Conservation of rare State Bed cover reveals a patchwork of hidden details and wartime 'make do and mend'

The bed cover, or coverlet, and matching Chinese embroidered hangings were commissioned for Erddig in 1720 by then owner John Meller for the property’s Best Bed in the Best Bed Chamber – a room used to accommodate the family’s most distinguished guests. It became known as the State Bed and State Bedroom in the 19th century.

Delicately embroidered with peacocks in the four corners and intricate flowers along its edging, the bed cover was, until recently, thought to have been made entirely from imported Chinese silk - matching the State Bed’s curtains that feature Chinese figures, pagodas, birds and flowers.

Now, 689 hours of vital conservation work at the National Trust Textile Conservation Studio in Norfolk – generously funded by The Royal Oak Foundation – has revealed the treasured bed cover is actually made up of textiles and embroidery techniques from around the world, including Welsh and other British fabrics.

Volunteer research has discovered the coverlet’s intriguing make-up is a result of careful repair work led by Erddig’s Louisa Yorke, wife of Philip Yorke II, just after the First World War. The couple worked hard to preserve the house and its contents as household spending fell by more than a half and the number of servants at Erddig reduced.

Mrs Yorke spent her time patching and darning the deteriorating bedding using material thought to have been found around the home. Conservators found that material similar to petticoat quilting had been neatly stitched along the sides, in a very skilled example of ‘make do and mend’.

What is unusual is that she chronicled her efforts in a journal she named Facts and Fancies at Erthig on the Dyke, describing how others helped her to carry out the repairs. On 18 August 1919, she wrote: “My guests are all most obliging. We spent over an hour in the State-room putting pieces into the worn places of the beautiful Chinese drapery... It is a great work, but we shall get it done.”

Conservators also uncovered gorgeous sections of highly-coloured 18th-century British embroidery along the edging of the coverlet. Depicting bright, intricate flowers and grapes, the sections had been patched over during conservation work in the late 1960s and not seen since.

The work is the latest phase of an eight-year project to restore the State Bed, which the Trust began in 2018, generously funded by The Wolfson Foundation [2]. The bed was first conserved in the late 1960s after it was rescued from near dereliction by the Victoria and Albert Museum. It had been in a severe state of deterioration following decades of coal mining subsidence that caused water to leak onto the bed. The bed returned to Erddig in 1977, four years after the property came into the care of the Trust and underwent minor repairs in 1995; but by 2017 condition reports showed the original conservation treatments were failing, and major work was needed.

Jane Smith, senior textile conservator at the National Trust Conservation Studio said she had been privileged to work on the bedcover. “The failing 1960s treatment has been reversed, original silk has been supported onto new, dyed silk and fine conservation net is now protecting the fragile fabrics. The peacocks were removed enabling the quilt to be washed, revealing the unfaded colours on the reverse and giving an indication of how vibrant the bed used to be. Unfortunately, the gold-coloured braid along the edges was too damaged to conserve so a new braid was made, replicating the original," she said.

“To reveal the British embroidery was an exciting moment as it hadn’t been seen since it was covered over in the 1960s. It had been pieced together without any regard to pattern matching suggesting that much of the fabric was damaged with only some of the fabric being saved and reused. Adding these pieces of embroidery to a Welsh whole cloth quilt created a unique textile, bringing together Chinese, British and Welsh high-quality workmanship."

She added: “The evidence of the darning on the whole cloth quilt, carried out in the early 20th century together with the accounts of those that repaired it has been a fascinating link to those before me who wanted to preserve these important textiles. I have enjoyed adding a new chapter in the bedcover’s history of care and renewal, following on from all those that have valued it before me.”

From 4 September, visitors to Erddig will be given a rare chance to see the bed cover’s exquisite detail up close for the first time when a new display opens in the Print Room. Mrs Yorke’s journal alongside fragments of material, including patches of flowers and butterflies found in her workbag, will form part of the display.

Susanne Gronnow, Erddig’s property curator, said: “This is a unique opportunity for visitors to see the beauty of the bedcover up close, as it has never been displayed before. The discovery of some ‘new’ embroidery, hidden for over 50 years, means visitors can now see the bedcover exactly as the last Mrs Yorke would have known it.

“Thankfully, Mrs Yorke recognised the historical significance of the state bed. Her mend and repair approach helped preserve the bed-hangings for future generations. Without the dedication of Mrs Yorke and her friends over a century ago, this important bed would not have survived for us to see today.”

Conservation of the bed continues, with work due next on the bed’s cornices, curtains and gilded sections.

Visitors can also admire the Victorian parterre in the Grade-I listed garden where the summer planting scheme has been inspired by the coverlet. Two-tone dahlias and highly scented petunias echo the colour of flowers found in the cover. The Salvia farinacea picks up the blue threads, while the white begonias and silvery cineraria reflect the white tones of the bed cover itself.

The bed cover will be on display in Erddig’s Print Room, across the landing from the State Bedroom, from 4 September 2024.