The Tapestry Room. Digital image of B 38776.

Description The Tapestry Room. Digital image of B 38776.

Date c. 1950 to 1960

Collection Papers of George Hay, architect, Edinburgh, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 774362

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 38776

Scope and Content Tapestry Room, Prestonfield House, No 71 Priestfield Road, Edinburgh This shows the richly decorated Tapestry Room on the first floor. The ceiling is covered in deep moulded plasterwork which dates from the 17th century, and the walls are panelled in wood and hung with family portraits. On the right of the photograph can be seen one of a series of early 18th-century Mortlake tapestries depicting stories from Ovid. The Mortlake Tapestry was established in London by Flemish weavers in 1619 under the patronage of King Charles I. The workshops closed in 1703 after the quality of their work had decreased after the Restoration. At the height of production, the tapestries were of very fine quality, having '400 stitches to the inch' (2.5cm). Prestonfield House was rebuilt for Sir James Dick in 1687 by the architect Sir William Bruce (c.1630-1710) after being burnt down during a student riot in 1681. A single-storeyed extension was added in c.1830, and in 1890 architects MacGibbon & Ross added a bathroom extension. Within the grounds is an unusual circular stable block built in 1816 to designs by James Gillespie Graham (1777-1855). The house has been run as a hotel since 1959. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Accession Number 1991/27

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/774362

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap