Bespoke Spanish Knot Carpet
for the Bedchamber of Edward 1
in the Tower of London

The interior of the Medieval Palace, including the bedchamber of Edward 1 (1272-1307 A.D.) at the Tower of London is being restored. Since written records show that his wife, Eleanor of Castile, brought carpets with her from Spain, a Spanish knotted rug by the bed is part of the scheme.

The brief was to produce a rug with the authentic Spanish knot in which the mainfield was to take its inspiration from a Star Ushak in the Textile Museum's collection and the border was to be kufic in the manner of the Alfombra carpet in the Berlin Museum. The colours were to be fresh and bright as they would have been in Edward's time.

This page briefly documents the making of this carpet. A factsheet of the academic background of the Tower of London Restoration Project can be downloaded from the Royal Historic Palaces website.

The Warp

Madder Red

The Weaving Begins

Stage 2

Trimming the fringes

The Heddle

Pomegranate Yellow

Stage 1

Stage 2 Rear view of loom

Shearing the pile

Exotic
Cushion Covers

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The Spanish Weave

In the Textile Museum's
Catalogue of Spanish Rugs, Louisa Bellinger describes it thus:

• the warp yarns "lie on one level,
• the knots are tied on alternate warps in alternate rows, and
• there is one shoot of weft after each row of knots."

TRADITIONAL NATURAL
DYEING RECIPES
Yellow with Tesu
Brown with Walnut
Rust with Henna

Back of Spanish Weave

Back of Turkish Weave

Unlike the Turkish and Persian knots
which are tied on a pair, The Spanish Knot is tied on a
single warp string.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to thank Carol Bier and Doris Hendershot of the Textile Museum, Washington for providing us every kind of help including complete structural analysis of the Museum's collection of early Spanish carpets. Thanks also to Drea Lead for generously sharing with us her knowledge of medieval European dyeing practices.