Article: Angels and elephants: Rosemary Crill examines two remarkable embroidered Indian textiles at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, a Gujarati floorspread, probably dating from the early eighteenth century, and a rare Bengali quilt that may have been made in the late sixteenth century.

Amongst the hundreds of important historic textiles that survive at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire are two important Indian trade embroideries; one from the Gujarat region, the other from Bengal. Unique in the collection, they are the only pieces from the sub-continent. The builder of Hardwick, Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury (c. 1527-1608), or 'Bess of Hardwick', married four times each successive husband wealthier than the last--and, as the owner of great estates in northern England, became one of the richest and most formidable women of the Elizabethan age. It is not known how the two embroideries entered the Hardwick collections, but Bess, who evidently had an interest ...

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