A new exhibition at Hampton Court Palace celebrates the Royal School of Needlework’s collections and archive going online for the first time.

Embroidered mirror frame dated 1653 (RSN Collection)

The new exhibition, Tales of Textiles: The RSN Collection in Focus, which opens on 25 September 2024 and runs until June 2025, will showcase many of the first 100 pieces in the Royal School of Needlework’s collection and archive that have been digitised and catalogued.

The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) is the international centre of excellence for the art of hand embroidery and is home to more than 10,000 unique and priceless collection and archive pieces.

The first one hundred pieces give a tantalising glimpse of the breadth and depth of the RSN’s exciting treasure trove. These include textiles from the 7th to the 21st centuries, spanning from Guatemala, to Egypt, to the UK and everywhere in between as well as documents tied to the history of the RSN and its more than 150 years of embroidery design and production.

Tales of Textiles: The RSN Collection in Focus highlights the life of these key pieces, providing an opportunity to see them up close and hear their stories. Objects on display will span three centuries and tell a story of wear and use, protection and care, tradition and innovation, and about stitchers, both domestic and professional. Exhibits will include an embroidered mirror frame dated 1653, a Georgian man’s waistcoat, and a late 19th century Royal School of Needlework-designed cushion cover pictured below.

Blackwork cushion cover late 19th century (RSN Collection)

RSN Curator, Dr Isabella Rosner, said: “Through these pieces we see not only connections between who embroiders and who uses embroidery, but also the ever-present hand of the maker and the user, their humanity evident in every stitch. Although this exhibition’s focus is on the UK and English embroidery, it will include embroidered objects from all around the world which influenced how Englishwomen and men approached needlework.”

The new Collections website features comprehensive catalogue entries, including high-definition images for each object with the option to view stitches up close, maker’s names, dates, places, stitches, motifs, techniques and extensive descriptions. Visitors can also find out more about the techniques and stitches featured via handy links to RSN Stitch Bank. RSN Stitch Bank is an incredible educational directory of stitches and now includes over 400 stitches.

Dr Rosner added: “It is very rare for a textile collection to be made available to the public online, so we are delighted to be able to share some of our treasures. We hope that visitors to the Collections website are surprised by how many centuries and continents our objects span. This is just a first step and we will be adding an exciting variety of 2D and 3D pieces which span several hundred years. We look forward to building the platform to reveal more of the RSN’s amazing collection and archive with the world.”

Hampton Court Palace in London

The exhibition at Hampton Court Palace in London is open on set days only and each session is restricted to a maximum of 15 visitors. The visit includes an overview of the exhibition by an RSN member of staff and a tour guide to highlight the different exhibits.

The new Collections website can be accessed free of charge, anywhere in the world, at any time. Visit collections.royal-needlework.org.uk.

If you or your group would like to enjoy a visit to the Tales of Textiles exhibition at Hampton Court Palace on a tailor-made tour of England, or perhaps as part of a dedicated Embroidery, Quilting or Textiles Tour, please do contact our friendly team today.