In March 1950, the RMS Queen Mary left port in Southampton, England, bound for New York with a very unique piece of cargo on board: a 12-panel gros point carpet in an eighteenth-century design of flowers and birds stitched by Queen Mary herself.

“The little-known story of Queen Mary’s carpet deserves to be told, for it sheds light on a number of important historical issues such as post-war women’s activism, Britain’s international role post-World War II era, Anglo-Canadian and Anglo-American relations,” says Dr. Mary Ann Heiss, associate professor of history at Kent State University. During the past few years, Heiss has conducted a study on the historical background of the carpet.

Beginning in 1941, Queen Mary worked daily for almost nine years to make the carpet. Originally, it was intended to grace one of the royal residences, joining the royal family’s other treasured heirlooms. Instead, the carpet crossed the Atlantic in 1950 and began a 12-week transcontinental tour through the United States and Canada before being sold for dollars, which would be used to boost Britain’s foreign exchange coffer at a time when the nation was experiencing a serious dollar crisis. Ultimately, the carpet was purchased for $100,000 by a patriotic Canadian women’s organization, the Imperial Order, Daughters of the Empire. Today, Queen Mary’s carpet is housed, though not on display, at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Adds Heiss: “Queen Mary’s carpet reminds us historians that sometimes the story of one simple object can open valuable windows for research, investigation and discovery.”

Heiss can be reached at 330-672-2882 or mheiss@kent.edu.