Humphries Weaving creates silk for Gainsborough's House

During the 14th century, Edward III settled Flemish weavers in the town, resulting in the establishment of a clothmaking industry which thrives to the present day.  

Sudbury is a member of the Wool Towns Association and, as home to four working silk mills, it is also the centre of UK silk weaving, with its luxurious fabrics known all around the world.    

So, when the renowned 18th-century portrait and landscape painter Thomas Gainsborough’s birthplace was undergoing a £10m renovation, transforming it into the national centre for the artist’s work, it was only fitting that the town’s rich history should be woven into the project.  

Especially as Gainsborough, reputedly a favourite painter of George III and the royal family, was himself the son of a weaver. 

The new-look Gainsborough's House was revealed to the public in November after a three-year closure during which it has doubled in size, turning it into Suffolk’s largest art gallery. 

And Sudbury-based silk specialist Humphries Weaving specially created and donated a silk, based on archive research, to line the gallery where Gainsborough’s grandest canvasses hang.  

Humphries Weaving business manager Natalie Mumford says: “With Gainsborough’s connection to Sudbury and the silk industry, it was important for us that the walling of the Gainsborough Gallery was woven locally.” 

Humphries Weaving account manager Alex Daniels worked closely with the team at Gainsborough's House to develop period-appropriate colour and select a design from their archive; everything was then dyed and woven on their site at Sudbury Silk Mills in Cornard Road. 

Alex studied woven textiles at Manchester School of Art before achieving a first class degree and receiving multiple awards for her handwoven fabrics and design skills.  

She then worked for textiles studios and interiors brands across the country before joining the Humphries Weaving team in 2019. 

“We are always drawing upon the characteristics and aesthetics of the traditional textiles we create for historic restorations, and regularly utilise these for the contemporary fabrics created for leading interior decorator brands,” she says.  

“I love exploring these old and new design styles and working with such a broad range of noble fibres, colours and clients.” 

One of the most important elements of Alex’s role involves the research and consultancy surrounding historic textiles.  

When presented with fabrics which are often hundreds of years old, she finds it fascinating to piece together all of the missing components to establish the story of each unique cloth.  

Describing recreating textiles, and giving them a new lease of life, as “a privilege”, she’s worked on projects for the National Trust, English Heritage, embassies in London and global work for private individuals in the United States and the Netherlands.  

She is also heavily involved with contemporary interiors brands and regularly spots these fabrics featured in House and Garden and leading hotel chains. 

Alex says that it was “really special” to be involved in a project in her local town. 

“Such prestigious paintings will adorn fabric I had the pleasure of creating, and I’m sure I will admire it for many decades to come,” she says. 

As Gainsborough was most prolific in the third and fourth quarters of the 18th century the new gallery walling was selected to reflect this time period. 

As there was no historical evidence available, they had to build an authentic fabric from scratch.  

“Many site visits were held to determine the DNA of the new silk fabric, and the team watched the building grow from the bricks and mortar to the spectacular finished gallery,” says Alex.  

As she explains, the first important decision was colour, and a rich green was chosen to mirror the green of the landscapes Gainsborough was so famous for and to work with the gilt frames.  

To find an accurate green they looked in their textiles archive and found a selection of colours sourced from the third quarter of the 18th century.  

The chosen shade was found at Ranger’s House, a palladian-style Georgian mansion in Blackheath, London, during the restoration of some curtains. 

The next decision was the design itself. After reviewing many designs from the period, three possibles were chosen: the Braintree Basket, the Abberton and the Arkesden damask.  

To help with the decision, Alex created CAD simulations of the paintings with the silk walling to an approximate colour and scale of the damask.  

After much deliberation, the Arkesden design was chosen, and weaving began around a year ahead of installation.  

Staff from Gainsborough’s House went to the mill to watch it being weaved on its state-of-the-art Jacquard looms.  

In all around 2.5 million metres of silk yarn was used for the project, which involved more than 20 local people from the team at the mill. 

And after a year of development, the silk walling was installed by restoration specialists Hesp Jones and Co. 

Further fabrics from Humphries Weaving can be found on the donation panels, the curtains in the Music Room and the red flourish in the artist’s studio.  

There are also loaned items on display in the new Silk Room, housed in the upstairs of the original house, which explains the importance of weaving in Sudbury. 

The silk weaving industry was originally based around Spitalfields, Bow and Bethnal Green in London, but many weavers moved to towns such as Sudbury, Braintree and Halstead on the Suffolk-Essex border to avoid the heavy taxation imposed by the city.  

Humphries Weaving was established by Richard Humphries in 1972. He was the last graduate from the design apprenticeship scheme from leading silk weaving company Warner and Sons Braintree. When the company was taken over and the weaving operation subsequently closed, he raised the capital to save some hand looms, Jacquard cards and the Jacquard card cutting machine and founded his own silk weaving company. 

Sudbury’s and Gainsborough’s association with weaving is also reflected on the outside of Gainsborough’s House. 

The design of the external brickwork was detailed to mimic the warp and the weft to create a woven effect and the bricks were sourced locally, from Bulmer Brickmakers.  

And the angled shape of the roof mimics local weaving mill sheds, where extra height was required to house the Jacquard loom heads.  

Currently, inside the centre, visitors can enjoy a collection of the best work from Sudbury's most famous son from the centre's own collection as well as from the Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery, and exhibitions about his early life, love of music and a recreation of what his workspace may have looked like. 

Elsewhere in the centre, there is a significant collection of works by Cedric Morris, which was gifted to Gainsborough's House by Maggi Hambling and Robert Davey in 2017 and a selection of landscapes by John Constable. 

Previous exhibitions at Gainsborough's House have included a show celebrating the work of the late legend of the fashion world, Vivienne Westwood, which was held in 2019 as part of the inaugural Sudbury Silk Festival. 

For more information about Humphries Weaving visit humphriesweaving.co.uk. To find out what’s on at Gainsborough’s House go to gainsborough.org