The Queen’s Embroideries

24 April 2021 until 2 January 2022

In 2021, Koldinghus presents the exhibition “The Queen’s Embroideries”, the first public showing that shows HM the Queen’s personal embroideries.

HM the Queen is widely known as a prolific artist within several different genres: painting, decoupage, stage design and embroidery, the latter adorning bishop’s capes and altar cloths in churches around Denmark. What is less well-known is that the Queen’s creative drive has also resulted in many privately owned embroideries, which have never before been presented to the public.

The Queen personally designs the patterns and composes the colourways for the embroideries, which are given as gifts to family, friends and court staff or used to decorate the Queen’s home, featured on cushions, fire screens, tablecloths and chair seats. The personal gifts are created with the same forethought and attention to detail that characterizes her work for the public, clerical realm. The Queen designs bespoke patterns with symbols and references tailored to the person who is going to receive the gift and gives her creativity free reins in the colour scheme – usually opting for what the Queen herself describes as ‘boisterous colours’.

The exhibition shows about a hundred of the Queen’s private embroideries in an exhibition at the Royal Danish Collection Koldinghus in the castle’s beautiful, white library hall.

The exhibition was planned and designed with the active involvement of the Queen and curated in a collaboration between Head of the Private Royal Collections, MA Elisabeth von Buchwald and exhibition curator Anni Nørskov Mørch. It is realised by Museum Kolding and presented at Koldinghus in a partnership with the Royal Danish Collection.

The Queen designed and created the cross-stitch embroidery on the Crown Princess’s evening bag specially for the Crown Princess. The design features trapezoidal fields with stripes and dots in blues, yellows and reds and, in the centre, a red ‘M’ for ‘Mary’. Photo: Uk/Danapress/Ritzau Scanpix.

Imprint

THANK YOU to the many who kindly lent embroidered pieces and thus made the exhibition possible.

The exhibition and the catalogue The Queen’s Embroideries have received generous support from:

Arne V. Schleschs Fond
Toyota Foundation

The exhibition The Queen’s Embroideries was created in a collaboration between Museum Kolding, the Danish Royal House and the Royal Danish Collection Koldinghus, where the exhibition is shown from late April until late December 2021.

Embroideries and idea

Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II

Curation, project management and catalogue

Elisabeth von Buchwald, head of the Private Royal Collections, Danish Royal House
Anni Nørskov Mørch, exhibition curator, Museum Kolding

Exhibition design

Louise Witthöft, Witthöft & Latourelle

Construction and technical installations

Jacob Callesen Lindegaard, Karsten Eghøj Hansen and Rasmus Riedel, Royal Danish Collection – Koldinghus

Mounting and finishing

Bodil Klarskov Sylvester and Siri Vilbøl, conservators, Conservation Centre Vejle
Conni Ramskov, museum curator, Museum Kolding

Graphic design

Helene Dalgaard, Helene Dalgaard Design & Art Direction

Photography

Iben Kaufmann

The workroom at the Royal Danish Collection Koldinghus: Annette Herbst and Britta and other employees at the Danish Royal House, Museum Kolding and the Royal Danish Collection.

Activities in connection with the exhibition

In connection with the exhibition, the museum has dedicated one of the floors in the unique Ruin Hall to a general introduction to embroidery as a craft and to activities for children, adults and groups.

HM the Queen has designed a bookmark kit for the exhibition, if you would like to try your hand at the Queen’s design. The kits are also a great gift idea. On certain days, you can join a workshop to receive help with the bookmark or other designs.

Open workshop for children and adults

Between 11.00 and 16.00 every Thursday and the first Sunday of each month, you can receive professional advice, instructions and inspiration for your own embroidery projects or a brief introduction to a range of different stitches. The workshop is free of charge and welcomes everyone, whether you are a complete novice or a seasoned embroiderer – or a child interested in learning some basic stitches.

If you would like to learn a little more and take a finished product home, you can buy a little embroidery kit, for example for a badge, a keyring or a bookmark.

Every Tuesday between 11.00 and 16.00 you can meet volunteers from the Royal Workroom who work with different kinds of embroidery and are happy to offer inspiration, tips and tricks.

Embroidery for the whole family this summer

Every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday between 27 June and 8 August, there is a special focus on embroidery for the whole family. At these family events we delve into a variety of themes, where children and adults can design their own flag, create a badge or embroider an animal, among many other activities.