A Material World - 'Revealing the Coventry Tapestry through Conservation'

Alison Lister (Textile Conservation Limited): 'Revealing the Coventry Tapestry through Conservation'

The process of conserving a historic artefact provides opportunities to gather data on its composition and condition that can inform its future interpretation, presentation, and preservation. In this seminar, Alison Lister (Textile Conservation Limited) will describe and illustrate the initial results of a detailed examination and assessment of the late 15th/early 16th century tapestry from St Mary’s Guildhall, Coventry. This 9m long by 3m high tapestry, woven in wool and silk, was made specifically for the building and is believed to depict King Henry VI and his wife Margaret of Anjou. As part of a major refurbishment of the Guildhall, the tapestry is undergoing conservation to prepare it for redisplay, providing a rare opportunity to record key features of its materials, structure, design, and alterations that can then be made available to the public. 

This event is part of the Warburg Institute’s programme A Material World: Ritual, which brings together academics and heritage professionals from a wide range of disciplines to discuss issues concerning historical objects, their materials, forms, and functions, as well as their conservation, presentation, display, and reconstruction.

Organisers: Rembrandt Duits (Acting Curator, The Photographic Collection, The Warburg Institute) and Louisa McKenzie (PhD student, The Warburg Institute).

Book on the Warburg Institute/University of London SAS website