A new lease of life

The dovecot tapestries are going from strength to strength. Roddy Martine assesses a true Scottish treasure

It was more than two decades ago that I discovered the Dovecot Tapestry, in those days situated in the Edinburgh village of Corstorphine and on that occasion, I had been invited to a “cutting-off” ceremony.

It was my first visit to the workshop which had taken its name from the adjoining 17th century beehive-shaped Dovecot, now a visitor attraction, and being actively involved in the Scottish visual art scene at the time, it proved a revelation.

I had never seriously considered tapestry before, but seeing the walls of this workshop hung with literally dozens of dazzling images created in wool and other textiles, I was completely won over.

Established in 1912 by the 4th Marquess of Bute, the Dovecot Studios' original weavers came from William Morris' Merton Abbey Workshops in Wimbledon, London.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s they combined inherited skills with an innovative approach, and the interiors of many great houses and buildings at home and abroad benefited from their creativity.

In 1946, the studios were incorporated as The Edinburgh Tapestry Company, although they were still widely known as Dovecot.

In the years that followed, there have been creative projects with Stanley Spencer, Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland, David Hockney, Eduardo Paolozzi and Barbara Rae, producing a flow of astonishing and stunningly beautiful public and private commissions.

But inevitably all great creative ventures sooner or later run into financial problems, and despite its enormo...

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• By : Roddy Martine
• In : Best of Scotland
• Issue : 12
• Page : 68
• Words : 666