A PATCHWORK made in the 1830s, which lay lost and forgotten for more than a century, has been reunited with the woman who saved it.
June Layden handed over the precious textile to Glasgow Museums in the 1980s, when she worked for former director Alasdair Auld.
She explains: “We had no idea how my dad came to have this – it was only when I saw it, folded up in a black bag, that I thought it looked like something that should be in a museum.
“Mr Auld was a very kind man - when I told him my husband Frank had lost his job as a framer, he offered him a job at the Transport Museum, first of all, and then the Burrell Collection.
“One day I told him about this tapestry my dad had. I wanted to donate it to Glasgow museums, as it seemed important, and I wanted it to be safe.”
The tapestry is in fact an inlay, or mosaic, patchwork hanging, made by Paisley-born tailor John Monro, who later had premises on the Bridgegate in Glasgow.
It depicts seascapes, animals – including a lion called Burns - buildings and theatrical scenes. It was made over the 1830s and 1840s, from wool broadcloth, most likely off-cuts from military uniforms, and is embroidered with silk thread.
Glasgow Museums conservator Helen Hughes believes it is “very significant” in the history of Scottish textiles.
“It is incredibly well-preserved, and a fantastic item to have in the collection,” she adds. “It is a work of embroidery and sewing by a man, which was very unusual, and we know who he was and when he made it.”
An inscription along the bottom includes the words: “John Monro The Paisley Artist-Tailor Born May 16 1811 Author of the Royal Clothograph Work of Art. This Piece of Art took 18 years to complete at Odd Hours. All round the border is the Names of Men of Learning and Genius….”
It is believed the Royal Clothograph was an earlier work by Monro, Helen points out.
“We thought at first this might be the Royal Clothograph but after some research, it seems that was an earlier work,” she says.
“This is one of three or four similar works in the collection, and it has been mentioned in books and exhibited at the V&A in London, and at Kelvingrove.”
The 1851 Scottish Census lists Monro as the “Assistant Exhibiter of the Royal Table Cover Tailor Exhibiting” and research has also found contemporary newspaper reports of him displaying the hanging in Britain and Ireland, including at temperance movement meetings as an example of what to do in evenings rather drinking.
“It would have been made for exhibiting, at events and parties, and it really is a very interesting and important piece,” says Helen. “As conservators and curators, we don’t often meet the people who donate items, so it is lovely to see June and her daughter Janice here at Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.”
There are around 1.4 million objects in Glasgow’s museum collections, but only around two percent can be displayed at any one time.
However, the city is one of only a very few in the UK to open its museum store to the public.
Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (GMRC), in Nitshill, is the main home for the items in the collections when they are not on display at venues around the city, including Kelvingrove, Riverside and The Burrell Collection.
A stroll around the 17 ‘pods’ or warehouses gives a fascinating glimpse into the wonders of art, culture, natural and social history, technology and transport which lie within. You are just as likely to happen upon the odd Botticelli or Renoir, or a preserved (and very heavy) narwhal tusk, as you are to see a huge bell from the Springburn locomotive yards, or a beautifully reconstructed gramophone.
John Yates, of Glasgow Museums, explains: “The whole idea behind GMRC is to allow the people of Glasgow access to this incredible collection, and to care for it and protect it. It is a great place to work, it’s very special.”
The centre has been closed to the public since the Covid pandemic began, but it is now open again for behind the scenes tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It is free to visit but must be booked in advance – check GMRC’s social media pages for details.
READ MORE: Memories of Royal upset for Janice as Glasgow's Burrell Collection reopens
For June, who is now 74, the chance to visit the centre and see the beautiful Monro hanging again, was a “fantastic opportunity.”
“It’s really lovely to see it here and to read a bit more about who made it,” she says. “Our family has lots of connections to Glasgow’s museums and we are proud of that.
“I had no idea this tapestry was so big, or so important, I’m really glad to have seen it again – it means a lot.”
Helen, who worked with Frank Layden at the Burrell in the 1990s, says GMRC helps to tell the story of Glasgow’s collections.
“A museum is about objects and people,” she explains. “It needs both to make sense and to come alive.”
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