Rare Tudor tapestry returns to Norfolk stately home Oxburgh Hall after 100 years
A Tudor tapestry reluctantly sold to an art dealer to help run a Norfolk estate in 1924 has been returned to its historic home after it was spotted by a National Trust worker.
The artwork depicts Queen Esther, who appears in the Old Testament Book of Esther and once adorned the walls of the King’s Chamber at Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk. This work, along with six others, was sold in 1924 to a French art dealer based in Paris and New York and taken to New York by ocean liner.
Its subsequent location remained unknown until “purely by chance” last year, when a National Trust curator spotted the tapestry on sale at an art fair in Maastricht, Netherlands, and alerted the real estate team in Oxburgh.
Research curator and collector Jeremy Warren had noticed the provenance on the exhibition label: ‘The King’s Chamber, Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk’.
The tapestry was purchased and returned to Oxburgh thanks to grant funding from multiple organizations and a private donation. Oxburgh Hall has been home to the Bedingfeld family for over 500 years. The seven tapestries were sold at auction in 1924 by Sir Henry Bedingfeld, 8th Baronet.
The National Trust said it was “one of many sales of important collectibles in the early 20th century to pay death duties and raise funds for the maintenance of the estate.”
“The tapestry has always been described as an Oxburgh ‘heirloom’ passed down through generations from Bedingfeld to Bedingfeld, so its sale can be described as ‘reluctant’,” a spokesman for the conservation charity said.
The location of the other six tapestries is unknown. The National Trust said all seven tapestries were sold by the Bedingfeld family to art dealers Seligmann & Co at the same time, and all were exported to the United States in 1925.
“There was a lucrative market for European artworks in 1920s America and companies such as Seligmann were at the forefront,” a spokesman for the National Trust said.
“As was common at the time, the tapestries were sold individually to art collectors.” Like the Esther tapestries, they have not been seen since the sale in 1924.
“They may still be in private American collections or they may have been sold privately to international collectors.” Claire Golbourn of the National Trust Textile Conservation Studio was part of the team assembled to verify the authenticity of the Esther tapestry and reunite it with Oxburgh.
He said: “The Esther tapestry survives in extraordinary condition, with a striking richness of color for its age.
“Although minimal use has been made of previous conservation and past reweaving processes, nothing can take away from the magnificence of this tapestry.”The intricate details of Esther’s cloak and canopy, together with the wonderfully realistic tassels, speak to the extraordinary craftsmanship and artistry of the piece.
”The tapestry is thought to have been part of the collection at Oxburgh since Tudor times. Dating from the reign of Henry VII, it is contemporary with the original furnishings of this Tudor courtier’s house.
Pierre Maes, director of the Royal Manufacturers De Wit, where the tapestry is offered for sale, said it was “a real honor and every art dealer’s dream” to “make a significant contribution to the history of a tapestry by returning it to its place of origin”. The tapestry will be on public display at Oxburgh from June 20 to December this year.
