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CHAS’ & RUBY’S |
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Since January 2002, a unique project has been taking place at Stirling Castle in Scotland and West Dean Tapestry Studio. …
Historic Scotland wanted to create for Stirling Castle, modern [reproductions] of the medieval Hunt of the Unicorn series of seven tapestries, currently hanging in the Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Inventories from the reign of James V show that a similar series of 'Unicorn' tapestries was part of the [Stirling Castle] royal collection. …
Once the commission was won, the team at West Dean Tapestry Studio first set about painstaking research into medieval techniques, the colour palette and materials. The team visited New York to inspect the originals and colour-matched yarns so that they reflect how the naturally dyed original yarns have faded over time … the new tapestries will be brighter than the originals now are. They also referenced the backs of the pieces, as the colours had not all faded at the same rate. …
For practical reasons, the new tapestries differ slightly from the originals. They are 10% smaller, so that they fit the proposed hanging sites in [the Queen's Presence Chamber at Stirling Castle], and warp settings of 8-10 warps per cm for the original have become 4 warps per cm, to take account of time and budget concerns.
“A fascinating tapestry project is underway in Scotland. In a set of seven large tapestries, weavers are retelling the ancient legend as told in The Hunt of the Unicorn, in which the unicorn is hunted down, killed and finally reborn. Originally created more than 500 years ago in the area of Belgium known as Flanders, the set is now being recreated in Scotland and England.
If you haven’t been there already; Go to the OTHER o’ MY TWO
STIRLING CASTLE FAVORITE PIX PAGES:
The GREAT KITCHENS discovered during a 1921 excavation,
and only recently cleared and partially reconstructed.
OR! JUST JUMP TO THE NEXT CASTLE I VISITED THAT DAY:
DOUNE CASTLE (The MONTY PYTHON Castle!)
c-d-miller@neb.rr.com
