Shaw Antiques Devon, UK - Marriage Bed-Hanging for Mary Queen of Scots

Whether or not you can visit the glorious west country for a Devon Cream Tea or not, you can always enjoy Shaw Antiques of Devon on-line. Sometimes they have the most amazing textiles for sale like this fragment of a needle-worked bed hanging, circa 1600. It is profusely decorated with foliate designs incorporating a wide range of flowers. These flowers include Thistles, Irises, Fox gloves, Aquilegia, and possibly Cobbae Scandens. There was an old inscribed label stuck to the back which reads as follows: “From Holyrood Palace. A portion of the bed hangings worked for Mary Queen of Scots on the occasion of her marriage with Francis of France embroidered with national emblems of both countries (the) fleur-de-lys, thistles, etc.” This label was removed during conservation work on the piece but is available. There have been conservation restorations and it has been mounted on stretchers with an added later green surrounding border. It measures 49" square and is priced at: £5950. For more details click here.