Antique's Roadshow presenter Hilary Kay was delighted when she was presented with a never before seen collection of Elizabethan textiles dating back 500 years. The textiles were presented during the episode filmed at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham.
The discovery included a bedspread along with two pillowcases that had been sewn by Elizabeth I and her ladies-in-waiting. It was led by 'extremely rare' ivory silk satin sleeve and sleeve support.
The items belong to the Wollaton family who built the historic hall in 1588. Until the discovery of the textiles, no examples of sleeve supports were known to exist. The farthingale sleeve is made from a thick cotton material called fustian, stitched with 14 casings of linen each containing a hoop of baleen, also known as whalebone.
