It was Christmas 1933 and Ottoline Morrell gave Virginia Woolf an embroidered silk shawl as a gift. It still exists today as the only remaining piece of Woolf’s clothing, and the National Trust is soliciting funds to help restore it.
Here is a letter of thanks Woolf wrote to Morrell in 1933:
Dearest Ottoline, You are a wonderful woman—for many reasons; but specially for sending a present—a lovely original wild and yet useful present—which arrived on Christmas day. I love being ‘remembered’ as they say; and I hung it on a chair, when the Keynes’s lunched here, and boasted, how you had given it me. What a snob I am aren’t I! But I cant help it. It was a very nice Christmas, as it happened; I had my shawl, and the turkey was large enough and we had cream, and lots of coloured fruits, and sat and gorged—Maynard Lydia Leonard and I. – Monks House, Rodmell, 31 Dec 1933 Letter from Virginia Woolf to Ottoline Morrell
About the shawl repair
Over the years, the fringed shawl was displayed on the back of a wooden chair in Woolf’s bedroom at Monk’s House. Fragile, faded, stained, and in need of restoration, it was removed in 2023. Last year, the National Trust began raising money to repair it in honor of the centenary of Mrs. Dalloway.
As part of the process, the trust plans to clean the shawl, provide conservation stitching, and add a silk and net lining to add stability. The work is expected to take nearly 400 hours of conservation work at a cost of £26, 000.
About the fundraising
That’s where we come in. Anyone can donate to restore Virginia Woolf’s shawl at this link. I am not certain how long the fundraising will go on, but I know it will be in place until at least the end of February.
The National Trust says it feels “confident that with the addition of a silk lining and carefully considered stitching the planned conservation will strengthen and improve the longevity of the textile, thus slowing its deterioration.”
To be on the safe side, you may also want to send an accompanying email specifying that your donation is for the shawl. The email should be sent to supporter.relations@nationaltrust.org.uk, addressed to Steve Lawrence, Supporter Relations Officer.
At left is Woolf’s embroidered shawl, the only remaining piece of her clothing, draped over a chair in her bedroom at Monk’s House in July 2019. The window in the middle opens onto the garden.
Virginia Woolf’s bedroom at Monk’s House, showing the fireplace with tiles decorated by her sister, Vanessa Bell. Notice the lighthouse motif in the center tiles at the top.
