Lambrequin Uncovered

A cold, dank day in a cold, dark room inside the Castle supervising photography for the Heritage Conservation Department. I watched in wonder as a team of textile conservators climbed up scaffolding towers and methodically removed the lambrequin - yellow silk decorative pelmet - from the drawing room walls before carefully laying it out on tissue paper and gentle rolling it for transportation to be cleaned.

The conservators and Castle curator were delighted to discover original labelling on the reverse of the fabric describing the object. Handwritten in artistic joined up writing that allows you to imagine it being written by a seamstress or designer back in the late 1930s when the lambrequin was first installed.

The design was commissioned by celebrity interior designer of the day Stephane Boudin who not only designed rooms for the last private owner of Leeds Castle, the Hon. Olive Lady Baillie, but also designed rooms in the White House for the Kennedys.

Looking forward to more photography with the conservation team over the coming weeks. Who knows what else we'll discover?