Hampton Court Palace
is world renowned as one of the largest intact Tudor buildings in the United Kingdom.
It only seems fitting that my experience assisting in research as a curatorial
intern for two months this summer revolved roughly around three future
exhibitions focusing on different aspects of the Tudor court and the life of
Henry VIII.
Assigned to the Buildings History curatorial team, a major on-going
project I led was archiving transcripts of the History of the King’s
Works from the 1530s. Devising a strategy of how to protect the now
ageing typewritten transcripts, each grouping of one year was subdivided into
fortnights and put in more stable storage that allows for greater ease of
access for future researchers. I also brought together sources that described
the interior spaces of the royal private apartments in order to piece together
what those spaces would have looked like in the time of Henry VIII—from ceiling
decorations, quantities of wainscotting, and specific furniture to specific
rooms within these constantly evolving lodgings. Additionally I assisted in
researching canvas measurements and varieties from the sixteenth century to
shed further light on Tudor tents primarily used during travel for military
campaigns. As well as working with the curator of the Royal Ceremonial Dress
Collection originally at Kensington Palace, I prepared for external storage
audits by finding relevant correspondence relating to the ownership of certain
objects. This related to further research on Tudor textiles in particular
linking a piece referred to as the Bacton Altar Cloth to members of court under
the reign of Elizabeth I.
The technical history of textile structures that many courses at
BGC provided were incredibly important in my research work on the interior
design of royal private spaces and informed discussions of the significance of
materials within dress history. The emphasis on understanding historical
production techniques in my master’s coursework fueled my interest in
participating in a course on Developing Goldwork Embroidery Samples at the
Royal School of Needlework located within the palace complex. This experience
of practical research, generously funded by The
Embroiderers’ Guild of America, further strengthened
my research on the uses of cloth of gold and cloth of silver within two realms
of Tudor life, namely ceremonial tents that served as portable palaces as well
as in royal dress and courtly systems of gift giving.
Because I was thrown into discussions on archeology, buildings
history, site conservation compliance, archival processing, tapestry
conservation, preventative conservation through 3-D dust mapping, academic
research, and the future for digital initiatives, this work experience has
given me tremendous insight into the heritage sector. All set against the
beautiful palace surroundings, our offices were accessed via turret stair and
overlooked the court garden blooming with millefiori plants depicted in this eponymous style of tapestry design.
Visiting the various sites maintained by Historic Royal Palaces created a
dialogue between different neighborhoods within London, but also provided a
gateway into a diverse range of interpretive time periods as early as the twelfth
century (Tower of London) all the way through the late nineteenth century (Kensington
Palace). This was a truly magical experience that I would strongly recommend to
students with interests in curatorial interpretation of historic houses,
buildings conservation, or the architectural origins of English country house
design.
— Carson Wos
