The Regent’s Gallery, 131 feet in length, was built in the reign of Charles II. Finished and furnished in time for a visit from the Prince Regent in 1814, it was duly renamed the Regent’s Gallery.

In the centre of this unique space sits an incredible piece of furniture, the Ottoman sofa. A late Georgian baize and needlework centre sofa upholstered with panels of needlework with fruit, flowers and the Manners crest, with six tasselled cushions.

Due to the condition and rips in the Ottoman, we consulted with specialist heritage embroiders RSN Embroidery Studio (https://rsnstudio.co.uk), based at Hampton Court Palace. Funded by American Friends of Belvoir Castle, the RSN Embroidery Studio were commissioned to repair the damaged panels. Work included:

• Lightly surface-cleaned and placed each piece onto a support fabric.
• All holes were secured with surface couching to prevent them from increasing in size.
• All original canvas was repositioned before the surface couching.
• Carefully replaced onto the furniture.

Now that the Ottoman has been repaired, it is time to finish the restoration and reinstate the Ottoman as the centre piece of the Regent’s Gallery. We plan to further this project, commissioning copies of the 12 panels to be created and then pinned onto the sofa.

We will update this page further once the project has been completed.