What to do with your work after you are no longer here, or when you inherit framed canvaswork

This letter looks at how canvas work is valued and the role it plays in the future of our work when we are no longer able to look after it. It has been an enjoyable task, as the people I spoke to were generous with their time and very helpful. This is primarily a Sydney view, and for those who live in other regions there may well be a different value assigned to your work. Another factor to bear in mind is that strictly speaking the term ‘tapestry’ is used to describe a woven picture created on a loom, and hence the use of such terms as ‘needlepoint’ or ‘canvas work’ are advisable when seeking your own
information.
Sentimental value is hopefully what the first stage of our work, (once it has left our hands) will attract. A good custodian can preserve our work and see it through its mid life crisis, a time when it is not yet one hundred years old and so at its most vulnerable to being tossed away by those who have little appreciation for it.
Most of us will look for custodians amongst our relatives and friends. A suitable candidate needs to have:
-A willingness to look after your work.
-Youth
-A love and admiration of the work.
-A secure premises, their own home where they have space to keep it.
In turn we must:
-Ensure the custodian is happy to receive the gift
-Leave all our work in prime condition, sound and clean.
-Leave as much information as we can about our lives and influences and the place of this work in it.

Where there is no custodian available, a gift to the community, or to a community group may be considered. Community Arts Centers, libraries, baby health clinics, religious houses, hospitals, (rehabilitation, children’s, psychiatric, etc.) are just a few of the possible beneficiaries that spring to mind. You might have a special link with an organization that has given you assistance, or one where you have spent your time helping others and a donation of this sort may be appropriate.
Of course their acceptance of your gift is not necessarily a commitment on their part to use it in the way you envisaged. In this situation it is essential to provide your work with the maxim provenance possible, by using the ‘gift’ letter to outline your personal ties to the organization as well as other details that will give the work a date and context. Another good idea is to have a small brass tag engraved with ‘Made and donated by X. Date’ affixed to the frame.
Before moving on to discuss the monetary value of our work, it would be wise to address the meaning of the term ‘provenance’. The dictionary definition describes it as the ownership of an artwork, or its place of origin; to this I would like to add the significance of social and historical factors behind a work. A tapestry is often a long-term project; it might have a link with a particular period in your life. The important points to record in a summary are: who, where, when, how and why.
Monetary Value
For many years a number of Tapestry shops were very happy to offer their customers a valuation service for insurance. It appears that these valuations have only a limited worth and it is apparent they will in no way reflect the market price for the same works if you were to offer them for auction or even for private sale. Breaking this news is an unpleasant task, one that invariably falls to both Simon Hollington (Lawson’s Auctions Annandale) and Alison Mc Sweeny (Alison Mc Sweeny Pty. Ltd. Turramurra). They have no wish to hurt the feelings of their clients, but as there are few collectors in the market the sale prices are low. Alison Alford (Sotheby’s Woollahra) sees few needlepoint works in her auctions as collectors are only interested in the 17th and 18th century and early Victorian works. The most desirable and highly prized works exhibit not only a high standard of workmanship, but have had custodians who have maintained the work diligently.
Hollington warned that for more recent work, a tapestry can bring as little as $10 but later added that auctions were facing a general decline due in part to the minimalist design in houses where clutter is not a complementary look.
Mc Sweeny, who although she did not “encourage them in the auction room”, had sold 6 the previous weekend. Here again there was “not much of a market” and “no collectors”. In spite of this she had a good grasp of what would sell (she has 25 years of experience and is found on Sydney’s upper North Shore, a tapestry holics area or was?)
Presentation was important: never use non-reflective glass. A wide frame or preferably one with a matt board and then a wood frame is better.
In fact she preferred to sell them unframed as it gave her buyers the choice of what to do with them. The most important aspect was the colour palette used, followed by how unusual the work was, then the level of workmanship. An “awful” tapestry with poor colour choice would sell for as little as $30 and a really good one for around $300.
She stressed the values of provenance and uniqueness. A work that reflects an event in Australia, an event of personal importance, or that is a reflection on or society or history will always command more money. Even prizes at the local show will add that special touch. Provenance, as in the case of Victorian canvas work passed down through a well established family, its maker known, could be priced in the thousands, while one with no provenance would only merit the hundreds.
Having read so far you may be forgiven for feeling a trifle depressed. However, for those who see opportunity in adversity, then paying attention to the auction sales in the local paper will pay off. After all it is a ‘buyer’s market’.

Would a Museum be interested?
To find out more about Museums, I approached Sydney’s Power House Museum, where I spoke to Curator and author Grace Cochrane (The Crafts Movement In Australia: A History). The role of the Museum is to collect and preserve artifacts from the areas of science and technology, social history, and decorative arts. The wide scope of the policy means that they collect sparingly, with each acquisition facing a rigorous selection process. This means they are not interested in commercial designs, but will favour original work of a high standard from the professional end of the market. However, where a work reflects a social or historical value, for example a canvas from the 19th century reflecting the homesickness or a sense that the needle person was embracing a new land then it merits inclusion. An unusual background to the maker or the work will also give it significance, for example the quilts made in Changi by the P.O.W.s.
Regional Museums should be approached, their wide ranging collections, would be interested in any thing to do with their district. Museums would rather receive these works as gifts, than pay for them, as their budgets are tight and as their care will mean that they will have the expense of maintaining them in the future.
If you have a work that may be of interest to a Museum, take a photo that shows its colours and detail clearly. Send the photo together with a letter setting out the history of its maker and why the work is of significance to your local area. This is a starting point, and it may take time before you will know whether they are interested, but hopefully your gift will have a new home.