I arrived at work today to a query from our Ask Sam box in the gift shop about the Breakfast Room draperies.

For those not familiar with the draperies, from archival photographs, the current ones are post-1950, although I do not possess an exact date when these five pairs of floral hand block printed linen drapes arrived in the Breakfast Room, fitted to the arched windows.

The query was about how were the draperies mounted?

You will note in the photo to the left, the arch windows. The five windows in the Breakfast Room all have an arch at the top, four of the five culminating in box-covered radiators, the additional set, French Doors leading to the exterior.

The hanging mechanism is a typical current rod style, custom-fitted and bent to the arch itself. The rod hooks are actually fused into place on the rod, therefore allowing the linen to hang with the pleats. The swag effect is achieved through a few stitches into the draperies itself.

I realized while writing this, that I do not have professional photos of the Breakfast Room draperies in our collection, but knew where to look. The film industry. Not every show enjoys shooting in the Breakfast Room, they find it small, but here is a publicity shot of Jodi Balfour Bomb Girls™ where you can make out the colours of the block print.