bess of hardwick original collagraph print
Sarah has always had close connections with Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, due to family members working on the estate.
It is place with which she is constantly inspired, every time she visits discovering something new to see from its wealth of furniture, tapestries and paintings.
Bess of Hardwick was a a notable figure of Elizabethan English society.
By a series of well made marriages, she rose to the highest levels of English nobility and became enormously wealthy.
In this portrait Bess is framed with her initials (E.S. for Elizabeth Shrewsbury) and a pair of stags from her coat of arms, (displayed on the main parapet at the front of Hardwick hall).
The detail surrounding is taken from an appliqué embroidery also on display at the hall.
Sarah loves to imagine Bess, walking through the grand rooms, the conversations she would have had, the important visitors she entertained, the parties and splendour of it all.
Although several prints may have been taken from this particular printing plate each print is unique.
This is a result of Sarahs skilled method of inking, she achieves delicate layers of embossed colour in the final print.
click on a detailed image for a slide show
