The results of major restoration work on a set of rare paper curtains at a historic Co Down home have gone on display to the public.
The project marks the latest milestone in the large-scale conservation of the house and gardens at Mount Stewart on the shores of Strangford Lough.
The Naples bed-hangings are survivors of a short-lived fashion for paper curtains and have been part of the decor of the house since the 1870s.
It is thought they may be the only example remaining on display in a public collection.
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Regional conservator for the National Trust, Claire Magill, said: “The bed-hangings are made up of a half tester over a shaped valance with decorative ruffles and several flat curtains which can be drawn at the side, exactly as expected of fabric drapes, except these hangings are made of printed, laminated paper, with an embossed surface texture.
“Over the 150 years since the curtains have come to the house, time, light and other environmental factors have caused the paper in the hangings to degrade and begin to break down.
“Make do and mend repairs throughout the intervening years have meant the hangings are still intact, but in danger of being lost eventually without considered and specialist conservation measures which included surface cleaning and extensive repairs to the split and torn paper, creating paper infills to areas of paper loss and attaching newly printed digitally reconstructed linings to improve the structure of the curtains.”
The restoration of the Naples bed-hangings was a collaborative project between textile conservation experts at the National Trust Blickling conservation studio for textiles and Emily O’Reilly, an expert paper conservator, assisted by student conservators from Cardiff University and the City & Guilds of London Art School, and has been the result of two years of research and careful conservation at specialist studios in the UK.
Senior paper conservator for the National Trust, Nicola Walker, said: “Our research, which took us from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, to the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, has shown us that the window of time in which these curtains could have survived was very narrow.
“It is likely that only through the timely and inventive repurposing of the curtains into bed drapes by Edith, Lady Londonderry, in the mid-20th century, that they can remain in position now, more than 150 years after their arrival at Mount Stewart, for the public to see up close.
“These bed-hangings are a really important artefact, not only because they are an integral and valuable interior feature of Mount Stewart, but also because it is so unusual for something made of paper to stay intact for so long.
“They are a fantastic and potentially unique example of a moment in interior design fashion.
“Items such as these are a window into the past, and being able to make them accessible for everyone to see and enjoy is a huge part of why the National Trust invests in conservation projects like this.”
The Naples bed-hangings are currently on display and can be viewed at Mount Stewart. -PA