Wooden trenchers were used in the Tudor period to serve food and The Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust holds a set of decorated ‘posy’ trenchers dating from 1567. The reverse of each has a witty or intriguing piece of text that was used to aid after-dinner conversation at the important social gatherings that Shakespeare’s mother, Mary, would hold at their home in Henley Street, now known as Shakespeare’s Birthplace. We were commissioned to create a new interactive using reproductions of these as the centre point for visitors to enjoy and explore the social side of Tudor life.
Six of the collection were chosen and which we had printed onto wood to create an authentic experience. One side featured the original artwork (the process of taking the wood background out of the photographs to leave just the hand painted details was a test of nerve and patience!) whilst the reverse had a modern version of the text with a prompt. To accompany this, we designed a holder with leather tethers to keep the trenchers organised and two hanging panels on canvas to reflect the historic nature of the room.
