ABSTRACT
In 2015, whilst researching for a publication on extant Tudor textiles and dress, Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) curator Eleri Lynn rediscovered the Bacton Altar Cloth, an Elizabethan embroidery most recently used as a church altar cloth, but which showed intriguing signs of having a previous life as a garment. The altar cloth came to the textile conservation studio at Hampton Court, and a programme of study, research, material analysis and full conservation treatment was undertaken with collaboration from internal HRP curators, conservators and scientists, and external researchers and analysts. The project was managed by both Lynn from a curatorial perspective and the author as conservator. This case study aims to explore the strong collaboration between the two as the centre point of this project, and the far-reaching aspects of both historical research and conservation analysis and treatment, with the background of the cloth’s intriguing provenance driving this work. While the question of whether the altar cloth was a lost dress from the wardrobe of Elizabeth I could not be definitively answered, the research demonstrated that it is undoubtedly a very rare survival of elite Elizabethan embroidery.
