Norfolk Multivine
Elizabethan painted cloths for Stiffkey Old Hall, Norfolk
Project Type: Painted Cloth
Client: Private residential
Location: Stiffkey, Norfolk
Date: 2008
Artists: Melissa White & David Cutmore
Availability: private commission only
A set of painted cloths fitted wall-to-wall in a guest bedroom of this grand Elizabethan country house.
This was a wonderful collaboration with my studio partner the late David Cutmore. The project coincided with me moving into my current studio in Hastings in 2008. With a higher ceiling, here we were able to accommodate the enormous stretcher frames required for the project.
The Brief
The building of Stiffkey Old Hall was begun in 1576 by Sir Nicholas Bacon, lawyer and the Lord Keeper of Elizabeth I’s Great Seal. As part of extensive restoration work, the current owners discovered the remains of 18th-century stencilling in a guest bedroom. Whilst required by English Heritage to preserve this historically important decoration, it was not aesthetically pleasing enough to have on display. Thus the best way to protect and maintain access to it was to fabric-wall, or “upholster” over the top. This would allow for a breathable air gap all around the room. We also incorporated a secret panel that could be removed to reveal the best section of decoration.
The Design
David and I proposed a black & white “antique work” design, a genre that was at the height of fashion in late 16th Century Elizabethan England. The original wall painting survives to this day on the walls of a 16th-century townhouse in Sandwich, Kent.
It’s a wonderful example of the typical format of these floor-to-ceiling wall paintings: A scheme with a border at the top a dado design at the bottom and the “fill” in the middle. The scrolling multivine laden, with foliage, fruit, vegetable, snails and butterflies is divided by pilasters. A closer look reveals that the main, dense vine forms a heart shape centred on a giant ornamental column.
In its original setting there are two versions of the scrolling “heart” motif. One features mostly fruit and the other mostly vegetables. For the guest bedroom we alternated these around the room and added imitation dado panelling at the bottom to add height since the walls were taller. Above the doors we created cartouches with Latin sayings chosen by the clients.
The Process
At my studio we built a huge, wooden stretcher frame that could be raised and lowered on industrial pulleys. This allowed us to stretch and prime the linen horizontally on the floor then winch the frame back up to its vertical position for painting.
Like tailoring a suit we mapped out each section of the room and painted the design in pieces to fit the walls perfectly. Where the wonky walls met the ceiling we had to adjust the painted frieze to follow the undulations. This required surveying the room by measuring many points from a fixed horizontal laser line.
Having primed the canvas with rabbit skin glue for a drum-tight surface, we then applied a base coat of distemper. Next we made glue tempera with lamp black pigment with which to paint the design. Using an OHP to project the design ensures accuracy but also maintains the spirit of freehand painting and nuance.
As each panel was completed it was cut from the frame, rolled and stored until the whole set was complete and ready to be sent to Stiffkey Old Hall. Once there it was meticulously installed by professional fabric-wallers who used matching braid to cover joins and conceal stapling.
