In my last post, I wrote an introduction to my Cromwell Cloke, with a view to sharing the “becoming” of a piece of my textile art. With that in mind, this series discusses some of the objects depicted on the Cloke, and the creative decisions behind each piece.
I sit and think about wearable art relating to Thomas Cromwell. I am not interested in creating something “historically accurate”. I am not interested in reproducing Sixteenth Century sewing techniques. I am interested in what I should wear to dream of Cromwell - or to create a sense of Cromwell, a feeling, an impression. Which people, which material objects, which stages of life, which qualities, which historical records, which aspects of Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell Trilogy will have to be stitched together to conjure his story? Where to start?
The starting point is of course Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (1473-1530), Thomas Cromwell’s master, mentor, and father-figure. Accordingly, the Cardinal section forms the backbone of the Cromwell Cloke. The first two objects stitched into this section are Wolsey’s Galero and two Cornish Choughs.
Both the Galero and the Cornish Choughs can be found on Wolsey’s coat of arms, still visible at Hampton Court Palace. In Clock Court, his arms are in the brickwork, overshadowed by the astrological clock that sits above them. Indeed, I was interrupted when taking the photograph below. A kindly guide thought I must be interested in the clock and wanted to tell me all about it. “Oh, I’m actually looking at Wolsey’s coat of arms,” I tried to explain. She drifted away, nonplussed.
Wolsey’s coat of arms can also be found in the stained glass windows of Hampton Court’s Great Hall. I was particularly pleased to see them in 2022 when I was able to get back into Hampton Court following the Covid-19 pandemic. I’d been stitching Cornish Choughs for two years by that point, and it was lovely to see them in situ in the glass at Wolsey’s old palace, albeit dating from an 1840s restoration, rather than dating from Wolsey’s own time.
Painting the Cloke
I wanted the images on the Cloke to stand out from their background of unbleached calico. I therefore decided to paint the Galero and the Choughs. I chose very bold jelly gouache - wonderful to use for painting on paper or card - that gives an incredibly dense colour, which does not bleed, even on fabric. I used this to paint directly onto the calico of the Cloke and I loved the initial result.
Stitching over the paint was another matter. Firstly, there was a cracking of the paint as I manipulated the fabric. I don’t mind this - it adds to the sense of aging - but the gouache also had a nasty habit of coming off on my hands, and then I had to beware of smudging. On reflection, I should have sealed the paint in some way, but once I had started with my needle, it was a bit late.
Whether I will use gouache again on the Cloke is open to question at the moment. I like the boldness of the Galero and the Choughs, and I think they are appropriately bold, given the importance of Wolsey to Cromwell. Later on, Cromwell even adopted Wolsey’s choughs for his own coat of arms - a very brave and provocative political statement after Wolsey was disgraced.
Cornish Choughs and Cornish Choughs
The first time I stitched Choughs was for the first Wolf Hall Quilt. That time, I stitched in outline only, and they were very sedate. Since then, I have depicted Cornish Choughs many times: on small pieces, on yellow satin, on playing cards, as a special gift to say thank you to someone for the inspiration they gave me.
When I am working on Choughs for Wolsey they remain fairly sedate. Cromwell’s Choughs are much rougher. There’s a much wilder element in his coat of arms. I will stitch in some of Cromwell’s ruffian Choughs elsewhere on the Cloke. But not near the Choughs that belong to the Cardinal.
Have I mentioned before using inktense blocks fixed with aloe vera gel? It does result in a very stiff fabric, difficult to get a needle through. But it doesn't smudge!
This is lovely work. I’m hanging in here, to see how it turns out. Suggest some embroidered fruit, apples, pears, plums for Crumb’s orchards.