In 2016, Dovecot Tapestry Studio created a rug for the Smoking Room at Bowhill Estate in the Scottish Borders. This was part of a larger project of bringing the 138-year-old Smoking Room back into circulation, with the Duke of Buccleuch commissioning new designs for the space with the help of art historian Ben Divall.
The piece, tufted by Kristi Vana, is a hearth rug depicting smoke and an intertwined Buccleuch & Queensberry family insignia using wool from the Bowhill Estate. Kristi worked closely with Paul Simmons of Timorous Beasties, who was commissioned to design textile inspired by the original furnishing of the Victorian room. The border patterns have indeed been taken from decorative aspects of the room, such as the fire guard and brass-inlayed boxes that have been in the room since its completion in the late 1870s.
The Smoking Room can be visited during Bowhill House's open season (April - September).
Photo credit: Phoebe Grigor
