The story of the Old Palace at Bromley by Bow and the Inktense Quilt Mantlepiece

I hope that you enjoy this slightly different Blog post. Maybe you are intrigued by the title or possibly just confused as to what the Old Palace at Bromley by Bow might have to do with quilting. All will be revealed....

In 2017 through a series of happy coincidences Pete and I met Handi Quilter Ambassador Laurie Tigner. Laurie is a quilt artist and has been successful as a quilter at various quilt shows in the USA. Her art background (she taught art prior to a career in the US Air Force) gave her the insight to use various art media with her quilts, including Inktense Pencils.  We were looking for a teacher who could offer various techniques including feathers and Laurie offered classes that were really interesting to us. So we invited her to the UK to teach at a series of workshops for Pinhole Quilting at the beautiful old barns of the Worcestershire Wildlife Centre in the Autumn of 2017.

Laurie was very familiar with the UK, having been based near Banbury while working in the military. She knew the Cotswolds very well so as a surprise I had pencilled in a rest day at the start of her trip to Chipping Campden and Broadway. They are only about 1/2 an hours drive from where we live. We didn't stop talking all the way from Heathrow to Worcester! It was drizzly and I apologised for the dull English weather. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed, "I love the rain. This is perfect!" I knew we were going to get on.

My driving tour took in Chipping Campden, the old marketplace, the High Street (Huxleys for lunch) and then up to the beautiful Chipping Campden Church. 

Huxleys for lunch.

En route we stopped in at a museum where some of the artists of the late 1890s and early 1900s were featured. The Arts and Craft movement is a period of art and history I've focused on for quite some time. Like many quilters, I'm a big fan of Charles Rennie Macintosh and was fortunate enough to visit Glasgow's beautiful School of Art before it was ravaged by fire (twice!). Laurie was too and we had some great conversations about art over lunch.

At the exhibition I saw a name that was familiar to me - C.R. Ashbee. C.R. Ashbee was an architect who had setup workshops in the East End of London, selling the beautifully crafted output to wealthy Londoners. He relocated to the village of Chipping Campden from the East End in the early 1900s. The Chipping Campden workshops developed skilled artisans.

C.R. Ashbee

My knowledge of C.R. Ashbee relates to his work regarding a building that had been acquired by the London School Board. In 1894 C.R. Ashbee wrote to the Times newspaper furious at the proposed destruction by the London School Board  of a building he knew well - The Old Palace at Bromley by Bow. Ashbee was involved with the setting up of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in London, in part due to the proposed demolition. The Board tried to stop the London School Board destroying the building which had been built in 1606 and contained a wealth of stunning and important architectural features - plasterwork by Dutch craftsmen, Jacobean wood panelling, Adams style fireplaces. You can read more about the contents on this link. 

My link to the building was through family tree research. I discovered that my Father's Mother's family (whose surname of Papineau has made them quite easy to trace) had lived in the house. A web search found a reference to the Great Aunt of my Grandmother - "Mrs. Papineau, who lived in the southern part of the palace from 1859 to 1873, states that there was a large medallion of James I. and his wife, Anne of Denmark, on the fireplace in the room above the state room. "  However, there is no indication that it was a royal palace and was probably the country retreat of a wealthy merchant.
When the building was destroyed some of the contents were relocated to the South Kensington Museum, now known as the V&A. They were primarily from the State Room of the house. 

Parts of the Old Palace at Bromley by Bow recreated at the V&A

When the V&A presented Quilts 1700 to 2010 we were invited to the preview of the exhibition as Directors of The Cotton Patch. A few weeks before I had discovered this family link to the Old Palace so when we visited the show we were able to walk through the State Room of the Old Palace at Bromley by Bow in it's new location as part of the Tudor section in the V&A. 

In the V&A notes I was amused to see that "The obelisks, and figures of Peace and Plenty on the fireplace, which had previously been taken from the room, were given to the Museum in 1901 by Miss A. Papineau, who lived in the Palace until 1869. "

I'm curious to know why Miss A. Papineau had taken them. Apparently the Old Palace was not in poor repair and so it's destruction is quite sad. It was wonderful to stand by the fireplace at the V&A and imagine my relatives looking at the same fireplace 150 years earlier.

I explained the outline of the link to Laurie who said that she would be visiting the V&A while she was in London after our series of workshops was over. I said it would be great if she could visit the Tudor section. 

In doing the research I also found that my Huguenot ancestors had been calico manufacturers in Carshalton with a mill, silk merchants and there are various strands of the family involved with the dye industry. Things had come full circle with the family through the creation of The Cotton Patch business in 1990. No wonder we all love to paint, draw and play with fabric!

So, that was the last I heard of the subject with Laurie for a few months. 

Then on Facebook Laurie started posting pictures of a project that she was working on. She said something mysterious about it being for someone who would know what it was. We were all mystified but amazed at the drawings.

Towards the end of the week that she was working on it I said on Facebook how incredible it was. She private messaged back and said "It's for you...it's the fireplace from the Old Palace at Bromley by Bow". At the time we were in the car driving home. Well I was absolutely flabberghasted to the extent that I couldn't speak for several hours and burst into tears! Pete thought someone had died. Every time I tried to speak no words came out. 

Eventually I managed to explain to him. I couldn't believe that anyone would conceive of making such an incredible piece. Then to actually gift it. Well, honestly, it took me quite some time to accept it.

The quilt was brought over by Chuck Fresina when we ran our Quilt Academy in early 2018. I think Laurie told him the consequences of losing it would be severe!

I burst into tears again when I opened it up. I don't think I've ever been given something quite so precious.

So, these are the pictures of how Laurie created the quilt.  She took photos on her visit.

She described her technique as follows.

"It is meant to look like carved stone. I started with light shadings and outlines of bark. Second go over was dark shadings with bark (bark is a colour of Inktense pencil). Third go over was with Oak for shadings in the figures and flora. Final go over was Bark again. Spritzed and ironed between each go over. After quilting used light layer of each to dye the threads. Used silk threads and some bottom line." 

My Dad Geoff and Brother Nik with Laurie's Wallhanging

I thought you may like some close-ups of both the Mantlepiece and the work that Laurie produced at our workshop in 2017.

And here are some photos of the Workshops that we ran with Laurie. It was a fabulous and inspiring four days. 

Laurie created a sample and after several days of feather workshops we did the Inktense day. This was the sample she created with detail. The second one is what I produced from the workshop which I absolutely loved doing. Laurie is a great teacher.

Laurie's beautiful sample is now in our showroom.

My first Inktense piece!

As quilters we are lucky when we meet those rare people who have such a fundamental impact on us that we will never forget. I'm lucky that I met Laurie Tigner. She is one of those. A generous soul. 

The beautiful 72 pencil set of Inktense

Inktense!

The work of one of the students on the Inktense day class

Laurie with Annelize

Laurie at the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust with a Medlar Tree

Laurie teaching how to create beautiful elegant feathers

The main hands on workshop area

Our final class 

Laurie with two of our lovely longarm customers - Sue and Margaret who are sisters

Quilting - it's about creativity and also about the friendship of the people that we meet on  the Longarm learning curve journey that inspire and share their skills. 

Laurie and Liz