Earlier this week, while looking for something else, I found a photo of another of Beryl Dean’s panels. They were commissioned by The Friends of St George’s Chapel. This Chapel is within the grounds of Windsor Castle.
This one, The Annunciation, is the first in a series of five. The finished size is 9′ x 4′ 6″. It would have required a special working framing as she described in her book.
I managed this time to get the colours a little nearer to their true colours. The halo area as well as the six flowers or flames are all stitched in a Whitework technique. In this, some of the threads from both the warp and the weft are removed. The remaining threads are used as the foundation for weaving in designs. I have never seen this used with colour and gold threads anywhere else. I think that other examples must exist somewhere and I know that you will tell me where they are.
The book is Church Embroidery by Beryl Dean 1982. ISBN 0-264-66842-1
Margo Brooks says
I don’t know how someone could finish ONE of these panels in a lifetime. Amazing and sooooooo beautiful!