Fine Cell Work were delighted to have been commissioned by the National Gallery Company to create some bespoke designs for their gift range. The cushions, stitched in silk and velvet and featured below, have been specifically made to tie in with the ‘Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey’ exhibition which was shown from Feb through to May at the Gallery.

The exhibition featured the most famous of Delaroche’s paintings ‘The Execution of Lady Jane Grey’.
Lady Jane Grey was Queen of England for just nine days until she was driven from the throne and sent to the Tower of London to be executed on 12 February 1554; she was just 16 years old.

In the painting, she is guided towards the execution block by the Lieutenant of the Tower; the straw on which the block rests was intended to soak up the victim's blood. If one looks closely at the painting, Lady Jane can be seen kneeling on a deep blue velvet cushion, it was this cushion that we took as the inspiration for the two designs created for the National Gallery Company. The silk design seen below bears the words ‘Lady Jane Grey is Innocent’ and we also created a velvet design based on the actual cushion in the painting.

We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to work with the National Gallery Company on this project and hope very much that this might be the beginning of an ongoing relationship.

The silk cushion can be seen below and purchased at the National Gallery’s online shop