Thursday 20 September 2012

WINDSOR CASTLE, ST GEORGE'S CHAPEL ALTAR RUG RESTORATION & CLEANING


We were instructed by Windsor Castle's St. George's Chapel to clean their Altar rug. It is a 705 x 350 cm big, hand knotted in Britain, wool pile on wool foundations rug. Drawing of the rug is dominated by repeated crosses in 14 columns interlocking each other in this 'all over' type of design. It does not feature a focal central point such as a medallion, field drawing is framed with interlocking floral palmettes.

We suggested that we remove the rug from the Altar place and give a full immerse wash to thoroughly clean this wonderful rug. Of course, surface cleaning would be a much easier option but we know how rugs should be cleaned, by full immerse wash only.

Once we have thoroughly inspected the Altar rug, we have noted areas at the ends which have been rather poorly repaired / altered in the past and some areas of wear due to usage.

Our main concern was with the sides and ends which were dressed with cotton material, quite crudely attached with no symmetry and no attention to detail. Apart from the way it was attached to the rug, cotton was also faded in many areas and showing signs of heavy dirt all around. Once we wash the rug, it would look stunning but the cotton material would make this wonderful rug feel awkward as it is impossible to remove heavy dirt from the cotton without damaging the fibres and faded areas could not be restored.

Above all, rugs are not meant to be presented in this manner at all, it is like hanging a Michelangelo painting on the wall with a staple gun rather than displaying in a beautifully hand crafted wooden frame. It is truly that wrong, the rug should be presented as it is meant to be, with woolen side cords to frame the beautiful drawing in the field appropriately.

Apart from the aesthetic concern, it is also fundamentally important to secure the exposed foundation threads, warps and wefts along the edges to make sure the rug is structurally safe to be preserved for many more decades to come. This can only done by precisely hand stitched side cords. Needless to say, rug was structurally very weak due to crudely attached cotton material along the sides and ends.

We could either, which we certainly did not recommend, remove the existing cotton material and attach a new one, at least it would look clean and tidy or create new side cords. New side cords would have correct colour woolen yarn, brown, to visually complete the outer main border too. Hand stitch side cord implication process also secures the rug's foundation threads one by one, which in return will extend the rug's life span dramatically.

Once we informed the Clerk of Works, Mr Poole at the chapel, he responded positively and accepted our proposal to restore this wonderful old rug with woolen side cords as it should be. Once completed and installed, it looked wonderful, with this simple restoration, transformation was dramatic. This is how true artisans can create such dramatic aesthetic improvement with a simple restoration / preservation process. If you have any rugs in similar state, you now know what needs to be done.

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WHEN WE RECEIVED IT

ANTIQUE RUG RESTORATIONANTIQUE RUG RESTORATION

RUG RESTORATIONRUG WITH CANDLE WAX ON  
AFTER WASHING, DURING RESTORATION

SIDE CORDS TRIMMED
After removing the cotton strips
NEW SIDE CORD BEING MADE
Clean line created, 32 ply cotton thread, chain wrapped to be attached
FOUNDATION THREADS BEING SECURED
Side cord being attached with needle, securing all the foundation threads one by one during process
HAND RESTORATION OF RUG
HAND STITCHING RUG

Side cords attached, all the foundation threads secured, woolen matching colour yarn wrapped around as original
ANTIQUE RUG RESTORATION

INSTALLING AT THE ALTAR PLACE

ALTAR RUG BEING INSTALLED
ST GEORGE'S CHAPEL ALTAR RUG
ALTAR RUG BEING INSTALLED
FINE RUG RESTORATION, RUGART
FINE RUG CLEANING, RUGART
ALTAR RUG INSTALLED
ALTAR RUG GROOMING
Final touch ups and grooming done by one of our expert restorers, rug is examined carefully for the last time

ALTAR RUG INSTALLED 

Installed in its place, Altar to be placed on the top

RUG RESTORATION & CLEANING, RUGART
View from the Altar place






























































































































ABOUT THE CHAPEL



ABOUT ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL

History of the chapel, timeline and plenty of wonderful images of the chapel can be seen here:


Chapel and Altar Place, focal point with the rug 

Built in 1348, magnificent building, certainly a 'must see' landmark in the country











ANTIQUE FRENCH SAVONNERIE RUG RESTORATION

French Aubusson and Savonnerie rugs are perfect examples of European take on making fine rugs. French were certainly the master of rug production in in 17th an d 18th centuries, many fine examples remain in European homes. They are highly sought after among dealers, collectors and rug enthusiasts.

This beautiful Antique French Savonnerie rug was in quite bad condition with many holes, slits and foundation showing areas. We have stitched more than 300 slits with a secret thread and restored about 30 holes with new foundation threads. As with all other flat woven rug restorations, a much larger area needs to be removed from the rug as surrounding areas threads will be very weak too. It is very common for antique rugs to have pile loss or holes in brown or black coloured areas as this dyes will result in weaker fibres compared with rest of the rug. This rug was no exception as all the holes were formed in black part of the rug due to weakness of woolen fibers.

It is about 50 square meters, was never washed in its life span in more than 100 years, it was certainly a challenge and we successfully washed and restored this beautiful rug to its full glory within two months. Our client is delighted with the result, restoration will keep it safe for many more decades to come. www.rugart.biz



WHEN WE RECEIVED IT



Some of the old repairs, very crudely done


To restore this holes, all the black yarn around needed to be removed


One of the hundreds of slits, note the old repairs where the slits were secured by visible thread



RESTORATION PROCESS





























All the restored areas can be seen with exposed thread ends, all over the rug...
 

Final touch ups and grooming in place