A 14 year West Dean Tapestry Studio project to beautifully
recreate 'The Hunt of the Unicorn' series of tapestries, has
reached its conclusion in Edinburgh this week.
The final tapestry in the series 'The Mystic Hunt of the
Unicorn', designed and woven by Master Weaver Katherine Swailes and
her team at West Dean Tapestry Studio, was unveiled at Stirling
Castle in Edinburgh on Tuesday, 23rd June. With large parts of the
original tapestry missing, Katharine had to use research as well as
her keen eye, to complete this wonderful piece. The unveiling
marked the culmination of the biggest tapestry project undertaken
in the UK in the last 100 years.
The project was commissioned by Historic Scotland in 2001 as
part of a wider project to restore the interiors of the palace of
James V to how they may have looked in the 16th Century, when it
was home to James' wife Mary of Guise and their young daughter,
Mary, Queen of Scots.
The Original tapestries were purchased in 1922 by American
business tycoon, JD Rockefeller and hung in the Cloisters Gallery
in New York as part of the Metropolitan Museum. 14 years ago, the
West Dean Tapestry Studio was entrusted with the painstaking task
of recreating the stunning medieval tapestries from scratch, and my
word did they deliver!
"Projects like this are few and far between - based on history,
generations will pass before something similar is undertaken…At
West Dean College, we're proud of our contribution not only to this
project, but our wider work in the fields of conservation and
creative arts, helping to develop new skills and to protect others
from being lost".
The historic event drew attention from all over the country,
with BBC South Today also covering the event and visiting us here
at the West Dean Tapestry Studio to talk to our very own Master
Weaver, and driving force behind the works, Katharine Swailes.
Click here
to view the piece (21.50 minutes in) on BBC iplayer. Katharine also
spoke to BBC Radio Sussex about the project on the morning of the
Stirling Castle unveiling. Listen here… (1:37.49
in)
