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'A Common Thread'

A group of twelve or so members of the Goldwork Guild led by Janice Williams met in Liverpool to see the ecclesiastical embroideries held in the Elizabeth Hoare collection in Liverpool Cathedral, meet the conservators in the city's Conservation Centre and visit the Lady Lever Art Gallery to see stumpwork.

First stop then in the triforium high above the nave for a very well documented and carefully arranged exhibition of rescued church embroideries.  These (including three cathedral altar frontals) were due for the dustbin at a time when appliquéd work became fashionable.  Fortunately saved, these pieces demonstrate beautiful stitching in silk and superb goldwork where the laying of the threads gives the leaves, stalks and flowers depicted, a marvellous 3-dimensional look.  Taken behind the scenes and donning gloves we were able to move, rearrange and look closely at items held there.  Not surprisingly we were reluctant to do this not having had such an open invitation before.

The items for Liverpool Cathedral had been designed by architects at the beginning of the twentieth century though much to their chagrin 'amateur' ladies were given the work to do.  It was, however, due to Elizabeth Hoare, niece of the cathedral's architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, that these items were rescued in the 1960s and 1970s.

Next, to the Conservation Centre which is in the middle of the city.  It has displays for the public to see, but again, due to Janice's organisation we were fortunate to be able to go behind closed doors and visit the laboratory of the textile department.  We looked at some very old stumpwork sent from the Lady Lever Art Gallery.  The embroidery was in a poor state but we were able to see how single stitches had been made and from what, due to amazing electronic magnification presenting pictures on a TV-type screen.  Conservation has six steps:

It is a lengthy and painstaking business and those working on a particular project become great experts before moving on to the next item, which may be something completely different.

The Lady Lever Gallery at Port Sunlight was built by the first Lord Leverhulme and it contains fine examples of English embroidery from the 17^th and 18^th centuries, and this was our last stop.

In the education room, the Head of the Gallery, Sandra Penketh showed us a number of historic stumpwork pieces.  These are not on public display so once again we enjoyed a privileged viewing and first-rate information about what was known of the works.  We were able to take photographs for our own interest but not for public use.

It had been a most enjoyable and informative day and it will no doubt influence the way we plan and work our next embroidery what ever it is.

Thank you Janice.

Val Rowe