21/04/2026
This is the third time I have worked with the extraordinary Textile Conservator Louise Squire. Both of us were fortunate enough to work for Hugh MacLeod of Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye in his quest to save a vast embroidered coat of arms, hand stitched by the devoted members of staff at the Castle in the 19th Century. This treasure had been all but lost, but Louise, with her golden touch, breathed life back into it and managed to transform the work of art from a lump of sad, crumpled, fabric to this glorious vision, looming it up on to a massive stretcher. The embroidery was then transferred from Sussex to Chiswick by our trusted carrier, Ian Kennedy, and JUST managed to squeeze into the house, but the frame had to be constructed on sunny days in the garden, which enabled us to move around it freely! I chose this versatile Dutch bolection - style of frame, with its charming embroidery set within the profile, and built it out with eight additional profiles on each side, thus creating a wide, impressive, very stable frame with overlapping butted corners, verso, for added strength. Massive screws were drilled in throughout, and metal plates to create a truly solid result, which was then covered with five layers of gesso, three of terracotta bole inside and out, and only a dash of black bole on top, to create a more interesting patina. We then waxed the whole with teak and antique pine waxes and polished it and this created the much darker, mysterious look. An inner slip of gold leaf was then added and fillets within the frame set the embroidery back from the vast sheet of acrylic glass. it was a team effort, with Wessex supplying us with the acrylic glass and the studio here all working together. Finally, it left on four piano wheels to make the long journey north from Chiswick to Skye. We all await news of how it looks hanging on the castle walls, which has just re-opened after the Easter weekend! A thrilling project which we all loved, made possible by the beauty of the work which Louise Squire had achieved before it arrived!
