Raby Castle
St Cuthbert's Banner: Medieval embroidery – with a contemporary twist
This is one of a series of articles from Ruth O'Leary. View some of Ruth's work in the Goldwork embroidery, Slip cases for books, Pictures and panels, and Individual pieces galleries.
Recently, I completed a commission to embroider and
make St Cuthbert’s Banner, a processional banner to be presented to
historic Durham Cathedral, in North East England. The Banner is entirely
hand embroidered, and took over 800 hours to make.
A lost medieval banner dedicated to St Cuthbert was held at the Cathedral before being destroyed in the Reformation. A detailed description of this has survived, and local heritage body the Northumbrian Association resolved to commission the making of a new Banner based on this description for presentation to the shrine of St Cuthbert.
A team of local artists and craftspeople was assembled, and I was chosen for the prestigious task of hand-making the Banner itself.
In recent years, I've tended to specialise in goldwork embroidery, and
for minutely detailed split stitch pictures. Both these techniques were
integral to medieval Opus Anglicanum embroidery, from which the finest
church textiles were made, so this experience and expertise were ideally
suited to the work. However, while the new Banner was inspired by the
lost one, it was not to be an imitation of it but an entirely new piece,
using ancient techniques, skills and levels of craftsmanship.
Intricately detailed local meadow flowers were worked using tiny split
stitches, to give a naturalistic and contemporary look, with goldwork
embellishment added for extra drama. Appliqué, another technique that
features prominently in my work, was used to add a large Cross of St
Cuthbert to central panels on both the front and back of the Banner,
itself decorated with gold highlights, beadwork and appliquéd detail.
It was thrilling and exciting to be selected for such a high-profile commission. It has been a real pleasure to work with other talented craftspeople, and the enthusiasm of the Association and its members for this historically-sensitive project has been inspiring. It was a great honour to be chosen to embroider something which will be used in such an amazing setting for so many years to come.
St Cuthbert’s Banner was presented to Durham Cathedral on St Cuthbert’s Day, 20 March 2012. The Banner was carried in procession by the project’s sponsor, John Cuthbert, through the streets of Durham to be received at the doors of the Cathedral itself before being dedicated to the saint.
It will now hang at the entrance of St Cuthbert’s shrine in the heart of Durham Cathedral, where it will be available to view by visitors.
Find out more
If you're interested in finding out more about Ruth's work or would like to discuss commissioning a piece of unique textile art, please get in touch.