Display case design | Object survey | Mount design

Apsley House - sometimes referred to as ‘Number 1, London’ - is home to the current Duke of Wellington and his family and is run by English Heritage. To mark the coronation of King Charles III in May, 2023, the ceremonial robes worn by the first Duke of Wellington and his two sons for the coronation of King George IV were being displayed there in a temporary exhibition.

The Keeper of the Collection asked us to assist with the specification and tendering process for a central demountable showcase that would house the robes, and with the design and installation of the mounts and stands. It was an important criterion that the showcase be modular so that it could be reconfigured in other parts of the House for future exhibitions.

The delicate robes and artefacts were in a variety of conditions and materials - silk, ermine, finely-stitched leather, velvet, gold lace, and silver gilt. As a critical first step we worked closely with the Keeper and the Textile Conservator to establish the key objectives for their careful preservation and display, including the necessity for an air purifying system to deal with the elimination of hydrogen sulphide, which is especially harmful to silver and present where there are extremes of traffic exhaust fumes.

For the display of each costume torso, and for the stands for Wellington’s ‘boots’, coronet and gold field-marshal’s baton, we carefully measured each object so that we could build CAD models for the precise manufacture of each stand and object mount prior to installation.

Working closely with the Keeper of the collection we created a family of finely engineered, ‘floating' steel surfaces that replicate the internal finishes of the showcases. The mounts provided a consistent approach to object display, and have also become flexible solutions that can be used in a variety different configurations for future exhibitions.

The Wellington Collection - Robes

The Wellington Collection - Paintings

The Cole Museum of Zoology