awaiting the conservator and the mount-maker to bring it back to life. Although approaching its centenary, the dress is in almost perfect condition, preserved and treasured by the family until they donated it to The Bowes Museum in 1989. The donors were nieces of the bride; Princess Iris Wittgenstein, Diana Cavendish and Sylvia Ryle-Hodges.

The lid of the storage box has been removed to reveal the dress; the Lucile label inside the bodice is just showing.

The bride, Linda Beatrice Morritt, wearing the Lucile dress, and the groom, William Barnard Rhodes Moorhouse. The wedding took place at St. Paul’s, Knightsbridge on 25th June 1912.

The Lucile label on the inside of the bodice.

By Joanna Hashagen, Keeper of Textiles