Textile and Industrial Heritage - Peacock's Shop

I've been challenged to find an embroidery on the Tapestry to link with the Exhibition currently on show at Temple Newsam. This bedstead for 18/9 (that's about 94 pence in "new money") hardly compares with the magnificent, newly reinstated,  Queen Anne State Bed but if you visit the present exhibition there are some more lowly servants beds displayed, with interpretation panels, around the House.

It's apparently National Bed Month and to celebrate this:

Bedtime Stories: Temple Newsam is celebrating National Bed Month by having a special talk every Wednesday
Weds, 28th March (11am to 12pm)
Come along and find out about historical beds and bedrooms with stories about the beds at Temple Newsam House, including the Queen Anne State bed.  Booking is recommended, contact (0113) 264 7321.

There doesn't seem to be much information on the web about the forthcoming events  of Temple Newsam's Bedfest but Textile Hunter has gleaned more about it than any other.

Back to the story of Peacock's. Founded in 1849, Peacock's shop was on the corner of the Headrow and Park Row until 1977, when it moved to its factory site at Kirkstall Bridge Mills. In 1981 the firm were taken over by Durastic Ltd.

Mary Mawson, who hand stitched this piece, was employed in the curtain workshop of the firm for 26 years.

Textile and Industrial Heritage - Smeaton's Engine

John Smeaton has already starred on the Local Faces panel, above is a sketch of one of his engines which appears on the Textile and Industrial Heritage panel. The writing on the top is 'sketch of a (steam?) engine by J Smeaton about the year 1741'.

The subject is believed to have been drawn at Garforth Colliery c1741 (Royal Society). Thomas Newcomen designed a steam engine in 1712 mainly for draining mines. This is one of Smeaton’s drawings for an improved version of the engine. He improved the sealing on the cylinders and paid more attention to the measurements of the individual parts of the machine.

Mr Smeaton is being mentioned again now because there's a portrait of him at Temple Newsam, at the bottom of the stone staircase. If anyone is going to the Flocking Together Exhibition he or she can kill two birds with one stone and see the painting too.

The embroidery was hand stitched on calico which had been stained with tea and ironed when still wet to give it an old, stressed look. The material was then printed on a domestic printer - not a technique advised if you value your printer - giving an image which isn't colour-fast but fine if the whole piece is stitched. Anne Boyle embroidered the piece.

On the Move - Leeds Coat of Arms

Another magnificent rendition of Leeds Coat of Arms, this one hand stitched by Beryl Smith in 40 hours.

21st April entry describes the history of the Leeds Coat of Arms so I'm linking this one to "Flock Together", bird inspired Exhibitions and Events across the Leeds Museums Service. One of the most interesting exhibits at Temple Newsam has been borrowed from a library in Scotland. It is a priceless Audubon "Birds of America", volume 1 published in the early C19.

Lady Hertford had a copy of this book but it didn't last long. In 1829 she cut out some of the birds to add extra life to her Chinese wallpaper. For the duration of the exhibition at Temple Newsam (28th May - 30th November) the normally roped off Chinese Room has been opened up to give closer access to spotting these American birds in the Chinese landscape.

Flock there and wing your way to the bullion room - particularly this month when the open page of Audubon reveals magnificent Great Horned Owls.

Arts for All - Temple Newsam Wallpaper

I'm including this on the blog today as a reminder that the Wallpaper Exhibition at Temple Newsam is coming to a close at the end of the week. The Exhibition shows highlights of the collection of papers given to the house by Roger Warner.

The wallpaper collection at Temple Newsam was started as a research aid for redecorating individual rooms, each in a particular time period of the life of the house. Samples of historic papers have come from underneath floor boards (in rat's nests?) or have been recovered from behind woodwork added over the centuries as room sizes changed. Often very small samples have been just enough evidence of the pattern if the same was used in other houses.

The paper chosen to be represented on the Tapestry had just been re-hung in the Picture Gallery (1996), a facsimile of the flock hung there in the 1740s.

I could go on.........

Joan Holah hand stitched this piece on printed fabric.