Amongst the hundreds of important historic textiles that survive at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire are two important Indian trade embroideries; one from the Gujarat region, the other from Bengal. Unique in the collection, they are the only pieces from the sub-continent. The builder of Hardwick, Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury (c. 1527-1608), or 'Bess of Hardwick', married four times each successive husband wealthier than the last--and, as the owner of great estates in northern ...