Salons in the Queen's House: The Solebay Tapestries

The Solebay Tapestries: Financial Turmoil, Dye and Design

The tapestry The Burning of the Royal James at the Battle of Solebay, 28 May 1672 now hangs in the room in which it was designed. It comes from a series which were commissioned in 1673 by Charles II and James, Duke of York, and were designed by the Dutch artists Willem Van de Velde the Elder and his son, Willem the Younger in the Queen's House in Greenwich. 

This talk by Maya Wassell Smith, Assistant Curator of Art, will explore the ambitious but chaotic commission and production of the only series of naval tapestries woven in Britain. It will present new archival evidence on the financial turmoil of the tapestry workshop owner, Francis Poyntz, and the findings of the recent analysis of the colonial dye stuffs used in its production.

About the Speaker 

Maya Wassell Smith is Assistant Curator of Art at Royal Museums Greenwich and a collaborative doctoral candidate at Cardiff University, researching the craft practice of sailors in the long nineteenth century. 

She has engaged with and researched objects within academia, in peer-reviewed publications and through her curatorial and collections management experience in museums. Her broad research interests centre on decorative art and its connection to subjective, cultural, and vocational histories.