Last October, the team at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire, applied for the Tru Vue Conservation and Exhbition Grant, towards the cost of manufacturing two identical display cabinets to exhibit a rare silk doublet, last displayed at the V&A in the 1990’s along with its matching trunkhose.
For the team at Grimsthorpe Castle, Emma Miller, Collections Curator and Emma Ronald, Castle Manager, the conservation of a rare silk doublet, prompted a two-pronged conservation approach; conservation work on the doublet itself, which has recently been completed by Tuula Pardoe ACR supported with a contribution grant from the Pilgrim Trust, and the ability to display these fragile objects appropriately in optimum environmental conditions. Following their successful application for a grant from Tru Vue and Icon, the costume will go on show this summer at Grimsthorpe for eight weeks as part of their Military Lives exhibition, carefully displayed in bespoke cases funded by the grant.
The objects are highly significant as they are rare survivors of elite court dress of the early 17th century and are thought to have been worn by Robert Bertie, Lord Willoughby de Eresby (later 1st Earl of Lindsey and Lord Great Chamberlain of England) at the coronation of James I. Their display at Grimsthorpe Castle, where Bertie lived, is vital in contextualising their significance. As examples of early Stuart dress, they feature in costume historian Janet Arnold's seminal Patterns of Fashion series.
The Military Lives exhibition will run through July and August, full details will be published on Grimsthorpe Castle’s website.