Luxury fabrics
Work on the State Bed brought together lots of local and specialist manufacturing companies, for reupholstering, delicate gilding and ornate carpentry.
The use of luxurious gold thread for the lace and braiding was one of the most unique aspects of this particular project and the restoration. We believe that the gold thread for the original bed was quite possibly made in Derby, we were lucky enough to find a local company Heritage Trimmings, who still made it.
One thousand five hundred metres of bespoke replica silk was needed to complete the restoration to the whole apartment, including the re upholstery of the bed and seat furniture as well as the walls.
Testing times
The tester (top) of the bed proved particularly challenging to restore as it was the only part of the bed to have original 18th century damask on it which we were very keen to preserve.
Fixing the new damask to a curved surface proved a very tricky job for the conservators but with some clever use of separating barriers and traditional Japanese starch glue we got there in the end.