The story of the Tapestry Room

The Tapestry Room represents the most impressive interior of Robert Weir Schultz’s late 19th century extension at Dumfries House.

Purpose built to house a magnificent group of four French Gobelin Tapestries, it is entirely cedar panelled, as cedar wood is both a natural and beautiful moth repellent, which is good news for the tapestries, as moth larvae would like nothing more than to eat their way through them. The apocryphal tale is that the tapestries were a gift from King Louis XIV in 1715 to the 2nd Earl of Stair, uncle to the 5th Earl of Dumfries, when he was Ambassador in Paris.

Portraying scenes of Greek Mythology the tapestries imbue the room with a sense of the fantastical, as well as historical. The classical theme extends to the pair of fluted Ionic columns and the intricately carved frieze with grapes, vine leaves, cherubs and birds at the northern end of the room. The Triumph of Bacchus hanging on the wall, and grapes and vines carved into the wood also hint at the efforts of the family in the Victorian era towards making their own wine from vines planted in Wales. Needless to say, the climate for the Welsh vineyard didn’t augur well for a new power in the wine-making world, and the science and art of vinification wasn’t moved forward very much.

Traditionally used as a Music Room, The Tapestry Room evokes a sense of grandeur and spectacle, and a sense of wonder too, as it resembles an art gallery, with its skylights in the ceiling to allow better viewing of the tapestries themselves.

Following a visit in the Summer of 2010, HRH Prince Charles gifted a rather spectacular Persian rug which can occasionally be seen on the floor of the Tapestry Room.

One aspect of the design that can easily be missed is the nod to Chippendale’s design genius that is made by Weir Schultz in the glass panels of the cabinets either side of the magnificent fireplace. The shapes of the panels almost mirror the glass panels in the front of the Rosewood Bookcase.

The combination of cedarwood panels and the hanging tapestries gives a real sense of warmth and comfort in the Tapestry Room, and although deceptively simple in its lines, wherever you turn, there is always something of beauty and interest to catch the eye.