The City of London Corporation and Livery Companies, including the Weavers’ Company, are proud to gift His Majesty King Charles III the very special Anointing Screens for the most sacred part of the coronation ceremony, the anointing of the new Monarch. In past coronations, this spiritual moment was held under a canopy, however in May, this sacred action will be enshrouded with three newly created screens. The new Anointing Screens reflect His Majesty’s support for the Commonwealth and the importance of both unity and diversity.
Inspired by a stained glass window in Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, the striking central design is a Commonwealth Tree, depicting the 56 commonwealth countries as leaves. The design has been created by iconographer Aidan Hart and brought to life through embroidery, managed by the renowned Royal School of Needlework, the international centre of excellence in the art of hand embroidery. The embroidered screens have then been mounted onto wooden poles, handcrafted by project lead and member of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, Nick Gutfreund. At the top of the wooden poles are finials in the shape of eagles, coated in gold leaf, taking the Anointing Screens to a height of approximately 2.6 metres and width of 2.2 metres.
The stunning design of the Commonwealth Tree features HM The King’s Cypher, Tudor roses, angels, the scroll (All shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well), the sun and birds, including the dove of peace, positioned at the top of the tree. The leaves have been embroidered by staff and students from the Royal School of Needlework, as well as members of different Livery Companies – The Worshipful Company of Broderers, Drapers and Weavers. Contemporary skills have also formed part of this unique collaboration with the initial outline design of the tree created using digital machine embroidery by Pete Tarrant from Digitex Embroidery.
In addition to the Commonwealth Tree, the Anointing Screens feature the Sign of the Cross. Their design and colour were inspired by the Cosmati Pavement at Westminster Abbey, upon which the anointing takes place.The crosses were hand embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework using Goldwork and Appliqué. Many of materials used to create the Anointing Screens are from the UK, with the cloth made of Australian and New Zealand wool; woven and finished in UK Mills; and the timber for the wooden poles from Windsor Great Park.
The project team was formed by The City of London Corporation and Livery Companies, including The Weavers, Drapers, Broderers and Carpenters. The team, led by Nick Gutfreund, the Royal School of Needlework and Aidan Hart were able to draw upon the skills of companies and individual craft people from a wide range of trades, with experience levels ranging from those just starting their training to many with years of expertise.
