Royal Commissions
These cushions were a wedding present for the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall
The figures were worked in crewel wools and copied by eye from photographs of a nineteenth-century French tablecloth. They derive from La vie privČe des animaux by Grandville which, according to Lady Anne Tree, is a satire on political life in 3rd Empire France.
The stitcher added various motifs - he copied the Duchess of Cornwall's tartan from a picture in Hello magazine, adding a cornflower to the duck's hat as a reference to the Prince of Wales's favorite buttonhole, and the Prince of Wales' feathers to the Badger's cuff.
Embroidery threads from the Shetland Isles which were hand-dyed with natural dyes in Wales were used.
The photo below shows one of our volunteer teachers who carefully guided the sticher through the commission, the proud inmate who meticulously embroidered the cushions and Mel Jones, the Governor of HMP Albany.
