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Dr Tracey Davison 

Tracey Davison completed her PhD  in Medieval Studies at the University of York in 2024. She also holds a BA and MA in History of Art from York. Her thesis addressed the absence of a body of scholarship devoted to the use and perception of textiles and clothing in early medieval England; examining the degree to which the art historical and archaeological evidence for early medieval textiles, clothing and adornment can be woven into and supported by the literature (vernacular and Latin, secular and ecclesiastical) produced and circulating in early medieval England. Adopting an art historical approach to the material and visual evidence, alongside the way language was used, and narratives were structured, to vastly enhance our understanding of the appearance and agency of textiles in that society.

Alongside writing a monograph, her post-doctoral research is a project that reconsiders early medieval stone sculptures as skeuomorphic textiles, the creative motivations and their function in relation to the original textiles. The Skeuomorphic Textiles Project will use a new, immersive and interdisciplinary approach to expand current scholarship and drive future textile research in a creative and innovative direction. It argues that different types of material culture should not be studied in isolation but rather, holistically, to develop a more rounded understanding of medieval society. These objects had imbued meaning beyond their physical nature and functionality. The project will embed textiles into the discussion of material culture, recognising them as a fully-formed artistic medium. Resulting in a re-evaluation of those women as artists who exercised creative autonomy and understanding of their materials. The project demonstrates the powerful optic and haptic qualities of textiles and their role as inspirational objects.

Tracey is an AFHEA (Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy) and has taught numerous core modules for the History of Art Department at the University of York as well as short courses at the Centre for Lifelong Learning.

Publications

• Published article in Sequitur Journal (Boston University) https://www.bu.edu/sequitur/2024/01/11/skeuomorphic-textiles-stitches-in-stone/
• Exhibition review for the first issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Aspectus (University of York) and I have submitted a book review for the second issue and served for two years on the editorial board.

Awards and Grants

• Successful candidate for Ede and Ravenscroft scholarship 2018/2019.
• Secured a grant to attend the Medieval Academy of America’s textile workshop as part of their 2023 conference in Washington DC. Offering the opportunity to study several early textiles from the Washington Textile Museum collection under the direction of senior curator, Sumru Krody, gaining insights into textile analysis, terminology and conservatorship.
• Pasold Textile Centre grant to support thesis research (2023).

Talks and Presentations

• A paper on the scale of an Anglo-Saxon woman’s life revealed through her will, held at the Danish Institute in Rome (April 2022), and organised by the Centre for Medieval Literature.
• Co-organiser of a textile session at Leeds IMC 2023 (The Entangled Making, Uses and Visualisations of Textiles in the Early Medieval Period, 450 – 1100 CE) with Alexandra Makin. (Edited volume of the proceedings is pending)
• Presented a paper that is a new reading of the Bern Riddle 52 at the Identities, Communities and ‘Imagined Communities’ Medieval Studies PGR conference, University of Bristol (April 2023).
• Co-organised an interdisciplinary conference Textures in the Medieval World at the CMS, University of York, June 2024 (Edited volume of proceedings pending)
• Organised a textile session at Leeds IMC 2024
• Presented a paper “Skeuomorphic Textiles as Devotional Objects in the Early Churches of Rome” at Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference 2025 ‘Rituals and Ceremonies’.
• Presented a paper Dressed by a King: the adornment of Cuthbert's shrine by Athelstanin 934, at Bristol CMS PGR Conference 2025.
• Four sessions and a roundtable on early medieval textiles co-organised with Georgia Gould (UCL) at Leeds IMC 2025.
• Further textile sessions proposed at Leeds IMC 2026 in collaboration with Georgia Hanson-Gould (UCL).