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diff --git a/old/66172-0.txt b/old/66172-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6111038..0000000 --- a/old/66172-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,24249 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Textile Fabrics, by Daniel Rock - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Textile Fabrics - A Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of Church-vestments, - Dresses, Silk Stuffs, Needlework and Tapestries, forming that - Section of the Museum - -Author: Daniel Rock - -Release Date: August 29, 2021 [eBook #66172] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Susan Skinner, SF2001, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEXTILE FABRICS *** - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -TEXTILE FABRICS. - -[Illustration] - - -[Illustration: 84. - -HOOD OF A COPE - -Embroidered by hand in silks & gold, with the Adoration of the Magi, & -bordered with green & yellow silk fringe.__Flemish 16th. century.] - - - - -_SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM._ - -[Illustration] - -_TEXTILE FABRICS_; - -A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE - -_Of the Collection of Church-vestments, Dresses, Silk Stuffs, -Needlework and Tapestries, forming that -Section of the Museum_. - -BY THE VERY REV. DANIEL ROCK, D.D. - -[Illustration] - -_Published for the Science and Art Department of the -Committee of Council on Education._ - -LONDON: - -CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. - -1870. - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -CONTENTS OF THE INTRODUCTION. - - - SECTION I.--TEXTILES. - - - _The Geography of the Raw Materials._ - - Wool, x. - Cotton, xiii. - Hemp, xiii. - Flax, xiii. - Silk, xvi. - Gold, xxv. - Cloth of Gold, xxv. - Tissue, xxxi. - Silver, xxxiii. - Wire-drawing, xxxiii. - Gold thread, xxxiv. - - _Silks had various Names_: - - Holosericum, xxxvii. - Subsericum, xxxvii. - Examitum, xxxvii. - Xamitum, xxxvii. - Samit, xxxvii. - Ciclatoun, xxxix. - Cendal, xl. - Taffeta, xli. - Sarcenet, xlii. - Satin, xlii. - Cadas, xliii. - Camoca, xliv. - Cloth of Tars, xliv. - Velvet, xlv. - Diaper, xlvi. - Chrysoclavus, xlix. - Stauracin, l. - Polystauron, l. - Gammadion, l. - De quadrapolo, li. - De octapolo, li. - De fundato, liii. - Stragulatae, liv. - Imperial, lv. - Baudekin, lvi. - Cloth of Pall, lviii. - Lettered silks, lix. - The Eagle, lxi. - - _Styles of Silks._ - - Chinese, lxiii. - Persian, lxiii. - Byzantine, lxiv. - Oriental, lxv. - Syrian, lxv. - Saracenic, lxvi. - Moresco-Spanish, lxvi. - - _Places weaving Textiles._ - - Sicily, lxvii. - Lucca, lxxi. - Genoa, lxxii. - Venice, lxxiii. - Florence, lxxv. - Milan, lxxvi. - Great Britain, lxxvi. - Ireland, lxxix. - Flanders, lxxix. - France, lxxx. - Cologne, lxxxi. - Acca or Acre, lxxxiii. - Buckram, lxxxv. - Burdalisaunder, lxxxv. - Fustian, lxxxvi. - Muslin, lxxxvii. - Cloth of Areste, lxxxvii. - - _Silks distinguished through their Colours and shades of Colour._ - - Cloth of Tars, lxxxix. - Indicus, or sky-blue, xc. - Murrey, xc. - Changeable, or shot, xci. - Marble, xci. - - SECTION II.--EMBROIDERY. - - Of the Egyptians, xcii. - Of the Israelites, xcii. - Of the Greeks and Latins, or Phrygionic, xciii. - Opus plumarium, or feather-stitch, xcv. - Opus pulvinarium, or cushion-style, xcvi. - Opus pectineum, or comb-drawn, xcvi. - Opus Anglicum, or English work, xcviii. - Opus consutum, or cut work, cii. - Accessories of gold and silver, civ; - glass, cv; - enamel, cv. - Diapering, cviii. - Thread embroidery, cix. - Quilting, cx. - - SECTION III.--TAPESTRY. - - Egyptian, cx. - Asiatic, cxi. - English, cxi. - Flemish, cxii. - Arras, cxii. - Saracenic, cxii. - Imitated Tapestry--“stayned cloth,” cxiv. - Carpets, cxv. - - SECTION IV. - - _Usefulness of the Collection_ - - To the Historian, cxvi. - The miscalled Bayeux Tapestry, cxvi. - - SECTION V.--LITURGY. - - Liturgical rarities, cxxiii. - - SECTION VI. - - _Usefulness of the Collection to_ - - Artists, cxxx. - Manufacturers, cxxx. - - SECTION VII. - - Symbolism, cxxxv. - The Gammadion, cxxxvii. - Vow of the Swan, the Peacock, &c., cxli. - - SECTION VIII. - - _Usefulness of the Collection_ - - To Literature and Languages, clii. - The Cyrillian alphabet, clii. - - SECTION IX.--HERALDRY. - - Armorial bearings worked upon vestments, cliii. - The Scrope and Grosvenor claims for the bend _or_ on a field _azure_, cliii. - Case of the Countess of Salisbury, clv. - Case of the Earl of Surrey, clv. - - SECTION X.--BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. - - The giraffe, clvi. - The pheasant, clvi. - The cheetah, clvi. - The hom, clvii. - The pine-apple, clix. - The artichoke, clix. - The passion-flower, clx. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -Like every other specific collection of art labour among the several -such brought together within these splendid halls of the South -Kensington Museum, this extensive one made from woven stuffs, tapestry, -and needlework, is meant to have, like them, its own peculiar useful -purposes. Here, at a glance, may be read the history of the loom of -various times and in many lands. Here may be seen a proof of the -onward march of trade and its consequent civilizing influences. Here -we take a peep at the private female life in ages gone by, and learn -how women, high-born and lowly, spent or rather ennobled many a day -of life in needlework, not merely graceful but artistic. Here, in -fine, in strict accordance with the intended industrial purposes of -this public institution, artizans, designers, and workers in all kinds -of embroidery, may gather many an useful lesson for their respective -crafts, in the rare as well as beautiful samples set out before them. - -The materials out of which the articles in this collection were woven, -are severally wool, hemp, flax, cotton, silk, gold, and silver. The -silken textures are in general wholly so; in many instances they -are wrought up along with either cotton, or with flax; hence, in -ancient documents, the distinction of “holosericum,” all silk, and -“subsericum,” not all silk, or the warp--that is, the longitudinal -threads--of cotton or flax, and the woof--that is the cross-threads -of silk. Very seldom is the gold or the gilt silver woven into these -textiles found upon them in a solid wire-drawn form, but almost always, -after being flattened very thin, the precious metal was wound about -a very small twist of cotton, or of flax, and thus became what we -call gold thread. As a substitute for this, the Moors of Granada, and -after them the Spaniards of that kingdom, employed strips of gilded -parchment, as we shall have to notice. - - - - -SECTION I.--TEXTILES. - - -Under its widest acceptation, the word “textile” means every kind of -stuff, no matter its material, wrought in the loom. Hence, whether -the threads be spun from the produce of the animal, vegetable, or the -mineral kingdom--whether of sheep’s wool, goats’ hair, camels’ wool, -or camels’ hair--whether of flax, hemp, mallow, Spanish broom, the -filaments drawn out of the leaves of the yucca--Adam’s needle--and -other plants of the lily and asphodel tribes of flowers, the fibrous -coating about pods, or cotton; whether of the mineral amianthus, of -gold, silver, or of any other metal, it signifies nothing, the webs -from such materials are textiles. Unlike to these are other appliances -for garment-making in many countries; and of such materials, not the -least curious, if not odd to our ideas, is paper, which is so much -employed for the purpose by the Japanese. - -At the outset of our subject a word or two may be of good use, upon - - -_The Geography of the Raw Materials_. - -one or other of which we shall always find wrought up in the textiles -in this collection. We will then begin with - - -WOOL. - -After gleaning out of the writings of the ancients all they have said -about the physical geography of the earth, as far as their knowledge -of it went, and casting our eyes upon a map of the world as known of -old, we shall see at once the materials which man had at hand, in every -clime, for making his articles of dress. - -In all the colder regions the well-furred skins of several families -of beasts could, by the ready help of a thorn for a needle, and the -animal’s own sinews for thread, be fashioned, after a manner, into the -requisites of dress. - -Throughout by far the longest length and the widest breadth of the -earth, sheep, at an early period, were bred, not so much for food as -for raiment. At first, the locks of wool torn away from the animal’s -back by brambles, were gathered: afterwards shearing was thought of -and followed in some countries, while in others the wool was not cut -off, but plucked by the hand away from the living creature, as we -learn from Pliny:[1] “Oves non ubique tondentur: durat quibusdam in -locis vellendi mos.” Got in either method the fleeces were, from the -earliest times, spun by women from the distaff. At last so wishful -were the growers to improve the coats of their lambs that they clothed -them in skins; a process which not only fined the staple of the wool, -but kept it clean, and better fitted it for being washed and dyed, -as we are told by many ancient writers, such as Horace and the great -agricultural authority Varro. In uttering his wish for a sweet peaceful -home in his old age, either at Tibur, or on the banks of the pleasant -Gelæsus, thus sings the poet: - - Dulce pellitis ovibus Gelæsi - Flumen.[2] - -And what were these “oves pellitæ,” or “tectæ” and “molles,” as they -were called, in contradistinction to “hirtæ,” we understand from Varro, -who says, “oves pellitæ; quæ propter lanæ bonitatem, ut sunt Taren-tinæ -et Atticæ, pellibus integuntur, ne lana inquinetur quo minus vel infici -rectè possit, vel lavari ac parari.”[3] - -This latter very ancient daily work followed by women of all degrees, -spinning from off the distaff, was taught to our Anglo-Saxon sisters -among all ranks of life, from the king’s daughter downwards. In his -life of Eadward the elder, A.D. 901, Malmesbury writes: “Filias suas -ita instituerat ut literis omnes in infantia maxime vacarent, mox etiam -colum et acum exercere consuescerent, ut his artibus pudice impubem -virginitatem transigerent.”[4] The same occupation is even now a female -favourite in many countries on the Continent, particularly so all -through Italy. Long ago it bestowed the name of spindle-tree on the -Euonymus plant, on account of the good spindles which its wood affords, -and originated the term “spinster,” yet to be found in our law-books -as meaning an unmarried woman even of the gentlest blood, while every -now and then from the graves that held the ashes of our sisters of -the British and the Anglo-Saxon epochs, are picked up the elaborately -ornamented leaden whorls which they fastened at the lower end of their -spindles to give them a due weight and steadiness as they twirled them -round. - -Beginning with the British islands on the west, and going eastward on -a line running through the Mediterranean sea, and stretching itself -out far into Asia, we find that the peoples who dwelt to the north -of such a boundary wrought several of their garments out of sheep’s -wool, goats’ hair, and beavers’ fur, while those living to the south, -including the inhabitants of North Africa, Arabia, and Persia, besides -the above-named animal produce, employed for these purposes, as well -as tent-making, the wool and hair which their camels gave them: the -Baptist’s garment was of the very coarsest kind. - -Of the use of woollen stuff, not woven but plaited, among the older -stock of the Britons, a curious instance was very lately brought to -light while cutting through an early Celtic grave-hill or barrow in -Yorkshire: the dead body had been wrapped, as was shown by the few -unrotted shreds still cleaving to its bones, in a woollen shroud of -coarse and loose fabric wrought by the plaiting process without a -loom.[5] - -As time crept on, it brought along with it the loom, fashioned though -it was after its simplest form, to the far west, and taught its use -throughout the British islands. The art of dyeing very soon followed; -and so beautiful were the tints which our Britons knew how to give -to their wools, that strangers, while they wondered at, were not a -little jealous of the splendour of those tones. From the heavy stress -laid upon the rule which taught that the official colour in their -dress assigned to each of the three ranks into which the bardic order -was distinguished, must be of one simple unbroken shade, whether -spotless white, symbolic of sun-light and holiness, for the druid or -priest--whether sky-blue, emblem of peace, for the bard or poet--or -green, the livery of the wood and field, for the Ovydd or teacher -of natural history and leech-craft, yet at the same moment we know -that party-coloured stuffs were woven here, and after two forms: the -postulants asking leave to be admitted into bardism might be recognized -by the robe barred with stripes of white, blue, and green, which they -had to wear during all the term of their initiation. With regard to -the bulk of our people, according to the Greek historian of Rome--Dion -Cassius, born A.D. 155--the garments worn by them were made of a -texture wrought in a square pattern of several colours; and speaking -of our brave-hearted British queen, Boadicea, that same writer tells -us that she usually had on, under her cloak, a motley tunic, χιτὼν -παμποίκιλος, that is, checkered all over with many colours. This -garment we are fairly warranted in deeming to have been a native stuff, -woven of worsted after a pattern in tints and design exactly like -one or other of the present Scotch plaids. Pliny, who seems to have -gathered a great deal of his natural history from scraps of hearsay, -most likely included these ancient sorts of British textiles along -with those from Gaul, when he wrote:--“Plurimis vero liciis texere quæ -polymita appellant, Alexandria instituit: scutullis dividere, Gallia.” -But to weave with a good number of threads, so as to work the cloths -called polymita, was first taught in Alexandria; to divide by checks, -in Gaul.[6] - - [1] Lib. viii. c. 47. - - [2] Lyric. c. vi. vi. - - [3] De Re Rustica, ii. 2. - - [4] Gesta Regum Anglorum, t. 1. lib. ii. p. 198, ed. Hardy. - - [5] Journal of the Archæological Institute, t. XXII. p. 254. - - [6] Plin. lib. viii. - -The native botanical home of - - -COTTON - -is in the East. India almost everywhere throughout her wide-spread -countries, and many kingdoms of old, arrayed, as she still arrays -herself, in cotton, which she gathered from a plant of the mallow -family, that had its wild growth there; and in this same vegetable -produce the lower orders of the people dwelling still further to the -east were fain to clothe themselves. - - -HEMP, - -a plant of the nettle tribe, and called by botanists “cannabis -sativa,” was of old well known in the far north of Germany, and all -over the ancient Scandinavia. Full two thousand five hundred years -ago, Herodotus[7] thus wrote of it: “Hemp grows in the country of the -Scythians, which except in the thickness and height of the stalk, very -much resembles flax; in the qualities mentioned, however, the hemp is -much superior. It grows in a wild state, and is also cultivated. The -Thracians make clothing of it very like linen cloth; nor could any -person, without being very well acquainted with the substance, say -whether this clothing is made of hemp or flax.” From “cannabis,” its -name in Latin, have we taken our own word “canvas,” to mean any texture -woven of hempen thread. - - [7] Herod. book iv. 74. - - -FLAX - -now follows. Who that has ever seen growing a patch of beautiless, -sad-looking hemp, and as he wandered a few steps further, came upon a -field of flax all in flower, with its gracefully-drooped head, strewing -the breeze, as it strayed over it, with its frail, light-blue petals, -could at first have thought that both these plants were about to yield -such kindred helps for man in his wide variety of wants? Yet so it is. -Besides many other countries, all over this our native land flax is -to be found growing wild. Though every summer its handsome bloom must -have caught the eye of our Celtic British forefathers, they were not -aware for ages of the use of this plant for clothing purposes, else -had they left behind them some shred of linen in one or other of their -many graves; since, following, as they did, the usage of being buried -in the best of the garments they were accustomed to, or most loved when -alive, their bodies would have been found arrayed in some small article -of linen texture, had they ever worn such. That at length they became -acquainted with its usefulness, and learned to prepare and spin it, -is certain; and in all likelihood the very name “lin-white thread,” -which those Celts gave it in its wrought shape, furnished the Greeks -with their word λίνον, and the Latins their _linum_, for linen. The -term “flax,” which we still keep, from the Anglo-Saxon tongue, for the -plant itself and its raw material, and the Celtic “linen,” for the same -vegetable produce when spun and woven into cloth, are words for things -akin in our present language, which, as in many such like instances, -show the footprints of those races that, one after another, have trod -this land. - - * * * * * - -To the valley of the Nile must we go if we wish to learn the earliest -history of the finest flaxen textiles. Time out of mind were the -Egyptians famous as well for the growth of flax, as for the beautiful -very fine linen they wove out of it, and which became to them a most -profitable, because so widely sought for, article of commerce. Their -own word, “byssus,” for the plant itself, became among the Greeks, and -afterwards among the Latin nations, the term for linens wrought in -Egyptian looms. Long before the oldest book in the world was written, -the tillers of the ground all over Egypt had been heedful in sowing -their flax, and anxious about its harvest. It was one of their staple -crops, and hence was it that, in punishment of their hard-hearted -Pharaoh, the hail plague which, at the bidding of Moses, showered down -from heaven, hurt throughout the land the flax just as it was getting -ripe.[8] Though the Jordan grew flax upon its banks, and all over the -land that would soon belong to Abraham’s children, the women there, -like Rahab, carefully dried it when pulled, and stacked it for future -hackling upon the roofs of their houses;[9] still, it was from Egypt, -as Solomon hints,[10] that the Jews had to draw their fine linen. At -a later period, among the woes foretold to Egypt, the prophet Isaiah -warns her that they shall be confounded who wrought (there) in combing -and weaving fine linen.[11] - - [8] Exodus ix. 31. - - [9] Joshua ii. 6. - - [10] Proverbs vii. 16. - - [11] Isaiah xix. 9. - -How far the reputation of Egyptian workmanship in the craft of the -loom had spread abroad is shown us by the way in which, beside sacred, -heathenish antiquity has spoken of it. Herodotus says:--“Amasis King -of Egypt gave to the Minerva of Lindus, a linen corslet well worthy -of inspection,”[12] and further on,[13] telling of another corslet -which Amasis had sent the Lacedæmonians, observes that it was of -linen, and had a vast number of figures of animals inwoven into its -fabric, and was likewise embroidered with gold and tree-wool. What is -more worthy of admiration in it is that each of the twists, although -of fine texture, contains within it 360 threads, all of them clearly -visible.[14] By these trustworthy evidences we clearly see that in -those early times, Egypt was not only widely known for its delicately -woven byssus, but it supplied all the neighbouring nations with the -finest sort of linens. - - [12] Herodotus, b. ii. c. 182, Rawlinson’s Translation, t. ii. p. 275. - - [13] Ib. b. iii. c. 47. - - [14] Herodotus, t. ii. pp. 442-43. - -From written let us now go to material proofs at hand. During late -years many mummies have been brought to this country from Egypt, -and the narrow bandages with which they were found to have been so -admirably, even according to our modern requirements of chirurgical -fitness, so artistically swathed, have been unwrapped; and always have -they been so fine in their texture as to fully verify the praises of -old bestowed upon the beauty of the Egyptian loom-work. Moreover, from -those who have taken a nearer and, so to say, a trade-like insight -into such an article of manufacture, we learn that, “The finest piece -of mummy-cloth, sent to England by Mr. Salt, and now in the British -Museum, of linen, appears to be made of yarns of near 100 hanks in -the pound, with 140 threads in an inch in the warp and about 64 in -the woof.”[15] Another piece of linen which the same distinguished -traveller obtained at Thebes, has 152 threads in the warp, and 71 in -the woof.[16] - - [15] “Ancient Egypt,” by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, t. iii. p. 122. - - [16] Ib. p. 125. - -Here starts up a curious question. Though, from all antiquity upwards -till within some few years back, the unbroken belief had been that -such mummy-clothing was undoubtedly made of linen woven out of pure -unmixed flax, some writers led, or rather misled, by a few stray words -in Herodotus about tree-wool, while speaking of the corslet of Amasis, -quoted just now, took at once the expression of that historian to mean -wool, and then skipped to the conclusion that all Egyptian textiles -wrought a thousand years before were mixed with cotton. When, however, -it be borne in mind that even several hundred years after the Greek -historian wrote, the common belief existed that, like cotton, silk also -was the growth of a tree, as we are told by Virgil: - - Quid nemora Æthiopum, molli canentia lana - Velleraque ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres?[17] - - Soft wool from downy groves the Æthiop weaves, - And Seres comb their silken fleece from leaves-- - -the εἰρίοισι ἀπὸ ξυλοῦ of Herodotus may be understood to mean silk, -just as well as cotton; nay, the rather so, as it seems very likely -that, at the time when Amasis lived, silk, in the shape of thread, had -found, through traders’ hands, its way to the markets of Egypt, and -must have been thought a more fitting thing, from being a new as well -as costly material, to grace a royal gift to a religious sanctuary of -high repute, than the less precious and more common cotton. While this -question was agitated, specimens of mummy-cloth were submitted to the -judgment of several persons in the weaving trade deemed most competent -to speak upon the matter. Helped only by the fingers’ feel and the -naked eye, some among them agreed that such textures were really woven -of cotton. This opinion was but shortlived. Other individuals, more -philosophical, went to work on a better path. In the first place, they -clearly learned, through the microscope, the exact and never-varying -physical structure of both these vegetable substances. That of cotton -they found in its ultimate fibre to be a transparent tube without -joints, flattened so that its inward surfaces are in contact along -its axis, and also twisted spirally round its axis; that of flax, a -transparent tube, jointed like a cane, and not flattened or twisted -spirally.[18] Examined in the same way, several old samples of byssus -or mummy-bandages from Egypt in every one instance were ascertained -to be of fine unmixed flaxen linen. Ages before French Flanders had -dreamed of weaving fine lawns, ages before one of her industrial -cities--Cambray--had so far taken the lead as to be allowed to bestow -her own name, in the shape of “cambric,” on the finest kind that modern -European ingenuity could produce, Egypt had known how to give to the -world even a yet finer sort, and centuries after she had fallen away -from her place among the kingdoms of the earth, her enthralled people -still kept up their ancient superiority in spinning and weaving their -fine, sometimes transparent, byssus, of which a specimen or two may be -seen in this collection.[19] - - [17] Georg. lib. ii. 120-121. - - [18] Thomson in the Philosophical Magazine, 3rd series, t. v. num. 29, - Nov. 1834. - - [19] No. 152. - -For many reasons the history of - - -SILK - -is not only curious, but highly interesting. In the early ages, its -very existence was quite unknown, and when found out, the knowledge -of it stole forth from the far east, and straggled westward very very -slowly. For all that lengthened period during which their remarkable -civilization lasted, the older Egyptians never once beheld silk: -neither they, nor the Israelites, nor any other of the most ancient -kingdoms of the earth, knew of it in any shape, either as a simple -twist, or as a woven stuff. Not the smallest shred of silk has -hitherto been found in the tombs, or amid the ruins of the Pharaonic -period. - -No where does Holy Writ, old or new, tell anything of silk but in -one single place, the Apocalypse, xviii. 12. True it is that, in the -English authorized version, we read of “silk” as if spoken of by -Ezekiel, xvi. 10, 13; and again, in Proverbs, xxxi. 22; yet there can -be no doubt, but that in both these passages, the word silk is wrong -through the translators misunderstanding the original Hebrew משי -(meschi). Of this word, Parkhurst says: “As a noun, משי, according to -our translation (is) silk, but not so rendered in any of the ancient -versions. _Silk_ would indeed well enough answer the ideal meaning of -the Hebrew word, from its being _drawn forth_ from the bowels of the -silk-worm, and that to a degree of fineness, so as to form very slender -threads. But I meet with no evidence that the Israelites in very early -times (and to these Ezekiel refers) had any knowledge of _silk_, much -less of the manner in which it was formed; משי, therefore, I think, -means some kind of _fine linen_ or _cotton cloth_, so denominated -from the _fineness_ with which the threads whereof it consisted were -_drawn out_. The Vulgate, by rendering it in the former passage, -‘subtilibus’ _fine_, as opposed to _coarse_, has nearly preserved -the true idea of the Hebrew.”[20] Braunius, too, no mean authority, -after bestowing a great deal of study on the matter, gives it as his -well-weighed judgment that, throughout the whole Hebrew Bible, no -mention whatever can be found of silk, which was a material utterly -unknown to the children of Israel.[21] Once only is silk spoken of -in the New Testament, and then while St. John[22] is reckoning it up -along with the gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and -fine linen--byssus--and purple which, with many other costly freights -merchants were wont to bring in ships to that mighty city which, in the -Apostle’s days, ruled over the kings of the earth. - - [20] Hebrew and English Lexicon. London, 1813, p. 415. - - [21] De Vestitu Heb. Sac., lib. I. cap. viii. § 8. - - [22] Apoc. xviii. 12. - -Long after the days of Ezekiel was it that silk, in its raw form only, -made up into hanks, first found its way to Egypt, western Asia, and -eastern Europe. - -To Aristotle do we owe the earliest notice, among the ancients, of the -silk-worm, and although his account be incorrect, it has much value, -since, along with his description, the celebrated Greek philosopher -gives us information about the original importation of raw silk into -the western world. Brought from China, through India, till it reached -the Indus, the silk came by water across the Arabian Ocean, up the Red -Sea, and thence over the Isthmus of Suez, or, perhaps, rather by the -overland route, through Persia, to the small but commercial island of -Cos (now Koss), lying off the coast of Asia Minor. Pamphile, daughter -of Plates, is reported to have first woven it (silk) in Cos.[23] Here, -by female hands, were wrought those light thin gauzes which became so -fashionable among some high dames, but while so often spoken of by the -poets of the Augustan period, were stigmatized by some among them, as -well as by the heathen moralists of after ages, as anything but seemly -for women’s wear. Thus Tibullus says of this sort of clothing: - - Illa gerat vestes tenues, quas fœmina Coa - Texuit, auratas disposuitque vias.[24] - - She may thin garments wear, which female Coan hands - Have woven, and in stripes disposed the golden bands. - -Years afterwards, thus laments Seneca, the philosopher: “Video sericas -vestes, si vestes vocandæ sunt, in quibus nihil est, quo defendi aut -corpus aut denique pudor possit.” I behold silken garments, if garments -they can be called, which are a protection neither for the body nor for -shame.[25] And later still, and in the Christian era, an echo to the -remarks of Seneca do we hear in the words of Solinus: “Hoc illud est -sericum in quo ostentare potius corpora quàm vestire, primò feminis, -nunc etiam viris persuasit luxuriæ libido.”[26] This is silk, in which -at first women but now even men have been led, by their cravings after -luxury, to show rather than to clothe their bodies. - - [23] Hist. Anim. V. c. 19, p. 850, ed. Duval. - - [24] Tibullus, l. ii. 6. - - [25] De Beneficiis, l. vii. c. - - [26] Solinus, c. 1. - -While looking over some precious early mediæval MS., often do we yet -find that its beautifully limned and richly gilt illuminations, to -keep them from harm, or being hurt through the rubbings of the next -leaf, have fastened beside them a covering of the thinnest gauze, just -as we put in sheets of silver paper for that purpose over engravings. -The likelihood is that some at least of these may be shreds from -some of those thin translucent textiles which found such favour in -the fashionable world for so long a time during the classic period. -To some at least of our readers, the curious example of such gauzy -interleafings in the manuscript of Theodulph, now at Puy en Velay, will -occur. - -Not only these transparent silken gauzes wrought in Cos, but far more -tasty stuffs, and flowered too, from Chinese looms, found their way to -Asia Minor and Italy. In telling of the barbarous nations then called -the Seres, Dionysius Periegetes writes that they comb the variously -coloured flowers of the desert land to make precious figured garments, -resembling in colour the flowers of the meadow, and rivalling (in -fineness) the work of spiders.[27] - -As may be easily imagined, silken garments were brought, at an early -period, to imperial Rome. Such, however, were the high prices asked -for them, that few either would or could afford to buy these robes for -their wives and daughters; since, at first, they were looked upon as -quite unbecoming for men’s wear; hence, by a law of the Roman senate -under Tiberius, it was enacted: “Ne vestis serica vicos fœdaret.” -While noticing how womanish Caligula became in his dress, Suetonius -remarks his silken attire: “Aliquando sericatus et cycladatus.”[28] An -exception was made by some emperors for very great occasions, and both -Titus and Vespasian wore dresses of silk when they celebrated at Rome -their triumph over Judæa. Of the emperors who adopted whole silk for -their clothing, Heliogabalus was the first, and so fond was he of the -material, that, in the event of wishing to hang himself, he had got for -the occasion a rope, one strand of which was silk, and the other two -dyed with purple and scarlet: “Paraverat sunes, blatta et serico, et -cocco intortos, quibus si necesse esset, laqueo vitam finiret.”[29] - -The abnegation of another Roman Emperor, Aurelian, both in respect -of himself and his empress, is, however, very remarkable: “Vestem -holosericam neque ipse in vestiario suo habuit neque alteri utendam -dedit. Et cum ab eo uxor sua peteret, ut unico pallio blatteo serico -uteretur, ille respondit absit, ut auro fila pensentur. Libra enim -auri tunc libra serici suit.”[30] Aurelian neither had himself in his -wardrobe a garment wholly silk, nor gave one to be worn by another. -When his own wife begged him to allow her to have a single mantle of -purple silk, he replied, “Far be it from us to allow thread to be -reckoned worth its weight in gold.” For then a pound of gold was the -price of a pound of silk. - -Here it ought to be mentioned that, for some time before this period -a very broad distinction had been drawn, even in the sumptuary laws -of the empire, between garments made wholly, and partially of silk; -in the former, all the web, both woof and warp, is woven of nothing -but silk; in the latter, the woof is of cotton or of thread, the warp -only of silk. This difference in the texture is thus well set forth -by Lampridius, in his life of Alexander Severus, of whom he says: he -had few garments of silk--he never wore a tunic woven wholly of silk, -and he never gave away cloth made of silk mixed with less valuable -stuff. “Vestes sericas ipse raras habuit; holosericas nunquam induit -subsericam nunquam donavit.”[31] - - [27] Quoted by Yates, Textrinum Antiquorum, p. 181. - - [28] Suetonius, c. 52. - - [29] Lampridius, c. 26. - - [30] Vopiscus, c. 45. - - [31] Severus, c. 40. - -Clothing made wholly or in part out of silk, became every year more -and more sought for. So remunerative was the trade of weaving the raw -material into its various forms, that, by the Justinian pandects, the -revised code of laws for the Roman Empire, drawn up and published A.D. -533--a monopoly in it was given to the court, and looms worked by women -were set up in the imperial palace. Thus Byzantium became, and long -continued famous for the beauty of its silken stuffs. Still, the raw -silk itself had to be brought thither from abroad; but a remedy was -very near at hand. Two Greek monks, while spending many years among the -Chinese, had well learned the whole process of rearing the worm. They -came home, and brought back with them a goodly number of eggs hidden -in their walking-staves, likely made of that hollow tough sort of reed -or tall grass, the Arundo Donax; and, carrying them to Constantinople, -they presented these eggs to the Emperor, who gladly received them. -When hatched, the worms were distributed all over Greece and Asia -Minor, and very soon the western world reared its own silk. Not long -afterwards, Persia and India also became silk-growing countries. In -some places, at least in Greece, the weaving not only of the finer -kinds of cloth, but of silk, got at last into the hands of the Jews. -Writing of his travels, A.D. 1161, Benjamin of Tudela tells us that the -great city of Thebes contained about two thousand Jewish inhabitants. -These are the most eminent manufacturers of silk and purple cloth in -all Greece.[32] - -Telling us how the fleet of our first Richard coasted the shores of -Spain on its voyage to the Holy Land, Hoveden says of Almeria and its -silk factory: “Deinde per nobilem civitatem quæ dicitur Almaria ubi fit -nobile sericum et delicatum quod dicitur sericum de Almaria.”[33] So -prized were these fine delicate textiles that they were paid as tribute -to princes: “Insula de Maiore reddit ei (regi Arragoniæ) trecentos -pannos sericos de Almaria per annum de tributo,” &c.[34] - - [32] Early Travels in Palestine, ed. T. Wright, p. 71. - - [33] Rog. Hoveden, Ann. ed. Savile, Rer. Ang. Script., p. 382. - - [34] Ib. p. 382, b. - -South Italy wrought rich silken stuffs by the end of the eleventh -century; for we are told by our countryman, Ordericus Vitalis, who died -in the first half of the twelfth century, that Mainerius, the abbot -of his monastery of St. Evroul, at Uzey, in Normandy, on coming home, -brought with him from Apulia several large pieces of silk, and gave to -the Church four of the finest ones, with which four copes were made -for the chanters: “De pallis quas ipse de Apulia detulerat quatuor de -preciosioris S. Ebrulfo obtulit ex quibus quatuor cappæ cantorum in -eadem factæ sunt ecclesia.”[35] - - [35] Ordericus Vitalis, Ecc. Hist., l. v. p. 584. - -From a feeling alive in every heart throughout the length and breadth -of Christendom that the best of all things ought to be given for -the service of its religious rites, the garments of its celebrating -priesthood, from the far east to the uttermost west, were, if not -always, at least very often wholly of silk--holosericus. To this fact -we have pointed for the sake of remembering that were it not so, we had -been, at this day, without the power of being able to see through the -few but tattered shreds before us, what elegantly designed and gorgeous -stuffs the foreign mediæval loom could weave, and what beautiful -embroidery our own countrywomen knew so well how to work. These -specimens help us also to rightly understand the description of those -splendid vestments and ritual appliances enumerated with such exactness -in the old inventories of our venerable cathedrals and parish churches -as well as the early wardrobe accompts of our kings, the wills and -bequests of our dignified ecclesiastics and nobility, to some of which -documents we shall have to refer a little later. - -In coming westward among us, all these so much coveted stuffs brought -along with them their own several names by which they were commonly -known throughout the east, whether Greece, Asia Minor, or Persia. Hence -when we read of Samit, ciclatoun, cendal, baudekin, and other such -terms quite unknown to trade now-a-day, we should bear in mind that -notwithstanding the wide variety of spelling, or rather misspelling, -each of these appellations has run through, we reach at last their true -derivations, and so happily get to know in what country and by whose -hands they were wrought. - -As trade grew up, she brought these fine silken textiles to our -markets, and articles of dress were made of silk for men’s as well as -women’s wear among the wealthy. At what period the raw material came to -be imported here, not so much for embroidery as to be wrought in the -loom, we do not exactly know; but from several sides we learn that our -countrywomen of all degrees busied themselves in weaving. Among the -home occupations of maidens dedicated to God, St. Aldhelm, at the end -of the seventh century, seems to number: “Cortinarum sive stragularum -textura.”[36] In the council at Cloveshoo, under Archbishop Cuthbert, -A.D. 747, nuns are exhorted to spend their time in reading or singing -psalms rather than weaving and knitting vainglorious garments of -many colours: “Magisque legendis libris vel canendis psalmis, quam -texendis et plectendis vario colore inanis gloriæ vestibus studeant -operam dare.”[37] By that curious old English book, the “Ancren Riwle,” -written towards the end of the twelfth century, ankresses are forbidden -to make purses to gain friends therewith, or blodbendes.[38] Were it -not that the weaving especially of silk, was so generally followed in -the cloister by English women, it had been useless to have so strongly -discountenanced the practice. - - [36] De Laudibus Virginitatis, Opp. ed. Giles, 15. - - [37] Concil. Ecc. Brit. ed. Spelman, i. 256. - - [38] P. 421. - -Those “blodbendes,” or narrow strips for winding round the arm after -bleeding, are curiously illustrative of an old national custom for -health-sake kept up in the remembrance of some old folks still living, -of periodical blood-letting. To his practices upon the heads and chins -of people the barber at no remote period, added that of bleeding them; -and the old English barber surgeons held a high position among the -gilds of London. To show where he lived each member of that brotherhood -had hanging out from the walls of his house a long thin pole painted -spirally black and white, the white in token of the blodbende or -bandage to be winded and kept about the patient’s arm. - -But on silk weaving by our women in small hand-looms, a very important -witness, especially about several curious specimens in this collection, -is John Garland, born at the beginning of the thirteenth century in -London, where his namesakes and likely of his stock, were and are -known. First, a John Garland, A.D. 1170, held a prebend’s stall in -St. Paul’s Cathedral.[39] Another, A.D. 1211, was sheriff, at a later -period.[40] A third, a wealthy draper of London, gave freely towards -the building of a church in Somersetshire.[41] A fourth, who died A.D. -1461, lies buried in St. Sythe’s;[42] and, at the present day, no fewer -than twenty-two trades-men of that name, of whom six are merchants of -high standing in the city, are mentioned in the London Post Office -Directory for this year 1868. We give these instances as some have -tried to rob us of John Garland by saying he was not an Englishman, -though of himself he had said: “Anglia cui mater fuerat, cui gallia -nutrix,” &c. - - [39] Dugdale’s St. Paul’s, p. 264. - - [40] Liber de Antiq. Legibus, pp. 3, 223. - - [41] Leland’s Itinerary, t. 7, p. 99. - - [42] Stowe’s Survey, B. iii. p. 31. - -In a sort of very short dictionary, drawn up by that writer, and -printed at the end of “Paris sous Philippe Le Bel,” edited by M. -H. Geraud, our countryman says: “Textrices quæ texunt serica texta -projiciunt fila aurata officio cavillarum et percuciunt subtemina cum -linea (lignea?) spata: de textis vero fiunt cingula et crinalia divitum -mulierum et stole sacerdotum.”[43] Though short, this passage is -curious and valuable. From it we learn that, besides the usual homely -textiles, those more costly cloth-of-gold webs were wrought by our -women, and very likely, among their other productions--cingula--were -those “blodbendes,” the weaving of which had been forbidden to -ankresses and nuns; perhaps, too, of those narrow gold-wrought ribbons -in this collection, pp. 24, 33, 38, 217, 218, 219, 221, &c., some may -have been so employed by our high-born dames on occasion of their -being bled, since as late as the sixteenth century some seasons were -deemed fit, others quite unfitting for the operation. Hence, in his -Richard II. act 1, scene i. Shakespeare makes the king to warn those -wrath-kindled gentlemen, Bolingbroke and Norfolk: - - Our doctors say this is no month to bleed. - - [43] Ib. 607. - -And our most popular books in olden time, one the Shepherd’s Kalendar, -speaking about the signs of the zodiack, tell us which of the twelve -months are either good, evil, or indifferent for blood-letting. - -John Garland’s “cingula” may also mean those rich girdles or sashes -worn by our women round the waist, and of which we have one in this -collection, No. 8571, p. 218. Of this sort, is that border--amber -coloured silk and diapered--round a vestment found in a grave at -Durham, and like “a thick lace, one inch and a quarter broad--evidently -owing its origin, not to the needle, but to the loom,” &c.[44] For -the artist wishful to be correct concerning the head-gear of ladies -from Anglo-Saxon times till the end of the later Plantagenets, this -collection can furnish examples of those bands in those narrow textiles -spoken of by our John Garland. For an after-period those bands are -shown on the statuary, and amid the limning in illuminated MSS. of the -thirteenth century; as instances of the narrow girdle, may be viewed -a lady’s effigy, in Romney church, Hants; and that of Ann of Bohemia, -in Westminster Abbey; both to be found in Hollis’s Monumental Effigies -of Great Britain; for the band about the head, the examples in the -wood-cuts in Planchè’s British Costumes, p. 116. - - [44] Raine’s St. Cuthbert, p. 196. - -Of such head-bands we have one at number 8569, p. 217, and other -three mentioned upon p. 221. They are, no doubt, the old snôd of -the Anglo-Saxon period. For high-born dames they were wrought of -silk and gold; those of lower degree wore them of simpler stuff. The -silken snood, affected to the present hour by young unmarried women -in Scotland, is a truthful witness to the fashion in vogue during -Anglo-Saxon and later times in this country. - -With regard to what John Garland says of stoles so made, there is one -here, No. 1233, p. 24, quite entire. - -From what has been here brought forward, it will be seen that of silk, -whence it came or what was its kind, nothing was truly understood, -even by the learned, for many ages. While, then, we smile at Virgil -and the other ancients for thinking that silk was a sort of herbaceous -fleece growing upon trees, let us not forget that not so many years -ago our own Royal Society printed a paper in which it is set forth -that the yet-called Barnacle Goose comes from a mussel-like bivalve -shell, known as the “Anatifa,” or Barnacle, an origin for the bird -still believed in by some of our seafaring folks, and fostered after -a manner by well-read people by the scientific nomenclature of the -shell and the vernacular epithet for the goose. In the twelfth century, -our countryman, Alexander Neckham, foster-brother to our Richard I., -wrote of this marvel thus: “Ex lignis abiegnis salo diuturno tempore -madefactis originem sumit avis quæ vulgo dicitur bernekke,” &c.[45] -Such, however, was the Cirencester Augustinian friar’s knowledge of -natural history, that, at least four hundred years ere the Royal -Society had a being amongst us, he thus spurns the popular belief upon -the subject:-- - - Ligna novas abiegna salo madefacta, jubente - Natura, volucres edere fama refert. - Id viscosus agit humor, quod publica fama - Afserit indignans philosophia negat.[46] - -Of a truth the Record Commission is doing England good service by -drawing out of darkness the works of our mediæval writers. - - [45] De Natura Rerum, p. 99, published under the direction of the - Master of the Rolls. - - [46] Ib. p. 304. - -The breeding of the worm and the manufacture of its silk both spread -themselves with steady though slow steps over most of those countries -which skirt the shores of the Mediterranean; so that, by the tenth -century, those processes had reached from the far east to the uttermost -western limits of that same sea. Even then, and a long time after, the -natural history of the silkworm became known but to a very few. Our -aforesaid countryman, Alexander Neckham, made Abbot of Cirencester, -A.D. 1213, was, it is likely, the first who, while he had learned, -tried in his popular work, “De Natura Rerum,” to help others to -understand the habits of the insect: “Materiam vestium sericarum -contexit vermis qui bombex dicitur. Foliis celsi, quæ vulgo morus -dicitur, vescitur, et materiam serici digerit; postquam vero operari -cœperit, escam renuit, labori delicioso diligentem operam impendens. -Calathi parietes industrius textor circuit, lanam educens crocei -coloris quæ nivei candoris efficitur per ablutionem, antequam tinctura -artificialis superinduitur. Consummato autem opere nobilis textoris, -thecam in opere proprio involutam centonis in modum subintrat jamque -similis papilioni, &c.”[47] - - [47] Ed. T. Wright, p. 272. - -Of those several raw materials that have, from the earliest periods, -been employed in weaving, though not in such frequency as silk, one is - - -GOLD, - -which, when judiciously brought in, brings with it, not a barbaric, but -artistical richness. - -The earliest written notice we have about the employment of this -precious metal in the loom, or of the way in which it was wrought for -such a purpose, we find set forth in the Pentateuch, where Moses tells -us that he (Beseleel) made of violet and purple, scarlet and fine -linen, the vestments for Aaron to wear when he ministered in the holy -places. So he made an ephod of gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet -twice dyed, and fine twisted linen, with embroidered work; and he cut -thin plates of gold and drew them small into strips, that they might -be twisted with the woof of the aforesaid colours.[48] Instead of -“strip,” the authorized version says, “wire,” another translation reads -“thread;” but neither can be right, for both of these English words -mean a something round or twisted in the shape given to the gold before -being wove, whereas the metal must have been worked in quite flat, as -we learn from the text. - - [48] Exodus xxxix. 1, 2, 3. - -This brings us to a short notice of - - -CLOTH OF GOLD, OR TISSUE. - -The use of gold for weaving, both along with linen or quite by itself, -existed, it is likely, among the Egyptians, long before the days of -Moses. In either way of its being employed, the precious metal was -at first wrought in a flattened, never in a round or wire shape. To -this hour the Chinese and the people of India work the gold into their -stuffs after the first and ancient form. In this fashion, to even now, -the Italians love to weave their lama d’oro, or the more glistening -toca--those cloths of gold which, to all Asiatic and many European -eyes, do not glare with too much garishness, but shine with a glow that -befits the raiment of personages in high station. - -Among the nations of ancient Asia, garments made of webs dyed with -the costly purple tint, and interwoven with gold, were on all grand -occasions worn by kings and princes. So celebrated did the Medes -and Persians become in such works of the loom, that cloths of -extraordinary beauty got their several names from those peoples, and -Medean, Lydian, and Persian textiles came to be everywhere sought for -with eagerness. - -Writing of the wars carried on in Asia and India by Alexander the -Great, almost four centuries before the birth of Christ, Quintus -Curtius often speaks about the purple and gold garments worn by the -Persians and more eastern Asiatics. Among the many thousands of those -who came forth from Damascus to the Greek general, Parmenio, many -were so clad: “Vestes ... auro et purpura insignes induunt.”[49] All -over India the same fashion was followed in dress. When an Indian -king, with his two grown-up sons, came to Alexander, all three were so -arrayed: “Vestis erat auro purpuraque distincta, &c.”[50] Princes and -the high nobility, all over the East, are by Quintus Curtius called, -“purpurati.”[51] Not only garments but hangings were made of the same -costly fabric. When Alexander wished to afford some ambassadors a -splendid reception, the golden couches upon which they lay to eat their -meat were screened all about with cloths of gold and purple: “Centum -aurei lecti modicis intervallis positi erant: lectis circumdederat -(rex Alexander) ælæa purpura auroque fulgentia, &c.”[52] But these -Indian guests themselves were not less gorgeously arrayed in their own -national costume, as they came wearing linen (perhaps cotton) garments -resplendent with gold and purple: “Lineæ vestes intexto auro purpuraque -distinctæ, &c.”[53] - -The dress worn by Darius, as he went forth to do battle, is thus -described by the same historian: The waist part of the royal purple -tunic was wove in white, and upon his mantle of cloth of gold were -figured two golden hawks as if pecking at one another with their beaks: -“Purpureæ tunicæ medium album intextum erat: pallam auro distinctam -aurei accipitres, velut rostris inter se concurrerent, adornabant.”[54] - - [49] Q. Curtii Rufi, lib. iii. cap. xiii. 34, p. 26, ed Foss. - - [50] Ib. lib. ix. cap. i. p. 217. - - [51] Ib. lib. iii. cap. ii. p. 4, cap. viii. p. 16. - - [52] Ib. lib. ix. cap. vii. p. 233. - - [53] Ib. cap. vii. p. 233. - - [54] Ib. lib. iii. cap. iii. p. 7. - -From the east this love for cloth of gold reached the southern end of -Italy, called Magna Græcia, and thence soon got to Rome; where, even -under its early kings and much later under its emperors, garments made -of it were worn. Pliny, speaking of this rich textile, says:--Gold may -be spun or woven like wool, without any wool being mixed with it. We -are informed by Verrius, that Tarquinius Priscus rode in triumph in -a tunic of gold; and we have seen Agrippina, the wife of the Emperor -Claudius, when he exhibited the spectacle of a naval combat, sitting by -him, covered with a robe made entirely of woven gold without any other -material.[55] In fact, about the year 1840, the Marquis Campagna dug -up, near Rome, two old graves, in one of which had been buried a Roman -lady of high birth, inferred from the circumstance that all about her -remains were found portions of such fine gold flat thread, once forming -the burial garment with which she had been arrayed for her funeral: “Di -due sepolcri Romani, del secolo di Augusto scoverti tra la via Latina e -l’Appia, presso la tomba degli Scipioni.” - - [55] Book XXXIII. c. 19. Dr. Bostock’s Translation. - -Now we get to the Christian epoch. When Pope Paschal, A.D. 821, sought -for the body of St. Cecily, who underwent martyrdom A.D. 230, the -pontiff found, in the catacombs, the maiden bride whole, and dressed -in a garment wrought all of gold, with some of her raiment drenched in -blood lying at her feet: “Aureis illud (corpus) vestitum indumentis -et linteamina martyris ipsius sanguine plena.”[56] In making the -foundations for the new St. Peter’s at Rome, they came upon and looked -into the marble sarcophagus in which had been buried Probus Anicius, -prefect of the Pretorian, and his wife, Proba Faltonia, each of whose -bodies was wrapped in a winding-sheet woven of pure gold strips.[57] -Maria Stilicho’s daughter, was wedded to the Emperor Honorius, and -died sometime about A.D. 400. When her grave was opened, A.D. 1544, -the golden tissues in which her body had been shrouded were taken out -and melted, when the yield of precious metal amounted to thirty-six -pounds.[58] The late Father Marchi found, among the remains of St. -Hyacinthus, martyr, several fragments of the same kind of golden web, -winding sheets of which were often given by the opulent for wrapping -up the dead body of some poor martyred Christian brother, as is shown -by the example specified in Boldetti’s “Cimiteri de’ santi martiri di -Roma.”[59] - - [56] Liber Pontificalis, t. ii. p. 332, ed. Vignolio, Romæ, 1752; - Hierurgia, 2nd ed. p. 275. - - [57] Batelli, de Sarco. Marm. Probi Anicii et Probæ Faltoniæ in Temp. - Vatic. Romæ. 1705. - - [58] Cancellieri, De Secretariis Basil. Vatic. ii. 1000. - - [59] T. II. p. 22. - -Childeric, the second and perhaps the most renowned king of the -Merovingean dynasty, died and was buried A.D. 485, at Tournai. In the -year 1653 his grave was found out, and amid the earth about it so many -remains of pure gold strips were turned up, that there is every reason -for thinking that the Frankish king was wrapped in a mantle of such -golden stuff for his burial.[60] That the strips of pure gold out of -which the burial cloak of Childeric was woven were not anywise round, -but quite flat, we are warranted in thinking, from the fact that, -while digging in a Merovingean burial ground at Envermeu, A.D. 1855, -the distinguished archæologist l’Abbe Cochet came upon the grave once -filled, as it seemed, by a young lady whose head had been wreathed with -a fillet of pure golden web, the tissue of which is thus described: -“Ces fils aussi brillants et aussi frais que s’ils sortaient de la main -de l’ouvrier, n’étaient ni étirés ni cordés. Ils étaient plats et se -composaient tout semplement de petites lanières d’or d’un millimètre de -largeur, coupée à même une feuille d’or épaisse de moins d’un dixième -de millimètre. La longueur totale de quelques-uns atteignait parfois -jusqu’à quinze ou dix-huit centimètres.”[61] - - [60] Cochet, Le Tombeau de Childeric I^{er}, p. 174. - - [61] Cochet, Le Tombeau de Childeric I^{er} p. 175. - -Our own country can furnish an example of this kind of golden textile. -At Chessel Down, in the Isle of Wight, when Mr. Hillier was making some -researches in an old Anglo-Saxon place of burial, the diggers found -pieces of golden strips, thin, and quite flat, which are figured in M. -l’Abbé Cochet’s learned book just quoted.[62] Of such a rich texture -must have been the vestment covered with precious stones, given to St. -Peter’s Church, at Rome, by Charles of France, in the middle of the -ninth century: “Carolus rex sancto Apostolo obtulit ex purissimo auro, -et gemmis constructam vestem, &c.”[63] - -In the working of such webs and embroidery for use in the Church, a -high-born Anglo-Saxon lady, Ælthelswitha, with her waiting maids, spent -her life near Ely, where, “aurifrixoriæ et texturis secretius cum -puellulis vacabat, quæ de proprio sumptu, albam casulam suis manibus -ipsa talis ingenii peritissima fecit,” &c.[64] - - [62] Ib. p. 176. - - [63] Liber Pontificalis, l. iii., p. 201, ed. Vignolia. - - [64] Liber Eliensis, ed. Stewart, p. 208. - -Such a weaving of pure gold was, here in England, followed certainly -as late as the beginning of the tenth century; very likely much later. -In the chapter library belonging to Durham Cathedral may be seen, -along with several other very precious liturgical appliances, a stole -and maniple, which happily, for more reasons than one, bear these -inscriptions: “Ælfflaed Fieri Precepit. Pio Episcopo Fridestano.” Queen -to Alfred’s son and successor, Edward the elder was our Ælfflaed who -got this stole and maniple made for a gift to Fridestan, consecrated -bishop of Winchester A.D. 905. With these webs under his eye, Mr. -Raine, in his “Saint Cuthbert,”[65] writes thus: In the first, the -ground work of the whole is woven exclusively with thread of gold. I -do not mean by thread of gold, the silver-gilt wire frequently used in -such matters, but real gold thread, if I may so term it, not round, -but flat. This is the character of the whole web, with the exception -of the figures, the undulating cloud-shaped pedestal upon which they -stand, the inscriptions, and the foliage; for all of which, however -surprising it may appear, vacant spaces have been left by the loom, and -they themselves afterwards inserted with the needle. Further on, in -his description of a girdle, the same writer tells us: Its breadth is -exactly seven-eighths of an inch. It has evidently proceeded from the -loom; and its two component parts are a flattish thread of pure gold, -and a thread of scarlet silk, &c.[66] Let it be borne in mind that -Winchester was then a royal city, and abounded, as it did afterwards, -with able needle-women. - - [65] P. 202. - -The employment, till a late period, of flattened gold in silk textiles -is well shown by those fraudulent imitations, and substitution in its -stead of gilt parchment, which we have pointed out among the specimens -in this collection, as may be seen at Nos. 7095, p. 140; 8590, p. 224; -8601, p. 229; 8639, p. 244, &c. - -That these Durham cloth-of-gold stuffs for vestments were home made--we -mean wrought in Anglo-Saxondom--is likely, and by our women’s hands, -after the way we shall have to speak about further on. - -This love for such glittering attire, not only for liturgical use but -secular wear, lasted long in England. Such golden webs went here under -different names; at first they were called “ciclatoun,” “siglaton,” or -“siklatoun,” as the writer’s fancy led him to spell the common Persian -word for them at the time throughout the east. - -By the old English ritual, plain cloth of gold was allowed, as now, to -be taken for white, and worn in the Church’s ceremonials as such, when -that colour happened to be named for use by the rubric. Thus in the -reign of Richard II., among the vestments at the Chapel of St. George, -Windsor Castle, there was “unum vestimentum album bonum de panno -adaurato pro principalibus festis B. Mariæ,” &c.[67] - -St. Paul’s, London, had, at the end of the thirteenth century, two -amices; one an old one, embroidered with solid gold wire: “Amictus -breudatus de auro puro; amictus vetus breudatus cum auro puro.”[68] - - [66] Mr. Raine, St. Cuthbert, p. 209. - - [67] Dugdale’s Mon. Angl. t. viii., p. 1363. - - [68] Dugdale, p. 318. - -The use of golden stuffs not unlikely woven in England, but assuredly -worn by royalty here, is curiously shown by the contrast between the -living man clothed in woven gold, and the dead body, and its frightful -state at burial, of Henry I., set forth by Roger Hoveden; who thus -writes of that king: “vide ... quomodo regis potentissimi corpus -cujus cervix diademite, auro et gemmis electissimis quasi divino -splendore vernaverat ... cujus reliqua superficies auro textile tota -rutilaverat,” &c.[69] - -Often was this splendid web wrought so thick and strong, that each -string, whether it happened to be of hemp or of silk, in the warp, had -in it six threads, while the weft was of flat gold shreds. Hence such -a texture was called “samit,” a word shortened from its first and old -Byzantine name “exsamit,” as we shall have to notice further on. Among -several other purchases for the wardrobe of Edward I., in the year -1300, we find this entry: “Pro samitis pannis ad aurum tam in canabo -quam in serico,” &c.[70] And such was the quantity kept there of this -costly cloth, that the nobles of that king were allowed to buy it out -of the royal stores; for instance, four pieces at thirty shillings each -were sold to the Lord Robert de Clifford, and another piece at the same -price to Thomas de Cammill.[71] Not only Asia Minor, but the Island -of Cyprus, the City of Lucca, and Moorish Spain, sent us these rich -tissues. The cloth of gold from Spain is incidentally spoken of later -in the Sherborn bequest, p. lvi. Along with other things left behind -him at Haverford castle, by Richard II., were twenty-five cloths of -gold of divers suits, of which four came from Cyprus, the others from -Lucca: “xxv. draps d or de diverses suytes dount iiii. de _Cipres_ les -autres de _Lukes_.”[72] How Edward IV. liked cloth-of-gold for his -personal wear, may be gathered from his “Wardrobe Accounts,” edited by -Nicolas; and the lavish use of this stuff ordered by Richard III. for -his own coronation, is recorded in the “Antiquarian Repertory.”[73] The -robes to be worn by the unfortunate Edward V. at this same function -were cloth of gold tissue. “Diverse peces of cloth of gold” were bought -by Henry VII., “of Lombardes.”[74] - - [69] Annalium, &c., p. 276, ed. Savile. - - [70] Liber Quotidianus Garderobæ, p. 354. - - [71] Ib., p. 6. - - [72] Ancient Kalendars, &c., ed. Palgrave, t. iii., 358. - - [73] I. p. 43, &c. - - [74] Excerpta Historica, p. 90. - -A “gowne of cloth-of-gold, furred with pawmpilyon, ayenst Corpus Xpi -day,” was brought from London to Richmond, to Elizabeth of York, -afterwards Henry VII.’s queen, for her to wear as she walked in the -procession on that great festival.[75] The affection shown by Henry -VIII., and all our nobility, men and women, of the time, for cloth -of gold in their garments, was unmistakingly set forth in so many of -their likenesses brought together in that very instructive Exhibition -of National Portraits in the year, A.D. 1866, in the South Kensington -Museum. This stuff seems to have been costly then, for Princess, -afterwards Queen Mary, thirteen years before she came to the throne: -“payed to Peycocke, of London, for xix yerds iii. qr̃t of clothe of -golde at xxxviij.[~s] the yerde, xxxvij_li._ x_s._ vj_d._”[76] And for -“a yerde and d^r qr̃t of clothe of siluer xl_s._”[77] - - [75] Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York, p. 33, ed. Nicolas. - - [76] Privy Purse Expenses of Princess Mary, ed. Madden, p. 87. - - [77] Ib. p. 86. - -Cloth of gold called - - -TISSUE. - -As between common silk and satin, there runs a broad difference, at -least in look, one being dull, the other smooth and glossy, so there -is a great distinction to be made among cloths of gold; some are, -so to say, dead; others, brilliant and sparkling. When the gold is -twisted into its silken filament, it takes the deadened look; when the -flattened, filmy strip of metal is rolled about it so evenly as to -bring its edges close to one another, it seems to be one unbroken wire -of gold, sparkling and lustrous, like what is now known as “passing,” -and, during the middle ages, went by the term of Cyprus gold; and rich -samits woven with it, were called damasks of Cyprus. - -The very self-same things get for themselves other denominations as -time goes on: such happened to cloths of gold. What the thirteenth -century called, first, “ciclatoun,” then “baudekin,” afterward “nak,” -people, two hundred years later, chose to name “tissue,” or the bright -shimmering golden textile affected so much by our kings and queens in -their dress, for the more solemn occasions of stately grandeur, as was -just now mentioned. Up to this time, the very thin smooth paper made -at first on purpose to be, when this rich stuff lay by, put between -its folds to hinder it from fraying or tarnish, yet goes, though its -original use is forgotten, by the name of tissue-paper. - -The gorgeous and entire set of vestments presented to the altar at -St. Alban’s Abbey, by Margaret, Duchess of Clarence, A.D. 1429, and -made of the cloth of gold commonly called “tyssewys,” must have -been as remarkable for the abundance and purity of the gold in its -texture, as for the splendour of the precious stones set on it, as -well as the exquisite beauty of its embroideries: “Obtulit etiam unum -vestimentum integrum cum tribus capis choralibus de panno Tyssewys -vulgariter nuncupato in quibus auri pretiosa nobilitas, gemmarum -pulchritudo et curiosa manus artificis stuporem quendam inspectantium -oculis repræsentant.”[78] The large number of vestments made out of -gold tissue, and of crimson, light blue, purple, green, and black, -once belonging to York Cathedral, are all duly registered in the -valuable “Fabric Rolls” of that Church lately published by the Surtees -Society.[79] - - [78] Mon. Anglic. II. 222. - - [79] Pp. 229, &c. - -Among those many rich and costly vestments in Lincoln Cathedral, some -were made of this sparkling golden tissue contra-distinguished in its -inventory, from the duller cloth of gold, thus: “Four good copes of -blew tishew with orphreys of red cloth of gold, wrought with branches -and leaves of velvet;”[80] “a chesable with two tunacles of blew tishew -having a precious orphrey of cloth of gold.”[81] - -To this day, in some countries the official robes of certain -dignitaries are wrought of this rich textile. Even now, these Roman -princes, and the senator whose place on great festivals when the Pope -is present, is about the pontifical throne, are all arrayed in state -garments made of cloth of gold. - - [80] Monasticon Anglicanum, ed. Dugdale, t. viii. p. 1282. - - [81] Ib. - -Silken textures ornamented with designs in copper gilt thread, were -brought into market and honestly sold for what they really were: of -such inferior wares we find mention in the inventory of vestments at -Winchester Cathedral, drawn up by order of Henry VIII. where we read of -“twenty-eight copys of white bawdkyne, woven with copper gold.”[82] The -substitution of gilt parchment for metal will be noticed further on, -Section vi. - -To imitate cloth of gold, the gilding of silk and fine canvas, like our -gilding of wood and other substances, though not often, was sometimes -resorted to for splendour’s sake on momentary occasions; such, for -instance, as some stately procession, or a solemn burial service. Mr. -Raine tells us he got from a grave at Durham, among other textiles, -“a robe of thinnish silk; the ground colour of the whole is amber; -and the ornamental parts were literally covered with _leaf gold_, of -which there remained distinct and very numerous portions.”[83] In the -churchyard of Cheam, Surrey, A.D. 1865, was found the skeleton of a -priest buried there some time during the fourteenth century; around the -waist was a flat girdle made of brown silk that had been gilt, and a -shred of it now lies before the writer. - -In the “Romaunt of the Rose,” translated by Chaucer, Dame Gladnesse is -thus described:-- - - --in an over gilt samite - Clad she was.[84] - -On a piece of German orphrey-web, in this collection, No. 1373, p. 80, -and likely done at Cologne, in the sixteenth century, the gold is put -by the gilding process. - - [82] Ib. t. i. p. 202, new ed. - - [83] Saint Cuthbert, by J. Raine, p. 194. - - [84] Poems, ed. Nicolas, t. iv. p. 27. - -In the year 1295, St. Paul’s, London, had: “Casula de panno inaurato -super serico,” a chasuble of gilded silk;[85] and it was lined with red -cloth made at Ailesham,[86] or Elesham Priory in Lincolnshire. It had, -too, another chasuble, and altar frontals of gilded canvas: “casula -de panno inaurato in canabo, lineata carda Indici coloris cum panno -consimili de Venetiis ad pendendum ante altare.”[87] Venice seems to -have been the place where these gilded silks and canvases, like the -leather and pretty paper of a later epoch, were wrought. - - [85] Dugdale’s St. Paul’s, p. 335. - - [86] Ib. - - [87] Ib. - -As gold, so too - -SILVER, - -was hammered out into very thin sheets, which were cut into narrow long -shreds to be woven, unmixed with anything else, into a web for garments -fitting for the wear of kings. Of this we have a striking illustration -in the “Acts,” where St. Luke, speaking of Herod Agrippa, tells us that -he presented himself arrayed in kingly apparel, to the people, who to -flatter him, shouted that his was the voice, not of a man, but of a -god; and forthwith he was smitten by that loathsome disease--eaten up -by worms--which shortly killed him.[88] This royal robe, as Josephus -informs us, was a tunic all made of silver and wonderful in its -texture. Appearing in this dress at break of day in the theatre, the -silver, lit up by the rays of the early morning’s sun, gleamed so -brightly as to startle the beholders in such a manner that some among -them, by way of glozing, shouted out that the king before them was a -god.[89] - - [88] Acts. c. xii. vv. 21-23. - - [89] Ant. l. xix. 8. - -Intimately connected with the raw materials, and how they were wrought -in the loom, is the question about the time when - - -WIRE-DRAWING - -was found out. At what period, and among what people the art of -working up pure gold, or gilded silver, into a long, round, hair-like -thread--into what may be correctly called “wire”--began, is quite -unknown. That with their mechanical ingenuity the ancient Egyptians -bethought themselves of some method for the purpose, is not unlikely. -From Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, we learn that at Thebes there was found -the appearance of gold wire.[90] Of those remarkable pieces of Egyptian -handicraft the corslets sent by King Amasis--one to Lindus, the second -to Lacædemon--of which we have already spoken (p. xiv.), we may fairly -presume that the work upon them done by the needle in gold, required -by its minuteness that the precious metal should be not flat, but in -the shape of a real wire. By the delicate management of female fingers, -the usual narrow flat strips might have been pinched or doubled up, so -that the two edges should meet, and then rubbed between men’s harder -hands, or better still, between two pieces of smooth highly-polished -granite, would produce a golden wire of any required fineness. -Belonging to the writer is an Egyptian gold ring, which was taken from -off the finger of a mummy by a friend. The hoop is a plain, somewhat -thick wire. On each side of its small green-dyed ivory scarabee, to -keep it in its place, are wound several rounds of rather fine wire. In -Etruscan and Greek jewellery, wire is often to be found; but in all -instances it is so well shaped and so even, that no hammer could have -hardly wrought it, and it must have been fashioned by some rolling -process. All through the mediæval times the filigree work is often -very fine and delicate. Likely is it that the embroidery which we thus -read of in the descriptions of the vestments belonging whilom to our -old churches, for instance: “amictus breudatus cum auro puro”[91]--was -worked with gold wire. To go back to Anglo-Saxon times in this country, -such gold wire would seem to have been well known and employed, since -in Peterborough minster there were two golden altar-cloths: “ii. -gegylde ƿeofad sceatas;”[92] and at Ely Cathedral, among its old ritual -ornaments, were, in the reign of William Rufus: “Duo cinguli, unus -totus de auri filo, alter de pallio cujus pendentia” (the tassels) -“sunt bene ornata de auri filo.”[93] - -The first idea of a wire-drawing machine dawned upon a workman’s mind -in the year 1360, at Nuremberg; and yet it was not until two hundred -years after, A.D. 1560, that the method was brought to England. One -sample of a stuff with pure wire in it may be seen, p. 220, No. 8581, -in this collection, as well as at No. 8228, p. 150. - - [90] Ancient Egyptians, iii. 130. - - [91] Church of our Fathers, i. 469. - - [92] Mon. Anglic. t. i. p. 382. - - [93] Hist. Elien. lib. ii., c. 139, p. 283, ed. Steuart. - -Equally interesting to our present subject is the process of twining -long narrow strips of gold, or in its stead gilt silver, round a line -of silk or flax, and thus producing - - -GOLD THREAD. - -Probably its origin, as far as flax and not silk is concerned, as being -the underlying substance, is much earlier than has been supposed; and -when Attalus’s name was bestowed upon a new method of interweaving gold -with wool or linen, it happened so not because that Pargamanean king -had been the first to think of twisting gold about a far less costly -material, and thus, in fact, making gold thread such as we now have, -but through his having suggested to the weaver the long-known golden -thread as a woof into the textiles from his loom. From this point of -view, we may easily believe what Pliny says: “Aurum intexere in eadem -Asia invenit Attalus rex; unde nomen Attalicis.”[94] In that same Asia -King Attalus invented the method of using a woof of gold; from this -circumstance the Attalic cloths got their name. - -That, at least for working embroidery, ladies at an early Christian -period used to spin their own gold thread, would seem from a passage in -Claudian. Writing on the elevation to the consulate of the two brothers -Probinus and Olybrius, at the end of the fourth century, the poet thus -gracefully compliments their aged mother, Proba, who with her own hands -had worked the purple and gold-embroidered robes, the “togæ pictæ,” or -“trabeæ,” to be worn by her sons in their office: - - Lætatur veneranda parens, et pollice docto - Jam parat auratas trabeas ... - - * * * * * - - Et longum tenues tractus producit in aurum - Filaque concreto cogit squalere metallo.[95] - - The joyful mother plies her learned hands, - And works all o’er the trabea golden bands, - Draws the thin strips to all their length of gold, - To make the metal meaner threads enfold. - -A consular figure, arrayed in the purple trabea, profusely embroidered -in gold, is shown in “The Church of our Fathers.”[96] - - [94] Lib. viii. c. 47. - - [95] In Probini et Olybrii Consulatum, 177-182. - - [96] T. ii. p. 131. - -That, in the thirteenth century our own ladies, like the Roman Proba, -themselves used to make the gold thread needed for their own embroidery -is certain; and the process which they followed is set forth as one of -the items among the other costs for that magnificent frontal wrought -A.D. 1271, for the high altar at Westminster Abbey. As that bill -itself, to be seen on the Chancellor’s Roll for the year 56 of Henry -III., affords so many curious and available particulars about the whole -subject in hand, we will give it here at full length for the sake of -coming back hereafter to its several parts: “In xij. ulnis de canabo -ad frontale magni altaris ecclesiæ (Westmonasterii) et cera ad eundem -pannum ceranda, v_s._ vi_d._ Et in vj marcis auri ad idem frontale, -liij marcas. Et in operacione dicti auri, et sessura (scissura?) et -filatura ejusdem, iiij_l._ xiij_s._ Et in ij libris serici albi et in -duobus serici crocei ad idem opus, xxxv_s._ Et in perlis albis ponderis -v marcarum, et dimidiæ ad idem opus lxx_li._ Et pro grossis perlis -ad borduram ejusdem panni, ponderis ij marcarum, xiij_li._ dimidiam -marcam. Et in una libra serici grossi, x_s._ Et in stipendio quatuor -mulierum operancium in predicto panno per iij annos et iij partes unius -anni, xxxvi_li_. Et in Dccciij^{xx} vi estmalles ponderis liii_s._ ad -borduram predictam. Et pro lxxvj asmallis grossis ponderis lxv_s._ ad -idem frontale iiij^{xx}_li._ xvj_s._ Et pro Dl gernectis positis in -predictis borduris, lxvi_s._ Et in castoniis auri ad dictas gernectas -imponendas ponderis xij_s._ vj_d._, cxij_s._ vj_d._ Et in pictura -argenti posita subtus predicta asmalla, ij marcas. Et in vj ulnis -cardonis de viridi, iij_s._”[97] As the pound-weight now is widely -different from the pound sterling, so then the mark-weight of gold -cost nine marks of money. The “operacio auri” of the above document -consisted in flattening out, by a broad-faced hammer like one such as -our gold-beaters still use, the precious metal into a sheet thin as -our thinnest paper. The “scissura” was the cutting of it afterwards -into long narrow strips, the winding of which about the filaments of -the yellow silk mentioned, is indicated by the word “filatura,” and -thus was made the gold thread of that costly frontal fraught with -seed-pearls and other some, of a much larger size, and garnets, or -rather carbuncles, and enamels, and which took four women three years -and three-quarters to work. At the back it was lined with green frieze -or baize--“cardo de viridi.” - -Such was the superior quality of some gold thread that it was -known to the mediæval world under the name of the place wherein it -had been made. Thus we find a mention at one time of Cyprus gold -thread--“vestimentum embrowdatum cum aquilis de auro de Cipre;”[98] -later, of Venice gold thread--“for frenge of gold of Venys at vj_s._ -the ounce;”[99] “one cope of unwaterd camlet laid with strokes of -Venis gold.”[100] What may have been their difference cannot now be -pointed out: perhaps the Cyprian thread was so much esteemed because -its somewhat broad shred of flat gold was wound about the hempen twist -beneath it so nicely as to have the smooth unbroken look of gold wire; -while the article from Venice showed everywhere the twisting of common -thread. - - [97] Rot. Cancel. 56 Henrici III. Compot. Will. de Glouc. - - [98] Mon. Anglic. ii. 7. - - [99] Wardrobe Accounts of King Edward IV. p. 117, ed. N. H. Nicolas. - - [100] Mon. Anglic. ii. 167. - -As now, so of old, - - -SILKS HAD VARIOUS NAMES - -given them, meaning either their kind of texture and dressing, their -colour and its several tints, the sort of design or pattern woven on -them, the country from which they were brought, or the use for which, -on particular occasions, they happened to be especially set apart. - -All of these designations are of foreign growth; some sprang up in the -seventh and following centuries at Byzantium, and, not to be found in -classic writers, remain unknown to modern Greek scholars; some are -half Greek, half Latin, jumbled together; other some, borrowed from -the east, are so shortened, so badly and variously spelt, that their -Arabic or Persian derivation can be hardly recognized at present. Yet, -without some slight knowledge of them, we may not understand a great -deal belonging to trade, and the manners of the times glanced at by our -old writers; much less see the true meaning of many passages in our -mediæval English poetry. - -Among the terms significative of the kind of web, or mode of getting up -some sorts of silk, we have - -_Holosericum_, the whole texture of which, as its Greek-Latin compound -means to say, is warp and woof wholly pure silk: in a passage from -Lampridius, quoted before, p. xix., we learn that so early as the reign -of Alexander Severus, the difference between “vestes holosericæ,” and -“subsericæ,” was strongly marked, and from which we learn that - -_Subsericum_ implied that such a texture was not entirely, but in -part--likely its woof--of silk. - -Although the warp only happened to be of silk, while the woof was of -gold, still the tissue was often called “holosericum;” of the vestments -which Beda says[101] S. Gregory sent over here to S. Austin, one is -mentioned by a mediæval writer as “una casula oloserica purpurei -coloris aurea textura”--a chasuble all silk, of a purple colour, woven -with gold.[102] Examples of “holosericum” and “subsericum” abound in -this collection. - - [101] Hist. Ecc. lib. i. c. 29. - - [102] Bedæ Hist., ed. Smith, p. 691. - -_Examitum_, _xamitum_, or, as it is called in our old English documents -so often, _samit_, is a word made up of two Greek ones, εξ, “six,” -and μίτοι, “threads,” the number of the strings in the warp of the -texture. That stuffs woven so thick must have been of the best, is -evident. Hence, to say of any silken tissue that it was “examitum,” -or “samit,” meant that it was six-threaded, in consequence costly and -splendid. At the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth -centuries, “examitum,” as the writer still names the silk, was much -used for vestments in Evesham abbey, as we gather from the “Chronicon” -of that house, published lately for the Master of the Rolls.[103] -About the same period, among the best copes, chasubles, and vestments -in St. Paul’s, London, many were made of “sametum;” so Master Radulph -de Baldock chose to call it in his visitation of that church as its -dean, A.D. 1295.[104] As we observed just now, these rich silks, which -were in all colours, with a warp so stiff, became richer still from -having a woof of golden thread, or, as we should now say, being shot -with gold. But years before, “examitum” was shortened into “samet;” for -among the nine gorgeous chasubles bequeathed to Durham cathedral by its -bishop, Hugh Pudsey, A.D. 1195, there was the “prima de rubea samete -nobiliter braudata cum laminis aureis et bizanciis et multis magnis -perlis et lapidibus pretiosis.”[105] About a hundred years afterwards -the employment of it, after its richest form, in our royal wardrobes, -has been pointed out just now, p. xxviii., &c. - -In that valuable inventory, lately published, of the rich vestments -belonging to Exeter cathedral, A.D. 1277, of its numerous chasubles, -dalmatics, tunicles, besides its seventy and more copes, the better -part were made of this costly tissue here called “samitta;” for -example: “casula, tunica, dalmatica de samitta--par (vestimentorum) de -rubea samitta cum avibus duo capita habentibus;” “una capa samitta cum -leonibus deauratis.”[106] In a later document, A.D. 1327, this precious -silk is termed “samicta.”[107] - -Our minstrels did not forget to array their knights and ladies in this -gay attire. When Sir Lancelot of the Lake brought back Gawain to King -Arthur:-- - - Launcelot and the queen were cledde - In robes of a rich wede, - Of samyte white, with silver shredde: - - * * * * * - - The other knights everichone, - In samyte green of heathen land, - And their kirtles, ride alone.[108] - - [103] Pp. 282-88. - - [104] Dugdale’s St. Paul’s, new ed. pp. 316, &c. - - [105] Wills and Inventories, part i. p. 3, published by the Surtees - Society. - - [106] Lives of the Bishops of Exeter, and a History of the Cathedral, - by Oliver, pp. 297, 298. - - [107] Ibid. 313. - - [108] Ellis’s Metrical Romances, i. 360. - -In his “Romaunt of the Rose,” Chaucer describes the dress of _Mirthe_ -thus:-- - - Full yong he was, and merry of thought - And in samette, with birdes wrought, - And with gold beaten full fetously, - His bodie was clad full richely.[109] - -Many of the beautifully figured damasks in this collection are -what anciently were known as “samits;” and if they really be not -“six-thread,” according to the Greek etymology of their name, it is -because, that at a very early period the stuffs so called ceased to be -woven of such a thickness. - -Those strong silks of the present day with the thick thread called -“organzine” for the woof, and a slightly thinner thread known by the -technical name of “tram” for the warp, may be taken to represent the -ancient “examits.” - -Just as remarkable for the lightness of its texture, as happened to be -“samit” on account of the thick substance of its web, yet quite as much -sought after, was another kind of thin glossy silken stuff “wrought -in the orient” by Paynim hands, and here called first by its Persian -name which came with it, _ciclatoun_, that is, bright and shining; -but afterwards _sicklatoun_, _siglaton_, _cyclas_. Often a woof of -golden thread lent it more glitter still; and it was used equally for -ecclesiastical vestments as for secular articles of stately dress. In -the “Inventory of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London,” A.D. 1295, there was a -cope made of cloth of gold, called “ciclatoun:”--“capa de panno aureo -qui vocatur ciclatoun.”[110] - -Among the booty carried off by the English when they sacked the camp of -Saladin, in the Holy Land, - - King Richard took the pavillouns - Of sendal, and of cyclatoun. - They were shape of castels; - Of gold and silver the pencels.[111] - -In his “Rime of Sire Thopas,” Chaucer says of the doughty swain, - - Of Brugges were his hosen broun - His robe was of ciclatoun.[112] - - -Though so light and thin, this cloak of “ciclatoun” was often -embroidered in silk, and had sewn on it golden ornaments; for we read -of a young maid who sat, - - In a robe ryght ryall bowne - Of a red syclatowne - Be hur fader syde; - A coronell on hur hedd set, - Hur clothys with bestes and byrdes wer bete - All abowte for pryde.[113] - - [109] Poems, ed. Nicolas, t. iv. p. 26. - - [110] Dugdale’s St. Paul’s, new ed. p. 318. - - [111] Ellis’s Metrical Romances, t. ii. p. 253. - - [112] Poems, ed. Nicolas, t. iii. p. 83. - - [113] Ancient English Met. Rom., ed. Ritson, t. iii. pp. 8, 9. - -When in the field, over their armour, whether of mail or plate, knights -wore a long sleeveless gown slit up almost to the waist on both sides: -sometimes of “samit,” often of “cendal,” oftener still of “ciclatourn,” -because of its flowing showy texture was this garment made, and from -a new and contracted way of calling it, the name of the gown, like -the shortened one for its stuff, became known as “cyclas,” nothing -akin to the κυκλας--the full round article of dress worn by the women -of Greece and Rome. When, A.D. 1306, before setting out to Scotland, -Edward I. girded his son, the prince of Wales, with so much pomp, a -knight, in Westminster Abbey; to the three hundred sons of the nobility -whom the heir to the throne was afterward to dub knights in the same -church, the king made a most splendid gift of attire fitting for the -ceremony, and among other textiles sent them were these “clycases” -wove of gold:--“Purpura, bissus, syndones, cyclades auro textæ,” &c. -as we learn from Matthew Westminster, “Flores Historiarum,” p. 454. -How very light and thin must have been all such garments, we gather -from the quiet wit of John of Salisbury while jeering the man who -affected to perspire in the depth of winter, though clad in nothing but -his fine “cyclas:”--“dum omnia gelu constricta rigent, tenui sudat in -cylade.”[114] - -Not so costly, and even somewhat thinner in texture, was a silken stuff -known as _cendal_, _cendallus_, _sandal_, _sandalin_, _cendatus_, -_syndon_, _syndonus_, as the way of writing the word altered as time -went on. When Sir Guy of Warwick was knighted, - - And with him twenty good gomes - Knightes’ and barons’ sons, - Of cloth of Tars and rich cendale - Was the dobbing in each deal.[115] - - [114] Polycraticus, lib. VIII. c. xii. - - [115] Ellis’s Met. Rom. i. 15. - -The Roll of Caerlaverock tells us that among the grand array which met -and joined Edward I. at Carlisle, A.D. 1300, on his -road to invade Scotland, there was to be seen many a rich caparison -embroidered upon cendal and samit:-- - - La ot meint riche guarnement - Brodé sur sendaus e samis.[116] - -And Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, leading the first squadron, hoisted his -banner made of yellow cendal blazoned with a lion rampant purpre.[117] - - Baner out de un cendal safrin, - O un lioun rampant purprin. - -Most, if not all the other flags were made of the same cendal silk. - - [116] Roll of Caerlaverock, ed. Wright, p. 1. - - [117] Ibid. p. 2. - -When the stalworth knight of Southampton wished to keep himself unknown -at a tournament, we thus read of him-- - - Sir Bevis disguised all his weed - Of black cendal and of rede, - Flourished with roses of silver bright, &c.[118] - -Of the ten beautiful silken albs which Hugh Pudsey left to Durham, -two were made of samit, other two of cendal, or as the bishop calls -it, _sandal_: “Quæ dicuntur sandales.”[119] Exeter cathedral had a -red cope with a green lining of sandal: “Capa rubea cum linura viridi -sandalis;”[120] and a cape of sandaline: “Una capa de sandalin.”[121] -Chasubles, too, were, it is likely, for poorer churches, made of cendal -or sandel; Piers Ploughman speaks thus to the high dames of his day-- - - And ye lovely ladies - With youre long fyngres, - That ye have silk and sandal - To sowe, whan tyme is. - Chesibles for chapeleyns, - Chirches to honoure, &c.[122] - -A stronger kind of cendal was wrought and called, in the Latin -inventories of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, cendatus -afforciatus, and of such there was a cope at St. Paul’s;[123] while -another cope of cloth of gold was lined with it,[124] as also a -chasuble of red samit given by Bishop Henry of Sandwich. - - [118] Ellis’s Met. Rom. ii. 156. - - [119] Wills and Inventories, p. 3. - - [120] Oliver, p. 299. - - [121] Ib. p. 315. - - [122] The Vision, Passus Sextus, t. i. p. 117, ed. Wright. - - [123] P. 317. - - [124] P. 318. - -_Syndonus_ or _Sindonis_, as it would seem, was a bettermost sort of -cendal. St. Paul’s had a chasuble as well as a cope of this fabric: -“Casula de sindone purpurea, linita cendata viridi;[125] “capa de -syndono Hispanico.”[126] - - [125] P. 323. - - [126] Transcriber’s note: Footnote, originally number 9 on page xli, - not in original text. - -_Taffeta_, it is likely, if not a thinner, was a less costly silken -stuff than cendal; which word, to this day, is used in the Spanish -language, and is defined to be a thin transparent textile of silk or -linen: “Tela de seda ó lino muy delgada y trasparente.” - -As the Knights’ flags: - - Ther gonfanens and ther penselles - Wer well wrought off grene sendels; - -as their long cyclases which they wore over their armour were of -cendal, so too were of cendal, all blazoned with their armorial -bearings, the housing of the steeds they strode. Of cendal, also, was -the lining of the church’s vestments, and the peaceful citizen’s daily -garments. Of his “Doctour of Phisike,” Chaucer tells us:-- - - In sanguin and in perse he clad was alle - Lined with taffata, and with sendalle.[127] - -For the weaving of cendal, among the Europeans, Sicily was once -celebrated, and a good example from others in this collection, is No. -8255, p. 163. - - [127] Prologue, Poems, ed. Nicolas, ii. 14. - -_Sarcenet_, during the fifteenth century took by degrees the place of -cendal, at least here in England. - -By some improvement in their weaving of cendal, the Saracens, it -is likely in the south of Spain, earned for this light web as they -made it, or sold it, a good name in our markets, and it became much -sought for here. Among other places, York Cathedral had several sets -of curtains for its high altar, “de sarcynet.”[128] At first we -distinguished this stuff by calling it, from its makers, “saracenicum.” -But while Anglicising, we shortened that appellation into the -diminutive “sarcenet;” and this word we keep to the present day, for -the thin silk which of old was known among us as “cendal.” - - [128] Fabric Rolls, &c. p. 227. - -_Satin_, though far from being so common as other silken textures, -was not unknown to England, in the middle ages; and of it thus speaks -Chaucer, in his “Man of Lawes Tale:” - - In Surrie whilom dwelt a compagnie - Of chapmen rich, and therto sad and trewe, - That wide were senten hir spicerie, - Clothes of gold, and satins riche of hewe.[129] - - [129] Poems, ii. 137. - -But as Syria herself never grew the more precious kinds of spices, -so we do not believe that she was the first to hit upon the happy -mechanical expedient of getting up a silken texture so as to take, by -the united action at the same moment of strong heat and heavy pressure -upon its face, that lustrous metallic shine which we have in satin. No. -702, p. 8, is a good example of late Chinese manufacture, a process -which this country is only now beginning to understand and successfully -employ. - -When satin first appeared in trade, it was all about the shores of -the Mediterranean called “aceytuni.” This term slipped through early -Italian lips into “zetani;” coming westward this, in its turn, dropped -its “i,” and smoothed itself into “satin,” a word for this silk among -us English as well as our neighbours in France, while in Italy it -now goes by the name of “raso,” and the Spaniards keep up its first -designation in their dictionary. - -In the earlier inventories of church vestments, no mention can be found -of satin; and it is only among the various rich bequests (ed. Oliver) -made to his cathedral at Exeter by Bishop Grandison, between A.D. -1327-69 that this fine silk is spoken of; though later, and especially -in the royal wardrobe accompts (ed. Nicolas), it is perpetually -specified. Hence we may fairly assume that till the beginning of the -fourteenth century satin was unknown in England; afterwards it met -much favour. Flags were made of it. On board the stately ship in which -Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in the reign of Henry VI., sailed from -England to France, there were flying “three penons of satten,” besides -“sixteen standards of worsted entailed with a bear and a chain,” and -a great streamer of forty yards in length and eight yards in breadth, -with a great bear and griffin holding a ragged staff poudred full of -ragged staffs.[130] Like other silken textiles, satin seems to have -been, in some few instances, interwoven with flat gold thread, so as to -make it a tissue: for example, Lincoln had of the gift of one of its -bishops, eighteen copes of red tinsel sattin with orphreys of gold.[131] - -Though not often, yet sometimes do we read of a silken stuff called, -_cadas_, _carda_, _carduus_, and used for inferior purposes. The -outside silk on the cocoon is of a poor quality compared with the -inner filaments, from which it is kept quite apart in reeling, and set -aside for other uses; this is _cadas_ which the Promptorium Parvulorum -defines, however, as “Bombicinium,” or silk. St. Paul’s, A.D. 1295, -had “pannus rubeus diasperatus de Laret lineatus de carda Inda;”[132] -and Exeter possessed another cloth for the purpose: “Cum carduis -viridibus.”[133] More frequently, instead of being spun it served as -wadding in dress; on the barons at the siege of Caerlaverock, might be -seen many a rich gambeson garnished with silk, cadas, and cotton:-- - - Meint riche gamboison guarni - De soi, de cadas e coton.[134] - -One of the Lenten veils at St. Paul’s, in the chapel of St. Faith, was -of blue and yellow carde: “velum quadragesimale de carde croceo et -indico.”[135] The quantity of card purchased for the royal wardrobe, -in the twenty-eighth year of Edward I.’s reign, A.D. 1299, is set forth -in the Liber Quotidianus, &c.[136] - -Chasubles made in the thirteenth century, and belonging to Hereford -Cathedral, were lined with carda: “Unam casulam de rubeo sindone linita -de carda crocea--tertiam casulam de serico de India linita de carda -viridi,” &c.[137] - - [130] Baronage of England, Dugdale, i. 246. - - [131] Mon. Anglic. viii. 1282. - - [132] P. 335. - - [133] Ed. Oliver, p. 317. - - [134] Roll. p. 30. - - [135] St. Paul’s ed. Dugdale, p. 336. - - [136] P. 354. - - [137] Roll of the Household Expenses of Swinford, Bishop of Hereford, - t. ii. p. xxxvi. ed. Web. for the Camden Society. - -_Camoca_, _camoka_, _camak_, _camora_ (a misspelling), as the name is -differently written, was a textile of which in England we hear nothing -before the latter end of the fourteenth century. No sooner did it make -its appearance than this camoca rose into great repute; the Church used -it for her liturgical vestments, and royalty employed it for dress on -grand occasions as well as in adorning palaces, especially in draping -beds of state. In the year 1385, besides some smaller articles, the -royal chapel in Windsor Castle had a whole set of vestments and other -ornaments for the altar, of white camoca: “Unum vestimentum album de -camoca,” &c.... “Album de camoca, cum casula.”[138]... “Duo quissini -rubei de camoca.”[139] To his cathedral of Durham, the learned Richard -Bury left a beautifully embroidered whole set of vestments, A.D. 1345: -“Unum vestimentum de alma camica (_sic_) subtiliter brudata,” &c.[140] - -Our princes must have arrayed themselves, on grand occasions, in -camoca; for thus Herod, in one of the Coventry Misteries--the Adoration -of the Magi--is made to boast of himself: “In kyrtyl of cammaka kynge -am I cladde.”[141] But it was in draping its state-beds that our -ancient royalty showed its affection for camoca. To his confessor, -Edward the Black Prince bequeaths “a large bed of red camora (_sic_) -with our arms embroidered at each corner,”[142] and the prince’s mother -leaves to another son of hers, John Holland, “a bed of red camak.”[143] -Our nobles, too, had the same likings, for Edward Lord Despencer, A.D. -1375, wills to his wife, “my great bed of blue camaka, with griffins, -also another bed of camaka, striped with white and black.”[144] What -may have been the real texture of this stuff, thought so magnificent, -we do not positively know, but hazarding a guess, we think it to have -been woven of fine camel’s hair and silk, and of Asiatic workmanship. - -From this mixed web pass we now to another, one even more precious, -that is the _Cloth of Tars_, which we presume to have, in a manner, -been the forerunner of the now so celebrated cashmere, and along with -silk made of the downy wool of a family of goats reared in several -parts of Asia, but especially in Tibet, as we shall try to show a -little further on. - - [138] Mon. Anglic. ed. Dugdale, new edition, p. viii. 1363, _a_. - - [139] Ib. p. 1366, _a_. - - [140] Wills and Inventories, t. i. p. 25, published by the Surtees - Society. - - [141] Ed. Halliwell, p. 163. - - [142] Nicolas’s Testamenta Vetusta, t. i. p. 12. - - [143] Ib. p. 14. - - [144] Ib. p. 99. - -_Velvet_ is a silken textile, the history of which has still to be -written. Of the country whence it first came, or the people who were -the earliest to hit upon the happy way of weaving it, we know nothing. -The oldest piece we remember to have ever seen was in the beautiful -crimson cope embroidered by English hands in the fourteenth century, -now kept at the college of Mount St. Mary, Chesterfield, and exhibited -here in the ever memorable year ’62. - -Our belief is, that to central Asia--perhaps China,--we are indebted -for velvet as well as satin, and we think the earliest places in Europe -to weave it was, first the south of Spain, and then Lucca. - -In the earlier of those oldest inventories we have of church vestments, -that of Exeter Cathedral, A.D. 1277, velvet is not spoken of; but in -St. Paul’s, London, A.D. 1295, there is some notice of velvet,[145] -along with its kindred web, “fustian,” for chasubles.[146] At Exeter, -in the year 1327, velvet--and it was crimson--is for the first time -there mentioned, but as in two pieces not made up, of which some yards -had been then sold for vestment-making.[147] From the middle of the -fourteenth century, velvet--mostly crimson--is of common occurrence. - -The name itself of velvet, “velluto,” seems to point out Italy as the -market through which we got it from the East, for the word in Italian -indicates something which is hairy or shaggy, like an animal’s skin. - -Fustian was known at the end of the thirteenth century. St. Paul’s -Cathedral had: “Una casula alba de fustian.”[148] But in an English -sermon preached at the beginning of this thirteenth century, great -blame is found with the priest who had his chasuble made of middling -fustian: “þe meshakele of medeme fustian.”[149] As then wove, fustian, -about which we have to say more, had a short nap on it, and one of -the domestic uses to which, during the middle ages, it had been put, -was for bed clothes, as thick undersheets. Lady Bergavenny bequeaths -A.D. 1434, “A bed of gold of swans, two pair sheets of Raynes (fine -linen, made at Rheims), a pair of fustians, six pair of other sheets, -&c.”[150] That this stuff may have hinted to the Italians the way of -weaving silk in the same manner, and so of producing velvet, is not -unlikely. Had the Egyptian Arabs been the first to push forward their -own discovery of working cotton into fustian, and changing cotton -for silk, and so brought forth velvet, it is probable some one would -have told us; as it is, we yield the merit to Asia--may be China. -Other nations took up this manufacture, and the weaving of velvet -was wonderfully improved. It became diapered, and upon a ground of -silk or of gold, the pattern came out in a bold manner, with a raised -pile; and, at last, that difficult and most beautiful of all manners -of diapering, or making the pattern to show itself in a double pile, -one pile higher than the other and of the same tint, now, as formerly, -known as velvet upon velvet, was brought to its highest perfection: -and velvets in this fine style were wrought in greatest excellence all -over Italy and in Spain and Flanders. Our old inventories often specify -these differences in the making of the web. York cathedral had “four -copes of crimson velvet plaine, with orphreys of clothe of goulde, for -standers;”[151] and besides, “a greene cushion of raised velvet,”[152] -possessed “a cope of purshed velvet (redd)”[153] “purshed” meaning the -velvet raised in a net-work pattern. - - [145] P. 318. - - [146] P. 323. - - [147] Ed. Oliver, p. 317. - - [148] Ed. Dugdale, p. 323. - - [149] Reliquiæ Antiquæ, i. 129. - - [150] Test. Vet. i. 227. - - [151] Fabric Rolls, p. 309. - - [152] Ib. p. 311. - - [153] Ib. p. 310. - -_Diaper_ was a silken fabric, held everywhere in high estimation during -many hundred years, both abroad and here in England. This we know from -documents beginning with the eleventh century. What was its distinctive -characteristic, and whence it drew its name, we have not been hitherto -told, with anything like certainty. Several eminent men have discussed -these points, but while hazarding his own conjecture, each of these -writers has differed from the others. Till a better may be found, we -submit our own solution. - -The silk weavers of Asia had, of old, found out the way so to gear -their looms, and dress their silk, or their threads of gold, that -with a warp and woof, both precisely of the same tone of colour they -could give to the web an elegant design, each part of which being -managed in the weaving, as either to hide or to catch the light and -shine, looked to be separated from or stand well up above the seeming -dusky ground below it: at times the design was dulled, and the ground -made glossy. To indicate such a one-coloured, yet patterned silk, the -Byzantine Greeks of the early middle ages bethought themselves of the -term διασπρον, diaspron, a word of their own coinage, and drawn from -the old Greek verb, διασπαω, I separate, but meant by them to signify -“what distinguishes or separates itself from things about it,” as every -pattern must do on a one-coloured silk. Along with this textile, the -Latins took the name for it from the Greeks, and called it “diasper,” -which we English have moulded into “diaper.” In the year 1066, the -Empress Agnes gave to Monte Cassino a diaper-chasuble of cloth of gold, -“optulit planetam diasperam totam undique auro contextam.”[154] - -How a golden web may be so wrought is exemplified, amid several other -specimens in this collection, by the one under No. 1270, p. 38, done -most likely by an English hand. At York Minster, in the year 1862, -was opened a tomb, very likely that of some archbishop; and there was -found, along with other textiles in silk, a few shreds of what had been -a chasuble made of cloth of gold diapered all over with little crosses, -as we ourselves beheld. It would seem, indeed, that cloth of gold was -at most times diapered with a pattern, at least in Chaucer’s days, -since he thus points to it on the housing of his king’s horse:-- - - -- -- trapped in stele, - Covered with cloth of gold diapred wele.[155] - - [154] Chron. S. Monast. Cassin. Lib. iii. cap. 73, p. 450, ed. - Muratori. - - [155] Knight’s Tale, l. 2159-60. - -Our oldest Church inventories make frequent mention of such diapered -silks for vestments. In 1277, Exeter Cathedral had: “una (capa) de alba -diapra cum noviluniis,”[156]--a cope of white diaper with half moons. -It was the gift of Bishop Bartholomew, A.D. 1161. Bishop Brewer, A.D. -1224, bestowed upon the Church a small pall of red diaper: “parva palla -de rubea diapra;” along with a chasuble, dalmatic and tunicle of white -diaper: “casula, &c. de alba diapra.”[157] Among its vast collection of -liturgical garments, A.D. 1295, old St. Paul’s had a large number made -of diaper, which was almost always white. Sometimes the pattern of the -diapering is noticed; for instance, a chasuble of white diaper, with -coupled parrots in places, among branches: “casula de albo diaspro cum -citaciis combinatis per loca in ramusculis.”[158] Again: “tunica et -dalmatica de albo diaspro cum citacis viridibus in ramunculis,”[159] -where we see the white diaper having the parrots done in green. -Probably the most remarkable and elaborate specimen of diaper-weaving -on record, is the one that Edmund, Earl of Cornwall gave, made up in -“a cope of a certain diaper of Antioch colour, covered with trees and -diapered birds, of which the heads, breasts, and feet, as well as the -flowers on the trees, are woven in gold thread: “Capa Domini Edmundi -Comitis Cornubiæ de quodam diaspero Antioch coloris, tegulata cum -arboribus et avibus diasperatis quarum capita, pectora et pedes, et -flores in medio arborum sunt de aurifilo contextæ.[160] - - [156] P. 297. - - [157] P. 298. - - [158] St. Paul’s, ed. Dugdale, p. 323. - - [159] Ib. p. 322. - - [160] Ib. p. 318. - -By degrees the word “diaper” became widened in its meaning. Not only -all sorts of textile, whether of silk, of linen, or of worsted, but the -walls of a room were said to be diapered when the self-same ornament -was repeated and sprinkled well over it. Thus, to soothe his daughter’s -sorrows, the King of Hungary promises her a chair or carriage, that-- - - Shal be coverd wyth velvette reede - And clothes of fyne golde al about your heede, - With damaske whyte and azure blewe - Well dyaperd with lylles newe.[161] - -Nay, the bow for arrows held by SWEET LOOKING is, in Chaucer’s “Romaunt -of the Rose,” described as-- - - painted well, and thwitten - And over all diapred and written, &c.[162] - -Even now, our fine table linen we call “diaper,” because it is figured -with flowers and fruits. Sometimes, with us, silks diapered were -called “sygury:” una capa de sateyn sygury, cum ymagine B. M. V. in -capucio.[163] - - [161] Squire of Low Degree, ed. Ritson. - - [162] “Romaunt of the Rose,” l. 900. - - [163] Fabric Rolls of York Cathedral, p. 230. - -In their etymology of diaper, modern writers try to draw the word from -Yprès, or d’Ypriès, because that town in Belgium was once celebrated, -not for silken stuffs, but for linen. Between the city and the name -of “diaper” a kinship even of the very furthest sort cannot be fairly -set up. From the citations out of the Chronicle of Monte Cassino we -learn, that at the beginning of the eleventh century, the term in -use there for a certain silken textile, brought thither from the -east, was “diasperon.” We find, too, how that great monastery was in -continual communication with Constantinople, whither she was in the -habit of sending her monks to buy art-works of price, and bring back -with them workmen, for the purpose of embellishing her Church and its -altars. Getting from South Italy to England, and our own records, we -discover this same Greece-born phrase, diaspron, diasper, given to -precious silks used as vestments during the twelfth and thirteenth -centuries, in London and Exeter. By the latter end of the fourteenth -century--Chaucer’s time--the terms “diasper,” and “diasperatus,” among -us, had slidden into “diaper,” “diaperatus,” Englished, “diapered.” -Now, in this same fourteenth century, do we, for the first time, meet -a mention of Yprès; and not alone, but along with Ghent, as famous for -linen, if by that word we understand cloth; and even then our own Bath -seems to have stood above those Belgian cities in their textiles. Among -Chaucer’s pilgrims-- - - A good wif was ther of beside Bathe - - * * * * * - - Of cloth making she hadde swiche an haunt - She passed hem of Ipres and of Gaunt.[164] - - [164] The Prologue, 447. - -Neither in this, nor any other subsequent notice of Yprès weaving, -is there anything which can be twisted into a warrant for thinking -the distinctive mark to have been the first employment of pattern on -its webs, or even its peculiar superiority in such a style of work. -The important fact which we have just now verified that several ages -had gone by between the period when, in Greece, in South Italy, and -England, the common name for a certain kind of precious silk was -“diaspron,” “diasper,” “diaper,” and the day when, for the first time, -Yprès, not alone, but in company with other neighbouring cities, -started up into notice for its linens, quite overthrows the etymology -thought of now-a-days for the word “diaper,” and hastens us to the -conclusion that this almost ante-mediæval term came to us from Greece, -and not from Flanders. - -Of the several oldest pieces in this collection, there are not a -few which those good men who wrote out the valuable inventories of -Exeter and St. Paul’s, London, would have jotted down as “diasper,” or -“diaper.” The shreds of creamy, white silk, number 1239, p. 26, fully -illustrate the meaning of this term, and will repay minute inspection. - -More ancient still are other terms which we are about to notice, -such as “chrysoclavus,” “stauracin,” “polystaurium,” “gammadion,” or -“gammadiæ,” “de quadruplo,” “de octoplo,” and “de fundato.” First, -textiles of silk and gold are, over and over again, enumerated as -then commonly known under such names, in the so-called Anastasius -Bibliothecarius, Liber Pontificalis seu de Gestis Romanorum Pontificum, -the good edition of which, in three volumes, edited by Vignolius, ought -to be in the hands of every student of early Christian art-work, and in -particular of textiles and embroidery. - -The _Chrysoclavus_ or golden nail-head, was a remnant, which lingered a -long time among the ornaments embroidered on ecclesiastical vestments, -and robes for royal wear, of that once so coveted “latus clavus,” or -broad nail-head-like purple round patch worn upon the outward garment -of the old Roman dignitaries, as we learn from Horace, while laughing -at the silly official whom he saw at Fondi-- - - Insani ridentes præmia scribæ, - Prætextam et latum clavum.[165] - - [165] Serm. lib. i. satir. v. - -In the Court of Byzantium this device of dignity was elevated, from -being purple on white, into gold upon purple. Hence came it that -all rich purple silks, woven or embroidered, with the “clavus” done -in gold, became known from their pattern as gold nail-headed, or -chrysoclavus, a half Greek half Latin word, employed as often as -an adjective as a substantive; and silken textiles of Tyrian dye, -sprinkled all over with large round spots, were once in great demand. -Shortly after, A.D. 795, Pope Leo, among his several other gifts to -the churches at Rome, bestowed a great number of altar frontals made -of this purple and gold fabric, as we are told by Anastasius. To -the altar of St. Paul’s the pontiff sent “vestem super altare albam -chrysoclavam;”[166] but to another “vestem chrysoclavam ex blattin -Byzanteo.”[167] Sometimes these “clavi” were made so large that upon -their golden ground an event in the life of a saint, or the saint’s -head, was embroidered, and then the whole piece was called “sigillata,” -or _sealed_. - -_Stauracin_, or “stauracinus,” taking its name from σταυρος, the Greek -for “cross,” was a silken stuff figured with small plain crosses, and -therefore from their number sometimes further distinguished by the word -signifying that meaning in Greek, - -_Polystauron._ Of such a textile St. Leo gave presents to churches, as -we learn from Anastasius, lib. Pont. ii. 265. - -How much silken textiles figured with the cross were in request for -church adornment we learn from Fortunatus, who, about the year 565, -thus describes the hangings of an oratory in a church at Tours-- - - Pallia nam meruit, sunt quæ cruce textile pulchra, - - * * * * * - - Serica qua niveis sunt agnava blattea telis, - Et textis crucibus magnificatur opus.[168] - -Very often the crosses woven on these fabrics were of the simplest -shape; oftener were they designed after an elaborate type with a -symbolic meaning about it that afforded an especial name to the stuffs -upon which they were figured, the first of which that claims our notice -is denominated - - [166] Lib. Pon. ii. 257. - - [167] Ibid. 258. - - [168] Poematum, Liber II. iv. - -_Gammadion_, or _Gammadiæ_, a word applied as often to the pattern upon -silks as the figures wrought upon gold and silver for use in churches, -we so repeatedly come upon in the “Liber Pontificalis.” - -In the Greek alphabet the capital letter of gamma takes the shape of an -exact right angle thus, Γ. Being so, many writers have beheld in it an -emblem of our Lord as our corner-stone. Following this idea artists at -a very early period struck out a way of forming the cross after several -shapes by various combinations with it of this letter Γ. Four of these -gammas put so - - ┘└ - ┐┌ - -fall into the shape of the so-called Greek cross; and in this form it -was woven upon the textiles denominated “stauracinæ;” or patterned -with a cross. Being one of the four same-shaped elements of the cross’s -figure, the part was significant of the whole. Being, too, the emblem -of our corner-stone--our Lord, the gamma, or Γ, was shown at one edge -of the tunic on most of the apostles in ancient mosaics; wherein -sometimes we find, in place of the gamma, our present capital Η for the -aspirate, with which for their symbolic purpose the early Christians -chose to utter, if not, write the sacred name. This Η is, however, -only another combination of the four gammas in the cross. Whatsoever, -therefore, whether of silver or of silk, was found to be marked in -these or other ways of putting the gammas together, or with only a -single one, such articles were called “gammadion,” or “gammadiæ;” -but as often the so-formed cross was designated as “gammaed,” or -“gammadia.” St. Leo gave to the Church of S. Susanna, at Rome, an -altar-frontal, upon which there were four of such crosses made of -purple silk speckled with gold spots; “vestem de blatthin habentem ... -tabulas chrysoclavas iiii cum gemmis ornatas, atque gammadias in ipsa -veste chrysoclavas iiii.”[169] - -Ancient ingenuity for throwing its favourite gamma into other -combinations, and thus bringing forth other pretty but graceful -patterns to be wrought on all sorts of ecclesiastical appliances, -did not stop here. In the “Liber Pontificalis” of Anastasius, we -meet not unfrequently with such passages as these: “Cortinas miræ -magnitudinis de palliis stauracin seu quadrapolis;”[170] “vela ... -ex palliis quadrapolis seu stauracin;”[171] “vela de octapolo.”[172] -The explanation of these two terms, “de quadrapolo,” “de octapolo,” -has hitherto baffled all commentators of the text through their -forgetfulness of comparing together the things themselves and the -written description of them. In these texts there is evidently meant a -strong contrast between a something amounting to four, and to eight, -in or upon these textiles. It cannot be to say that one fabric was -woven with four, the other with eight threads: had that been so meant, -then the fact would have been announced by words constructed like -“examitus,” p. xxxvii. As the contrast is not in the texture, it must -then be searched for in the pattern of these two stuffs. Sure enough, -there we find it, as “de quadrapolis” and “stauracin” were, as we -see above, interchangeable terms; the first, like the second sort of -textile, was figured with crosses. - -Given at the end of Du Cange’s “Glossary” is an engraving of a work -of Greek art, plate IX. Here St. John Chrysostom stands between St. -Nicholas and St. Basil. All three are arrayed in their liturgical -garments, which being figured with crosses, are of the textile called -of old “stauracin;” but a marked difference in the way in which the -crosses are put is discernible. As a metropolitan St. John wears the -saccos upon which the crosses are arranged thus - -[Illustration] - -St. Nicholas, and St. Basil have chasubles which, though worked all -over with crosses, made, as on St. John’s saccos, with gammas, are -surrounded with other gammas joined so as to edge in the crosses, thus - -[Illustration] - -As four gammas only are necessary to form all the crosses upon St. -John’s vestment, therein we behold the textile called by Anastasius, -“Stauracin de quadruplo,” or the stuff figured with a cross of four -(gammas); while as eight of these Greek letters are required for the -pattern on the chasubles, we have in them an example of the other -“stauracin de octaplo,” or “octapulo,” a fabric with a pattern composed -of eight gammas. But of all the shapes fashioned out of the repetition -of the one same element, the Greek letter Γ, by far the most ancient, -universal, and mystic, is that curious one particularized by many as the - - [169] Lib. Pontif. ii. 243. - - [170] Ib. ii. 196. - - [171] Ib. ii. 198. - - [172] Ib. ii. 209. - -_Gammadion_, or _Filfot_, a name by which, at one time in England, it -was generally known. Several pieces in this collection exhibit on them -some modification of it, as Nos. 1261, p. 34; 1325, p. 60; 7052, p. -127; 8279A, p. 174; 8305, p. 185; 8635, p. 242; 8652, p. 249. Its figure -is made out of the usual four gammas, so that they should fall together -thus 卍: of its high antiquity and symbolism, we speak further on, -section VII. - -Silks figured with a cross, some made with four, some with eight -Greek gammas, remained in Eastern Church use all through the middle -ages, as we may gather from several monuments of that period. -Besides a good many other books, Gori’s fine one, “Thesaurus Veterum -Diptychorum” affords us several instances.[173] The name also remained -to such textiles as we know from the Greek canonist Balsamon, who, -writing about the end of the twelfth century on episcopal garments, -calls the tunic, στιχάριον διὰ γαμμάτων or (with a pattern) of -gammas--gammadion. How to this day the cross made by four gammas is -woven on Greek vestments, may be observed in the plates we have given -in “Hierurgia.”[174] Two late specimens of “stauracin” are in this -collection under Nos. 7039, p. 123; 7048, p. 126; and 8250A, p. 161. - - [173] T. iii. p. 84. - - [174] Pp. 445, 448, second edition. - -Of silks patterned with the Greek cross or “stauracin,” there are -several examples in this collection; and though not of the remotest -period, are interesting; the one No. 8234, p. 154, wrought in Sicily -as it is probable by the Greeks brought as prisoners from the Morea, -in the twelfth century, is not without some value. In the Chapter -Library at Durham may be seen a valuable sample of Byzantine stauracin -“colours purple and crimson; the only prominent ornament a cross--often -repeated, even upon the small portion which remains.”[175] Those who -have seen in St. Peter’s sacristy at Rome, that beautiful light-blue -dalmatic said to have been worn by Charlemagne when he sang the Gospel -at high mass, at the altar, vested as a deacon, the day he was crowned -emperor in that church by Pope Leo III. will remember how plentifully -it is sprinkled with crosses between its exquisite embroideries, so -as to make the vestment a real “stauracin.” It has been well given by -Sulpiz Boisserée in his “Kaiser Dalmatika in der St. Peterskirche;” but -far better by Dr. Bock in his splendid work on the Coronation Robes of -the German emperors. - -Silks, from the pattern woven on them called _de fundato_, are -frequently spoken of by Anastasius. From the texts themselves of that -writer, and passages in other authors of his time, it would seem that -the silks themselves were dyed of the richest purple, and figured -with gold in the pattern of netting. As one of the meanings for the -substantive “funda” is a fisherman’s net, rich textiles so figured in -gold, were denominated from such a pattern “de fundato” or netted. To -St. Peter’s Church at Rome the pontiff, Leo III. gave “cortinam majorem -Alexandrinam holosericam habentem in medio adjunctum fundatum, et in -circuitu ornatum de fundato;”[176] and for the Church of St. Paul’s, -Leo provided “vela holoserica majora sigillata habentia periclysin et -crucem tam de blattin seu de fundato.”[177] From Fortunatus we gather -that those costly purple-dyed silks called “blatta,” were always -interwoven with gold:-- - - Serica purpureis sternuntur vellera velis, - Inlita blatta toris, aurumque intermicat ostro.[178] - -This net-pattern lingered long, and, no doubt, we find it, under a new -name, “laqueatus”--meshed--as identified upon a cope made of baudekin, -at St. Paul’s, London, A.D. 1295: “Capa de baudekino cum pineis -(fir-apples) in campis laqueatis.”[179] Modifications of this very old -pattern may be seen in this catalogue (pp. 35, 36, 154). - - [175] Raine’s St. Cuthbert, p. 196. - - [176] Lib. Pontif. ii. 282. - - [177] Ibid. 240. - - [178] De Vita S. Martini lib. ii. - - [179] Dugdale’s St. Paul’s, p. 318. - -The Latin term “de fundato,” for this net-pattern, so unusual, has for -many been quite a puzzle. Here, too, art-works are our best help to -properly understand the meaning of the word. The person of Constantine -the Great, given by Gori,[180] as well as that of a much later -personage, shown us by Du Cange, at the end of his “Glossarium,”[181] -shows the front of the imperial tunic, which was purple, to have been -figured in gold with a netting-pattern, marked with pearls. Gori, -moreover, presents us with a bishop whose chasuble is of the same -design.[182] Further still, Paciaudi, in his “De Cultu S. Johannis -Baptistæ,”[183] furnishes a better illustration, if possible, by an -engraving of a diptych first published by him. Here St. Jacobus, or -James, is arrayed in chasuble and pall of netting-patterned silk; and -of the same-figured stuff is much of the trimming or ornamentation on -the robes of the B. V. Mary, but on those more especially worn by the -archangels, St. Michael and Gabriel. In the diapered pattern on some -of the cloth of gold found lately in the grave of some archbishop of -York, buried there about the end of the thirteenth century, is the same -netting discernible. - - [180] T. iii. p. xx. - - [181] T. viii. plate 5. - - [182] Ib. p. 84. - - [183] P. 389. - -_Striped_ or _barred_ silks--stragulatæ--got their especial name -for such a simple pattern, and at one time were in much request. -Frequent mention is made of them in the Exeter Inventories, of which -the one taken, A.D. 1277, specifies, “Due palle de baudekyno--una -stragulata;”[184] and A.D. 1327, the same cathedral had, “Unum -filatorium de serico bonum stragulatum cum serico diversi -coloris,”[185] a veil or scarf for the sub-deacon, made of silk striped -in different colours. The illuminations on the MS. among the Harley -collection at the British Museum, of the deposition of Richard II. -published by the Society of Antiquaries, afford us instances of this -textile. The young nobleman to the right sitting on the ground at the -archbishop’s sermon, is entirely, hood and all, arrayed in this striped -silk,[186] and at the altar, where Northumberland is swearing on the -Eucharist, the priest who is saying mass, wears a chasuble of the same -stuff.[187] Old St. Paul’s had copes like it: “Capæ factæ de uno panno -serico veteri pro parte albi coloris, pro parte viridi;”[188] besides -which, it had offertory-veils of the same pattern, one of them with its -stripes paly red and green:--“Unum offertorium stragulatum, de rubeo et -viridi;” and two others with their stripes bendy-wise: “Duo offertoria -bendata de opere Saraceno.”[189] York Cathedral also had two red palls -paled with green and light blue: “Duæ pallæ rubiæ palyd cum viridi et -blodio,”[190] so admirably edited for the Surtees Society, by Rev. Jas. -Raine, jun. Under this kind of patterned silks must be put one the name -for which has hitherto not been explained by our English antiquaries. - -At the end of the twelfth century there was brought to England, from -Greece, a sort of precious silk named there _Imperial_. - -Ralph, dean of St. Paul’s cathedral, London, tells us, that William -de Magna Villa, on coming home from his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, -made presents to several churches, A.D. 1178, of cloths which at -Constantinople were called imperial: “Pannos quos Constantinopolis -civitas vocat Imperiales, &c.”[191] Relating the story of John’s -apparition, A.D. 1226, Roger Wendover, and after him Matt. Paris, -tells us that the King stood forth dressed in royal robes made of -the stuff they call Imperial: “Astitit rex in vestibus regalibus de -panno scilicet quem imperialem appellant.”[192] In the Inventory of -St. Paul’s, London, drawn up A.D. 1295, four tunicles, vestments for -subdeacons and lower ministers about the altar, are mentioned as made -of this imperial. No colour is specified, except in the one instance -of the silk being marbled; and the patterns are noticed as of red and -green, with lions wove in gold.[193] It seems not to have been thought -good enough for the more important vestments, such as chasubles and -copes. Were it not spoken of thus by Wendover and Paris, as well as by -a dean of St. Paul’s, and mentioned once as used in a few liturgical -garments for that cathedral, we had never heard a word about such -a textile anywhere in England. Our belief is that it got its name -neither from its colour--supposed royal purple--nor its costliness, -but through quite another reason: woven at a workshop kept up by the -Byzantine emperors, just like the Gobelins is to-day in Paris by the -French, and bearing about it some small, though noticeable mark, it -took the designation of “Imperial.” That it was partly wrought with -gold, we know; but that its tint was always some shade of the imperial -purple--hence its appellation--is a purely gratuitous assumption. -Moreover, as Saracenic princes in general had wrought in their own -palaces, at the tiraz there, those silks wanted by themselves, their -friends, and officers, and caused them to be marked with some adopted -word or sentence; so, too, the rulers of Byzantium followed, it is -likely the same usage, and put some royal device or word, or name in -Greek upon theirs, and hence such textiles took the name of Imperial. -In France, this textile was in use as late as the second half of the -fifteenth century, but looked upon as old. Here, at York, as late as -the early part of the sixteenth, one of its deans bestowed on that -cathedral “two (blue) copes of clothe imperialle.”[194] - - [184] Ed. Oliver, p. 298. - - [185] Ib. p. 312. - - [186] Plate v. p. 53. - - [187] Plate xii. p. 141. - - [188] Dugdale’s St. Paul’s, p. 318. - - [189] Ib. - - [190] York Fabric Rolls, p. 230. - - [191] Hist. Anglic. Script. X. t. i. p. 602, ed. Twysden. - - [192] Rog. de Wendover, Chronica, t. iv. p. 127, ed. Coxe. - - [193] P. 322. - - [194] Fabric Rolls, p. 310. - - -BAUDEKIN - -Was a costly stuff much employed and often spoken of in our literature -during many years of the mediæval period. - -Ciclatoun, as we have elsewhere remarked, was the usual term during -centuries throughout Western Europe, by which those showy golden -textiles were called. When, however, Bagdad, or Baldak, standing where -once stood the Babylon of old, took and held for no short length of -time the lead all over Asia in weaving, every kind of fine silks and -in especial golden stuffs shot, as now, in different colours, cloths -of gold so tinted became every where known more particularly among us -English as “baldakin,” “baudekin,” or “baudkyn,” or silks from Baldak. -At last the earlier term “ciclatoun” dropped quite out of use. With -this before him the reader will hereafter more readily understand -several otherwise puzzling passages in many of our old writers in -poetry and prose, as well as in the inventories of royal furniture and -church vestments. - -Our kings and our nobility affected much this rich stuff for the -garments worn by them on high occasions. When, A.D. 1247, girding in -Westminster Abbey William de Valence his uterine brother, a knight, our -Henry III. had on a robe of baudekin, or cloth-of-gold, likely shot -with crimson silk: “Dominus Rex veste deaurata facta de preciosissimo -Baldekino et coronula aurea, quæ vulgariter garlanda dicitur redimitus, -sedens gloriose in solio regio, fratrem suum uterinum, baltheo -militari gaudenter insignivit.”[195] In the year 1259 the master of -Sherborn Hospital in the north, bequeathed to that house a cope made -of cloth-of-gold, or “baudekin:”--“Capam de panno ad aurum scilicet -Baudekin cum vestimento plenario de panno Yspaniæ ad aurum.”[196] - -But these Bagdad or Baldak silks, with a weft of gold known among us -as “baudekins” were often wove very large in size, and applied here -in England to especial ritual purposes. As a thanks-offering after a -safe return home from a journey, they were brought and given to the -altar; at all the solemn burials of our kings and queens, and other -great ones, each of the many mourners, when offertory time came, -went to the illuminated hearse,--one is figured in the “Church of -Our Fathers,”[197]--and strewed a baudekin of costly texture over -the coffin. Artists or others who wish to know the ceremonial for -that occasion, will find it set forth in the descriptions of many of -our mediæval funerals. At the obsequies of Henry VII. in Westminster -Abbey:--“Twoe herauds came to the Duke of Buck. and to the Earles and -conveyed them into the Revestrie where they did receive certen Palles -which everie of them did bringe solemply betwene theire hands and -comminge in order one before another as they were in degree unto the -said herse, thay kissed theire said palles and delivered them unto the -said heraudes which laide them uppon the kyngs corps, in this manner: -the palle which was first offered by the Duke of Buck. was laid on -length on the said corps, and the residewe were laid acrosse, as thick -as they might lie.”[198] In the same church at the burial of Anne of -Cleves, A.D. 1557, a like ceremonial of carrying cloth-of-gold palls to -the hearse was followed.[199] - - [195] Matt. Paris, p. 249. - - [196] Wills, &c. of the Northern Counties of England, Surtees Society, - p. 6. - - [197] Tom. ii. p. 501. - - [198] Lelandi Collectanea, t. iv. p. 308. - - [199] Excerpta Historica, p. 312. - -Among the many rich textiles belonging to St. Paul’s, London, A.D. -1295, are mentioned: “Baudekynus purpureus cum columpnis et arcubus -et hominibus equitantibus infra, de funere comitissæ Britanniæ. Item -baudekynus purpureus cum columpnis et arcubus et Sampson fortis -infra arcus, de dono Domini Henrici Regis. Duo baudekyni rubei cum -sagittarijs infra rotas, de dono E. regis et reginæ venientium de -Wallia, Unus Baudekynus rubei campi cum griffonibus, pro anima Alianoræ -reginæ junioris,”[200] &c. At times these rich stuffs were cut up into -chasubles: “Casula de baudekyno de opere Saracenico,”[201] as was the -cloth-of-gold dress worn by one of our princesses at her betrothal: -“Unam vestimentum rubeum de panno adaurato diversis avibus poudratum, -in quo domina principessa fuit desponsata.”[202] The word “baudekin” -itself became at last narrowed in its meaning. So warm, so mellow, so -fast were all the tones of crimson which the dyers of Bagdad knew how -to give their silks, that without a thread of gold in them, the mere -glowing tints of those plain crimson silken webs from Bagdad won for -themselves the name of baudekins. Furthermore, when they quite ceased -to be partly woven in gold, and from their consequent lower price and -cheapness got into use for cloths of estate over royal thrones, on -common occasions, the shortened form of such a regal emblem, the canopy -hung over the high altar of a church, acquired, and yet keeps its -appellation, at least in Italy, of “baldachino.” - - [200] Dugdale’s St. Paul’s, pp. 328-9. - - [201] Ibid. p. 331. - - [202] Inventory of the Chapel, Windsor Castle, Mon. Ang. viii. 1363. - -How very full in size, how costly in materials and embroidery, must -have sometimes been the cloth of estate spread overhead and behind the -throne of our kings, may be gathered from the “Privy Purse Expenses -of Henry the Seventh,” wherein this item comes: “To Antony Corsse -for a cloth of an estate conteyning 47½ yerds, £11 the yerd, £522 -10_s._”[203] - -About the feudal right, still kept up in Rome, to a cloth of estate, -among the continental nobility, we have spoken, p. 107 of this -catalogue, where a fragment of such a hanging is described. - -The custom itself is thus noticed by Chaucer:-- - - Yet nere and nere forth in I gan me dress - Into an hall of noble apparaile, - With arras spred, and cloth of gold I gesse, - And other silke of easier availe: - Under the cloth of their estate sauns faile - The king and quene there sat as I beheld.[204] - - [203] Excerpta Historica, p. 121. - - [204] Poems, ed. Nicolas, t. vi. p. 134. - -This same rich golden stuff asks for our notice under a third and even -better known name, to be found all through our early literature as - - -CLOTH OF PALL. - -The cloak (in Latin pallium, in Anglo-Saxon paell) of state for regal -ceremonies and high occasions, worn alike by men as well as women, was -always made of the most gorgeous stuff that could be found. From a very -early period in the mediæval ages, golden webs shot in silk with one or -other of the various colours--occasionally blue, oftener crimson--were -sought out, as may be easily imagined, for the purpose, through so -many years, and everywhere, that at last each sort of cloth of gold -had given to it the name of “pall,” no matter the immediate purpose -to which it might have to be applied, and after so many fashions. -Vestments for church use and garments for knights and ladies were made -of it. Old St. Paul’s had chasubles and copes of cloth of pall: “Casula -de pal, capa chori de pal, &c.”[205] - -In worldly use, if the king’s daughter was to have a - - Mantell of ryche degre - Purple palle and armyne fre.[206] - -So in the poem of Sir Isumbras-- - - The rich queen in hall was set; - Knights her served, at hand and feet - In rich robes of pall.[207] - - [205] Hist. ed. Dugdale, p. 336. - - [206] The Squire of Low Degree. - - [207] Ellis’s Metrical Romances, t. iii. p. 167. - -For state receptions, our kings used to send out an order that the -houses should be “curtained” all along the streets which the procession -would have to take through London, “incortinaretur.”[208] How this was -done we learn from Chaucer in the “Knight’s Tale,”[209] - - By ordinance, thurghout the cite large - Hanged with cloth of gold, and not with sarge; - -as well as from the “Life of Alexander:”-- - - Al theo city was by-hong - Of riche baudekyns and pellis (palls) among.[210] - -Hence, when Elizabeth, our Henry VII.’s queen, “proceeded from the -Towre throwge the Citie of London (for her coronation) to Westminster, -al the strets ther wich she shulde passe by, were clenly dressed -and besene with clothes of Tappestreye and Arras. And some strets, -as Cheepe, hangged with riche clothes of gold, velvetts, and silks, -&c.[211] “As late as A.D. 1555, at Bow chyrche in London was hangyd -with cloth of gold and with ryche hares (arras).”[212] - -Those same feelings which quickened our doughty knights and high-born -ladies to go and overspread the bier of each dead noble friend, with -costly baudekins or cloths of gold, so the church whispered and she -whispers us still to do, in due degree, the same to the coffin in which -the poor man is being carried to the grave beneath a mantle of silk and -velvet. The brother or the sister belonging to any of our old London -gilds had over them, however lowly they might have been in life, one -or other of those splendid hearse-cloths which we saw in this museum, -among the loans, in the ever memorable year 1862. - -This silken textile interwove with gold, first known as “ciclatoun,” -on account of its glitter, then as “baudekin,” from the city where it -was best made, came at last to be called by the name of “pall.” Whether -employed on jubilant occasions, for a joyful betrothal, or a stately -coronation, or for a sorrowing funeral, it mattered not, it got the -common term of “cloth of pall,” which we yet keep up in that velvet -covering for a coffin, a burial pall. - - [208] Matt. Paris, p. 661. - - [209] V. 2569-70. - - [210] Warton’s Hist. of English Poetry, t. ii. p. 8. - - [211] Leland’s Collectanea, t. iv. p. 220. - - [212] Machyn’s Diary, p. 102. - - -LETTERED SILKS - -are of no uncommon occurrence, and some examples may be seen in this -collection. - -A celebrated Mohammedan writer, Ebn-Khaldoun, who died about the middle -of the fifteenth century, while speaking of that spot in an Arab -palace, the “Tiraz,” so designated from the name itself of the rich -silken stuffs therein woven, tells us that of the attributes of all -Saracenic kings and sultans, and which became a particular usage for -ruling dynasties, one was to have woven the name of the actual prince, -or that special ensign chosen by his house, into the stuffs intended -for their personal wear, whether wrought of silk, brocade, or even -coarser kind of silk. While gearing his loom, the workman contrived -that the letters of the title should come out either in threads of -gold, or in silk of another colour from that of the ground. The royal -apparel thus bore about it its own especial marks emblematic of the -sultan’s wardrobe, and so became the distinguishing ensigne of the -prince himself, as well as for those personages around him, who were -allowed, by their official rank in his court, to wear them, and those -again upon whom he had condescended to bestow such garments as especial -tokens of the imperial favour, like the modern pelisse of honour. -Before the period of their having embraced Islamism the Kings of Persia -used to have woven upon the stuffs wrought for their personal use, or -as gifts to others, their own especial effigies or likeness, or at -times the peculiar ensign of their royalty. On becoming Mussulmans, -the rulers of that kingdom changed the custom, and instead of -portraiture substituted their names, to which they added words sounding -to their ears as foreboding good, or certain formulas of praise and -benediction.[213] Wherever the Moslem ruled, there did he set up the -same practice; and thus, whether in Asia, in Egypt, or other parts of -Africa, or in Moorish Spain, the silken garments for royalty and its -favoured ones, showed woven in them the prince’s name, or at least his -chosen badge. The silken garments wrought in Egypt for the far-famed -Saladin, and worn by him as its Kalif, bore very conspicuously upon -them the name of that conqueror. - -In our old lists of church ornaments, frequent mention is found of -vestments inscribed, like pieces here, with words in real or pretended -Arabic; and when St. Paul’s inventory more than once speaks of silken -stuffs, “de opere Saraceno,” we lean to the belief that, though not -all, some at least of those textiles were so called from having Arabic -characters woven on them. Such, too, were the letters on the red -pall, figured with elephants and a bird, belonging to Exeter: “Palla -rubea cum quibusdam literis et elephantis et quadam avi in superiori -parte.”[214] Later, our trade with the South of Spain and the Moors -there, led us to call such words on woven stuffs Moorish, as we find -in old documents, thus Joane Lady Bergavenny bequeaths (A.D. 1434) a -“hullyng (hangings for a hall) of black, red, and green, with morys -letters, &c.”[215] - -The weaving of letters in textiles is neither a Moorish, nor Saracenic -invention; ages before, the ancient Parthians used to do so, as we -learn from Pliny: “Parthi literas vestibus intexunt.” A curious -illustration of silken stuffs so frequently bearing letters, borrowed -in general from some real or supposed oriental alphabet, is the custom -which many of the illuminators had of figuring very often on frontals -and altar canopies, made of silk, meaningless words; and the artists -of Italy up to the middle of the sixteenth century did the same on the -hems of the garments worn by great personages, in their paintings. On -the inscribed textiles here, the real or pretended Arabic sentence is -written twice on the same line, once forwards, once backwards. - - [213] Silvestre De Sacy, Chrestomathie Arabe, t. ii. p. 287. - - [214] Oliver, p. 298. - - [215] Test. Vet. i. p. 228. - - -THE EAGLE, - -single and double-headed, may frequently be found in the patterns of -old silks. In all ages certain birds of prey have been looked upon by -heathens as ominous for good or evil. Of this our own country affords -us a mournful example. Upon the standard which was carried at the head -of the Danish masters of Northumbria was figured the raven, the bird of -Odin. This banner had been woven and worked by the daughters of Regnar -Lodbrok, in one noontide’s while; and those heathens believed that if -victory was to follow, the raven would seem to stand erect, and as if -about to soar before the warriors, but if a defeat was impending, the -raven hung his head and drooped his wings; as we are told by Asser: -“Pagani acceperunt illud vexillum quod Reafan nominant: dicunt enim -quod tres sorores Hungari et Habbæ filiæ videlicet Lodebrochi illud -vexillum texuerunt et totum paraverunt illud uno meridiano tempore: -dicunt etiam quod, in omni bello ubi præcederet idem signum, si -victoriam adepturi essent, appereret in medio signi quasi corvus vivens -volitans: sin vero vincendi in futuro fuissent, penderet directe nihil -movens.”[216] Another and a more important flag, that which Harold and -his Anglo-Saxons fought under and lost at Hastings, is described by -Malmesbury as having been embroidered in gold, with the figure of a man -in the act of fighting, and studded with precious stones, all done in -sumptuous art: - -“Quod (vexillum) erat in hominis pugnantis figura auro et lapidibus -arte sumptuosa intextum.”[217] - -Still farther down in past ages, known for its daring and its lofty -flight, the eagle was held in high repute; throughout all the East, -where it became the emblem of lordly power and victory, often it is to -be seen flying in triumph over the head of some Assyrian conqueror, -as may be witnessed in Layard’s Work on Nineveh.[218] Homer calls it -the bird of Jove. Upon the yoke in the war chariot of the Persian king -Darius sat perched an eagle as if outstretching his wings wrought all -in gold: “Auream aquilam pinnas extendenti similem.”[219] The sight of -this bird in the air while a battle raged was, by the heathen looked -upon as an omen boding victory to those on whose side it hovered. At -the battle of Granicus those about Alexander saw or thought they saw -fluttering just above his head, quite heedless of the din, an eagle, -to which Aristander called the attention of the Macedonians as an -unmistakable earnest of success: “Qui circa Alexandrum erant, vidisse -se crediderunt, paululum super caput regis placide volantem aquilam -non gemitu morientium territam Aristander ... militibus in pugnam -intentis avem monstrabat, haud dubium victoriæ auspicium.”[220] The -Romans bore it on their standards; the Byzantine emperors kept it as -their own device, and following the ancient traditions of the east, -and heedless of their law that forbids the making of images, the -Saracens, especially when they ruled in Egypt, had the eagle figured on -several things about them, sometimes single at others double-headed, -which latter was the shape adopted by the emperors of Germany as their -blazon; and in this form it is borne to this day by several reigning -houses. No wonder then that eagles of both fashions are so often to be -observed woven upon ancient and eastern textiles. - -Very likely, as yet left to show itself upon the walls of the citadel -at Cairo, and those curious old glass lamps hung up there and elsewhere -in the mosques, the double-headed eagle with wings displayed, which -we find on royal Saracenic silks, was borrowed by the Paynim from -the Crusaders, as it would seem, and selected for its ensign by the -government of Egypt in the thirteenth century, which will easily -account for the presence of that heraldic bird upon so many specimens -from Saracenic looms, to be found in this collection. The “tiraz,” in -fact, was for silk like the royal manufactory of Dresden and Sèvres -china, or Gobelin’s looms for tapestry, and as the courts of France for -its mark or ensign fixed upon the two LLs interlaced, and the house of -Saxony the two swords placed saltire wise, so at least for Saladin -and Egypt, in the middle ages the double-headed eagle with its wings -outstretched, was the especial badge or ensign. In the same manner -the sacred “horm,” or tree of life, between the two rampant lions or -cheetahs may be the mark of Persia. - -As early as A.D. 1277 Exeter Cathedral reckoned among her vestments -several such; for instance, a cope of baudekin figured with small -two-headed eagles: “Capa baudekyn cum parvis aquilis, ij capita -habentibus;”[221] and our Henry III.’s brother, Richard the king -of Germany, gave to the same church a cope of black baudekin, with -eagles in gold figured on it: “Una capa de baudek, nigra cum aquilis -deauratis.”[222] Many other instances might be noticed all through -England. - - [216] Asserius, De Rebus Gestis Ælfredi, ed. Wise, p. 33. - - [217] Will. Malmes. Gesta Regum Anglorum, t. ii. p. 415, ed. Duffus - Hardy. - - [218] Plates, 18, 20, 22. - - [219] Quintus Curtius, Lib. III. cap. iii. p. 7. - - [220] Ibid. Lib. IV. cap. xv. p. 72. - - [221] Oliver, p. 299. - - [222] Ibid. - -As in architecture, sculpture, and painting, ancient and modern, so - - -IN WOVEN STUFFS THERE ARE STYLES NICELY DEFINED, AND EPOCHS EASILY -DISCERNIBLE. - -Hitherto no attempt has been anywhere made to distribute olden silken -textiles into various schools, and as the present is the first and only -collection which has in any country been thrown open as yet to the -public, the occasion seems a fitting one to warrant such an endeavour -of classification. - -With no other than the specimens here before us, we think we see them -fall into these several groups--Chinese, Persian, Byzantine, Oriental -or Indian, Syrian, Saracenic, Moresco-Spanish, Sicilian, Italian, -Flemish, British, and French. - -_Chinese_ examples here are very few; but what they are, whether plain -or figured, they are beautiful in their own way. From all that we know -of the people, we are led to believe their own way two thousand years -ago is precisely theirs still, so that the web wrought by them this -year or two hundred years ago, like No. 1368, p. 75, would not differ -hardly in a line from their textiles two thousand years gone by, when -Dionysius Periegetes wrote that, the “Seres make precious figured -garments, resembling in colour the flowers of the field, and rivalling -in fineness the work of spiders.” In the stuffs, warp and woof are of -silk, and both of the best kinds. - -_Persian_ textiles, even as we see them in this collection, must have -been for many centuries just as they were ever figured, and may be, -even now, described by the words of Quintus Curtius, with some little -allowance for those influences exercised upon the mind of the weaver by -his peculiar religious belief, which would not let the lowliest workman -forget the “homa,” or tree of life. When Marco Polo travelled through -those parts, in the thirteenth century, and our countryman, Sir John -Mandeville, a hundred years later, the old love for hunting wild beasts -still lived, and the princes of the country were as fond as ever of -training the cheetah, a kind of small lion or leopard, for the chase, -as we have noticed, p. 178. - -When the design is made up of various kinds of beasts and birds, real -or imaginary, with the sporting cheetah nicely spotted among them; and -the “homa” conspicuously set forth above all; sure may we be that the -web was wrought by Persians, and on most occasions the textile will be -found in all its parts to be woven from the richest materials. - -As an illustration of the Persian type of style, No. 8233, p. 154, may -be taken as a specimen. - -For trade purposes, and to make the textile pass in the European market -as from Persia, the manner of its loom was often copied by the Jewish -and the Christian weavers in Syria, as we shall have to notice just now. - -_The Byzantine_ Greeks, for their textiles from the time when in the -sixth century they began to weave home-grown silk, made for themselves -a school of design which kept up in their drawing not a little of the -beauty, breadth, and flowing outline which had outlived among them -the days of heathenish art. Along with this a strong feeling of their -Christianity showed itself as well in many of the subjects which they -took out of holy writ, as in the smaller elements of ornamentation. -Figures, whether of the human form or of beasts, are given in a much -larger and bolder size than on any other ancient stuffs. Though there -be very few known specimens from the old looms of Constantinople, the -one here, No. 7036, p. 122, showing Samson wrestling with a lion, may -serve as a type. In the year 1295 old St. Paul’s Cathedral, here in -London, would seem to have possessed several splendid vestments made of -Byzantine silk, as we note in the samples to be named _infra_ under the -head of Damask. - -The way in which those Greeks gave a pattern to the stuff intended more -especially for liturgical purposes is pointed out while speaking about -“Stauracin” and the “Gammadion,” a form of the cross with which they -powdered their silks; p. lii. - -The world-wide fame of the Byzantine purple tint is attested by our -Gerald Barry, whose words we quote further on. As a sample of the -Byzantine loom in “diaspron,” or diapering, we would refer to No. 1239, -p. 26. - -The specimens here from the Byzantine, and later Greek loom, are -not to be taken as by any means appropriate samples of its general -production. They are poor in both respects--material and, when -figured, design--as may be seen at pp. 27, 28, 33, 36, 123, 124, 126, -219, &c. - -_Oriental_ ancient silks and textiles have their own distinctive marks. - -From Marco Polo, who wandered much over the far east, some time during -the thirteenth century, we learn that the weaving there was done by -women who wrought in silk and gold, after a noble manner, beasts and -birds upon their webs:--“Le loro donne lavorano tutte cose a seta e ad -oro e a uccelli e a bestie nobilmente e lavorano di cortine ed altre -cose molto ricamente.”[223] - -Out of the several specimens here from Tartary and India, during our -mediæval period, we pick one or two which show well the meaning of -those words uttered by that great Venetian traveller, while speaking -about the textiles he saw in those countries. The dark purple piece of -silk, figured in gold with birds and beasts, of the thirteenth century, -No. 7086, p. 137, is good; but better still for our purpose is the -shred, No. 7087, p. 138, of blue damask, with its birds, its animals, -and flowers wrought in gold, and different coloured silks. - -What India is, it has ever been, famous for its cloud-like transparent -muslins, which since Marco Polo’s days have kept till now even that -oriental name, through being better than elsewhere woven at Mosul. - - [223] I Viaggi di Marco Polo, ed. A. Bartoli, Firenze, 1865, p. 345. - -The _Syrian_ school is well represented here by several fine pieces. - -The whole sea-board of that part of Asia Minor, as well as far -inland, was inhabited by a mixture of Jews, Christians, and Saracens; -and each of these people were workers in silk. The reputation of -the neighbouring Persia had of old stood high for the beauty and -durability of her silken textiles, which made them to be sought for by -the European traders. Persia’s outlet to the west for her goods, lay -through the great commercial ports on the coast of Syria. Setting, like -Persia used to do, as it were, her own peculiar seal upon her figured -webs, by mingling in her designs the mystic “homa,” to the European -mind this part of the pattern became, at first, a sort of assurance -that those goods had been thrown off by Persian looms. By one of those -tricks of imitation followed then, as well as now, the Syrian designers -for the loom threw this “homa” into their patterns. This symbol of -“the tree of life,” had no doubt been a borrow by Zoroaster from Holy -Writ.[224] Neither to the Christian’s eye, nor to the Jew’s, nor -Moslem’s, was there in it anything objectionable; all three, therefore, -took it and made it a leading portion of design in the patterns of -their silks; and hence is it that we meet it so often. Though done -with perhaps a fraudulent intention of palming on the world Syrian for -real Persian silks, those Syrians usually put into their own designs a -something which spoke of their peculiar selves and their workmanship. -Though there be seen the “homa,” the “cheetah,” and other elements of -Persian patterns, still the discordant two-handled vase, the badly -imitated Arabic sentence, betray the textile to be not Persian, -but Syrian. No. 8359, p. 213, will readily exemplify our meaning. -Furthermore, perhaps quite innocent of any knowledge about Persia’s -first belief, and her use of the “homa” in her old religious services, -the Christian weavers of Syria, along with the Zorasterian symbol, put -the sign of the cross by the side of that “tree of life,” as we find -upon the piece of silk, No. 7094, p. 140. Another remarkable specimen -of the Syrian loom is No. 7034, p. 122, whereon the Nineveh lions come -forth so conspicuously. As a good example of well-wrought “diaspron” or -diaper, No. 8233, p. 154, may be mentioned, along with No. 7052, p. 127. - - [224] Genesis ii. 9. - -_Saracenic_ weaving, as shown by the design upon the web, is -exemplified in several specimens before us. - -However much against what looks like a heedlessness of the Koran’s -teachings, certain it is that the Saracens, those of the upper -classes in particular, felt no difficulty in wearing robes upon which -animals and the likenesses of other created things were woven; with -the strictest of their princes, a double-headed eagle was a royal -heraldic device, as we have shown, p. lxiii. Stuffs, then, figured -with birds and beasts, with trees and flowers, were not the less of -Saracenic workmanship, and meant for Moslem wear. What, however, may -be looked for upon real Saracenic textures is a pattern consisting of -longitudinal stripes of blue, red, green, and other colour; some of -them charged with animals, small in form, other some written, in large -Arabic letters, with a word or sentence, often a proverb, often a good -wish or some wise saw. - -As examples we would point to No. 8288, p. 178, and 7051, p. 127. -For a fair specimen of diapering, No. 7050, p. 127, while No. 8639, -p. 243, presents us with a design having in it, besides the crescent -moon, a proof that architectural forms were not forgotten by the -weaver-draughtsman, in his sketches for the loom. - -Later, in our chapter on Tapestry, we shall have occasion to speak -about another sort of Saracenic work or tapestry, of the kind called -abroad, from the position of its frame, of the basse lisse. - -_Moresco-Spanish_, or Saracenic textiles, wrought in Spain, though -partaking of the striped pattern, and bearing words in real or imitated -Arabic, had some distinctions of their own. The designs shown upon -these stuffs are almost always drawn out of strap-work, reticulations, -or some combination or another of geometrical lines, amid which are -occasionally to be found different forms of conventional flowers. -Specimens are to be seen here at pp. 51, 55, 121, 124, 125, 186, 240, -&c. Sometimes, but very rarely, the crescent moon is figured as in the -curious piece, No. 8639, p. 243. The colours of these silks are usually -either a fine crimson, or a deep blue with almost always a fine toned -yellow as a ground. But one remarkable feature in these Moresco-Spanish -textiles is the presence, when gold is brought in, of an ingenious -though fraudulent imitation of the precious metal, for which shreds of -gilded parchment cut up into narrow flat strips are substituted, and -woven with the silk. This, when fresh, must have looked very bright, -and have given the web all the appearance of those favourite stuffs -called here in England “tissues,” of which we have already spoken, p. -xxiii. - -We are not aware that this trick has ever been found out before, and it -was only by the use of a highly magnifying glass that we penetrated the -secret. Our suspicion was awakened by so often observing that the gold -had become quite black. Examples of this gilt vellum may be seen here, -at Nos. 7095, p. 140; 8590, p. 224; 8639, p. 244; &c. - -When the Christian Spanish weavers lived beyond Saracenic control, they -filled their designs with beasts, birds, and flowers; but even then the -old Spanish fine tone of crimson is rather striking in their webs, as -is evidenced in the beautiful piece of diaper, No. 1336, p. 64. - -Spanish velvets--and they were mostly wrought in Andalusia--are -remarkably fine and conspicuous both for their deep soft pile, and -their glowing ruby tones; but when woven after the manner of velvet -upon velvet, are very precious: a good specimen of rich texture, and -mellow colouring is furnished by the chasuble at No. 1375, p. 81. - -The _Sicilian_ school strongly marked the wide differences between -itself and all the others which had lived before; and the history of -its loom is as interesting as it is varied. - -The first to teach the natives of Sicily the use of cotton for their -garments, and how to rear the silkworm and spin its silk, were, as -it would seem, the Mahomedans, who, in coming over from Africa, -brought along with them, besides the art of weaving silken textiles, -a knowledge of the fauna of that vast continent--its giraffes, its -antelopes, its gazelles, its lions, its elephants. These Mussulmans -told them, too, of the parrots of India and the hunting sort of -lion,--the cheetahs, that were found in Asia; and when the stuff had to -be wrought for European wear, imaged both beast and bird upon the web, -at the same time that they wove a word in Arabic, of greeting to be -read among the flowers. Like all other Saracens, those in Sicily loved -to mingle gold in their tissues; and, to spare the silk, cotton thread -was not unfrequently worked up in the warp. When, therefore, we meet -with beasts taken from the fauna of Africa, such, especially, as the -giraffe, and the several classes of the antelope family--in particular -the gazelle--with, somewhere about, an Arabic motto--and part of the -pattern wrought in gold, which, at first poor and thin, is now become -black, as well as cotton in the warp, we may fairly take the specimen -as a piece of Sicily’s work in its first period of weaving, all so -Saracenic to the eye. Even when that Moslem nation had been driven out -by the Normans, if many of its people did not stay as workmen in silk -at Palermo, yet they left their teachings in weaving and design behind -them, and their practices were, years afterwards, still followed. - -Now we reach Sicily’s second epoch. - -While at war with the Byzantines, in the twelfth century, Roger, King -of Sicily, took Corinth, Thebes, and Athens, from each of which cities -he led away captives all the men and women he could find who knew how -to weave silks, and carried them to Palermo. To the Norman tiraz there, -these Grecian new comers brought fresh designs, which were adopted -sometimes wholly, at others but in part and mixed up with the older -Saracenic style, for silks wrought under the Normano-Sicilian dynasty. -In this second period of the island’s loom we discover what traces the -Byzantine school had impressed upon Sicilian silks, and helped so much -to alter the type of their design. On one silk, a grotesque mask amid -the graceful twinings of luxuriant foliage, such as might have been -then found by them upon many a fragment of old Greek sculpture, was the -pattern, as we witness, at No. 8241, p. 158; on another, a sovereign on -horseback wearing the royal crown, and carrying as he rides a hawk upon -his wrist--token both of the love for lordly sports at the period, and -the feudalism all over Italy and Christendom, shown in the piece, No. -8589, p. 223; on a third, No. 8234, p. 154, is the Greek cross, along -with a pattern much like the old netted or “de fundato” kind which we -have described, p. liii. - -But Sicily’s third is quite her own peculiar style. At the end of the -thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth century, she struck out of -herself into quite an unknown path for design. Without throwing aside -the old elements employed till then especially, all over the east, -and among the rest, by the Mahomedans, Sicily put along with them the -emblem of Christianity, the cross, in various forms, on some occasions -with the letter V. four times repeated, and so placed together as to -fall into the shape of this symbol, like what we find at No. 1245, p. -28; in other instances the cross is floriated, as at No. 1293, p. 47. - -From the far east to the uttermost western borders of the -Mediterranean the weavers of every country had been in the habit -of figuring upon their silks those beasts and birds they saw around -them: the Tartar, the Indian, and the Persian gave us the parrot -and the cheetah; the men of Africa the giraffe and the gazelle; the -people of each continent the lions, the elephants, the eagles, and -the other birds common to both. From the poetry and sculpture of the -Greeks and Romans could the Sicilians have easily learned about the -fabled griffin and the centaur; but it was left for their own wild -imaginings to figure as they have, such an odd compound in one being as -the animal--half elephant, half griffin--which we see in No. 1288, p. -45. Their daring flights of fancy in coupling the difficult with the -beautiful, are curious; in one place, No. 1302, p. 50, large eagles -are perched in pairs with a radiating sun between them, and beneath -dogs, in pairs, running with heads turned back, &c.; in another, No. -1304, p. 51, running harts have caught one of their hind legs in a cord -tied to their collar, and an eagle swoops down upon them; and the same -animal, in another place, on the same piece has switched its tail into -the last link of a chain fastened to its neck; on a third sample, No. -8588, p. 222, we behold figured, harts, the letter M floriated, winged -lions, crosses floriated, crosses sprouting out on two sides with -_fleurs-de-lis_, four-legged monsters, some like winged lions, some -biting their tails. Exeter Cathedral had a cloth of gold purple cope, -figured with “draconibus volantibus ac tenentibus caudas proprias in -ore,”[225] doves in pairs upholding a cross, &c. Hardly elsewhere to -be found are certain elements peculiar to the patterns upon silks from -mediæval Sicily; such, for instance, as harts, and demi-dogs with very -large wings, both animals having remarkably long manes streaming far -behind them, No. 1279, p. 41; harts again, but lodged beneath green -trees, in a park with paling about it, as in No. 1283, p. 43, and No. -8710, p. 269; that oft-recurring sun shedding its beams with eagles -pecking at them, or gazing undazzled at the luminary, pp. 48, 50, 137, -but sometimes stags, as at pp. 54, 239, carrying their well attired -heads upturned to a large pencil of those sunbeams as they dart down -upon them amid a shower of rain-drops. Of birds, the hawk, the eagle, -double and single headed, the parrot, may be found on stuffs all over -the east; not so, however, with the swan, yet this majestic creature -was a favourite with Sicilians, and may be seen here often drawn with -great gracefulness, as at Nos. 1277, p. 41; 1299, p. 49; 8264, p. 166; -8610, p. 232, &c. - - [225] Oliver, p. 345. - -The Sicilians showed their strong affection for certain plants and -flowers. On a great many of the silks in this collection, from -Palermitan looms, we see figured upon a tawny-coloured grounding, -beautifully drawn foliage in green; which, on a nearer inspection, -bears the likeness of parsley, so curled, crispy and serrated are its -leaves. Besides their cherished parsley along with the vine-leaf for -foliage, they had their especial favourite among flowers; and it is the -centaurea cyanus, our corn blue-bottle, shown among others in No. 1283, -&c. p. 43, No. 1291, p. 47, No. 1308, p. 53. - -Another peculiarity of theirs is the introduction of the letter U, -repeated so as at times to mark the feathering upon the tails of birds; -at others, to fall into the shape of an O, as we pointed out at pp. 40, -225, 227, 228. - -Whether it was that, like our own Richard I., crusaders in after times -often made Sicily the halting spot on their way to the Holy Land, or -that knights crowded there for other purposes, and thus dazzled the -eyes of the islanders with the bravery of their armorial bearings, -figured on their cyclases and pennons, their flags and shields, certain -is it that these Sicilians were particularly given to introduce a deal -of heraldic charges--wyverns, eagles, lions rampant, and griffins--into -their designs; and the very numerous occasions in which such elements -of blazoning come in, are very noticeable, so that one of the features -belonging to the Sicilian loom in its third period, is that, bating -tinctures, it is so decidedly heraldic. - -Not the last among the peculiarities of the third period in the -Sicilian school is the use, for many of its stuffs, of two certain -colours--murrey, for the ground, and a bright green for the pattern. -When the fawn-coloured ground is gracefully sprinkled with parsley -leaves, and nicely trailed with branches of the vine, and shows beasts -and birds disporting themselves between the boughs of lively joyous -green; the effect is cheerful, as may be witnessed in those specimens -No. 8594, p. 226, No. 8602, p. 229, No. 8607, p. 231, Nos. 8609, 8610, -p. 232, all of which so admirably exemplify the style. - -All their beauty and happiness of invention, set forth by bold, free, -spirited drawing, were bestowed, if not thrown away, too often upon -stuffs of a very poor inferior quality, in which the gold, if not -actually base, was always scanty, and a good deal of cotton was sure to -be found wrought up along with the silk. - -Though Palermo was, without doubt, the great workshop for weaving -Sicilian silks, that trade used to be carried on not only in other -cities of the island, but reached towns like Reggio and other such in -Magna Græcia, northward up to Naples. We think that, as far as the two -Sicilies are concerned, the growth of the cotton plant always went -along with the rearing of the silkworm. Of the main-land loom we would -specify No. 8256, p. 163, No. 8634, p. 242, No. 8638, p. 243. - -Till within a few years the royal manufactory at Sta. Leucia, near -Naples, produced silks of remarkable richness; and the piece, likely -from that city itself, No. 721, p. 13, does credit to its loom, as -it wove in the seventeenth century. Northern Italy was not idle; and -the looms which she set up in several of her great cities, in Lucca, -Florence, Genoa, Venice and Milan, earned apart for themselves a good -repute in some particulars, and a wide trade for their gold and silver -tissues, their velvets, and their figured silken textiles. Yet, like -as each of these free states had its own accent and provincialisms -in speech, so too had it a something often thrown into its designs -and style of drawing which told of the place and province whence the -textiles came. - -_Lucca_ at an early period made herself known in Europe for her -textiles; but her draughtsmen, like those of Sicily, seem to have -thought themselves bound to follow the style hitherto in use, brought -by the Saracens, of figuring parrots and peacocks, gazelles, and even -cheetahs, as we behold in the specimens here No. 8258, p. 163, and No. -8616, p. 234. But, at the same time, along with these eastern animals, -she mixed up emblems of her own, such as angels clothed in white, like -in the example the last mentioned. She soon dropped what was oriental -from her patterns, which she began to draw in a larger, bolder manner, -as we observe, under No. 8637, p. 243, No. 8640, p. 244, and showing an -inclination for light blue, as a colour. - -As in other places abroad, so at Lucca, cloths of gold and of silver -were often wrought, and the Lucchese cloths of this costly sort -were, here in England, during the fourteenth century, in particular -request. In all likelihood they were, both of them, not of the -deadened but sparkling kind, afterwards especially known as “tissue.” -Exeter Cathedral, A.D. 1327, had a cope of silver tissue, or cloth -of Lucca:--“una capa alba de panno de Luk.”[226] At a later date, -belonging to the same church, were two fine chasubles--one purple, the -other red--of the same glittering stuff, “casula de purpyll panno,” -&c.,[227] where we find it specified that not only was the textile -of gold, but of that especial sort called tissue. York cathedral was -particularly furnished with a great many copes of tissue shot with -every colour required by its ritual, and among them were--“a reade cope -of clothe of tishewe with orphry of pearl, a cope with orphrey, a cope -of raised clothe of goulde,”[228] making a distinction between tissue -and the ordinary cloth of gold. But at the court of our Edward II. its -favour would seem to have been the highest. In the Wardrobe Accounts -of that king, we see the golden tissue, or Lucca cloth, several times -mentioned. Whether the ceremony happened to be sad or gay, this -glistening web was used; palls made of Lucca cloth were, at masses for -the dead, strewed over the corpse; at marriages the care-cloth was -made of the same stuff; thus when Richard de Arundell and Isabella, -Hugh le Despenser’s daughter, had been wedded at the door of the royal -chapel, the veil held spread out over their heads as they knelt inside -the chancel during the nuptial mass, for the blessing, was of Lucca -cloth.[229] Richard II.’s fondness for this cloth of gold was lately -noticed, p. xxx. - -Just about Edward II.’s time was it that velvet became known, and -got into use amongst our churchmen for vestments, and our nobles for -personal wear, and the likelihood is that Lucca was among the first -places in Europe to weave it. The specimens here of this fine textile -from Lucchese looms, though in comparison with those from Genoa, they -be few and mostly after one manner--the raised or cut--still have now a -certain historical value for the English workman: No. 1357, p. 72, with -its olive green plain silken ground, and trailed all over with flowers -and leaves in a somewhat deeper tone, and the earlier example, No. -8322, p. 192, with its ovals and feathering stopped with graceful cusps -and artichokes, afford us good instances of what Lucca could produce in -the way of artistic velvets. - - [226] Oliver, p. 315. - - [227] P. 344. - - [228] York Fabric Rolls, p. 308. - -_Genoa_, though in far off mediæval times not so conspicuous as she -afterwards became for her textile industry, still must have from -a remote period, encouraged within her walls, and over her narrow -territory, the weaving of silken webs. Of these the earliest mention we -anywhere find, is to be seen in the inventory of those costly vestments -once belonging to our own St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, in the year -1295: besides a cope of Genoa cloth, that church had, from the same -place, a hanging patterned with wheels and two-headed birds.[230] -Though this first description be scant, we read in it quite enough -to gather that these Genoese cloths must have entirely resembled the -textiles wrought at Lucca, but, in particular, in Sicily. Perhaps -they had been carried by trade from Palermo to the north-west shores -of Italy, whence they were brought in the same way to England, so -that they may be deemed to have reached us not so much from the looms -themselves of Genoa, as those of some other place, but through her then -great port. - -Of Genoa’s own weaving of beautiful velvets there can be no doubt, -a reputation she keeps to the present day as far as plain velvet is -concerned. - -In this collection we have samples in every kind of Genoese velvets, -from those with a smooth unbroken surface to the elaborately patterned -ones--art-wrought velvets in fact--showing, together with wonderful -skill in the weaving, much beauty of design. Among the plain velvets in -which we have nothing but great softness and depth of pile, along with -clear bright luminous tones of colour, No. 540, p. 3, is a very fair -specimen for its delicious richness of pile; and No. 8334, p. 199, not -merely for this property, but as well for its lightsome mellow deep -tint of crimson. - -Getting to what may be truly called art-velvets, we come to several -specimens here. Some are raised or cut, the design being done in a pile -standing well up by itself from out of a flat ground of silk, sometimes -of the same, sometimes of another colour, and not unfrequently wrought -in gold, as at pp. 18, 90, 107, 110, 263. Then we have at No. 7795, p. -145, an example of that precious kind--velvet upon velvet--in which the -ground is velvet, and again of velvet is the pattern itself, but raised -one pile higher and well above the other, so as to show its form and -shape distinctly. Last of all we here find samples, as in No. 8323, p. -192, how the design was done in various coloured velvet. Such was a -favourite in England, and called motley; in his will, A.D. 1415, Henry -Lord Scrope bequeathed two vestments, one, motley velvet rubeo de auro; -the other, motley velvet nigro, rubeo et viridi, &c.[231] - - [229] Archæologia, t. xxvi. pp. 337, 344. - - [230] Hist. of St. Paul’s, ed. Dugdale, pp. 318, 329. - - [231] Rymer’s Fœdera, t. 9, p. 274. - -_Venice_ does not seem to have been at any time, like Sicily and -Lucca, smitten with the taste of imitating in her looms at home the -patterns which she saw abroad upon textile fabrics, but appears to have -borrowed from the Orientals only one kind of weaving cloth of gold: the -yellow chasuble at Exeter Cathedral, A.D. 1327, figured with beasts, -cum bestiis crocei coloris,[232] is the solitary instance we know, -upon which she wove, like the east, animals upon silks. She, however, -set up for herself a new branch of textiles, and wrought for church -use certain square webs of a crimson ground on which she figured, in -gold, or on yellow silk, subjects taken from the New Testament, or the -persons of saints and angels. These square pieces were as they yet are, -employed, when sewed together in squares as frontals to altars, but -when longwise much more generally as orphreys to chasubles, copes and -other vestments. Of such stuffs must have been those large orphreys -upon a dalmatic and tunicle, at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, A.D. -1295.[233] - -Though not of so early a date as the thirteenth century, there are -in this collection specimens of this Venetian web belonging to the -sixteenth, which are very fine, No. 5900, p. 112, represents the -resurrection of our Lord; so does No. 8976, p. 271, while No. 8978, p. -272, presents us with the coronation of the Virgin, and No. 8976, the -Virgin and the Child, as also No. 1335, p. 71. Far below in worth are -the same kind of webs wrought at Cologne, as will be noticed just now. - -Any one that has ever looked upon the woodcuts done at Venice in -the sixteenth century, such as illustrate, for instance, the Roman -Pontifical, published by Giunta, the “Rosario della G. V. Maria,” by -Varisco, and other such religious books from the Venetian press, will, -at a glance, find on the webs before us from that state, the self-same -style and manner in drawing, the same broad, nay, majestic fold and -fall of drapery, and in the human form the same plumpness, and not -unfrequently with the facial line almost straight; and there, but more -especially about the hands and feet, a somewhat naturalistic shape; -so near is the likeness in design that one is led to think that the -men who cut the blocks for the printers also worked for the weavers of -Venice, and sketched out the drawings for their looms. - -By the fifteenth century Venice knew how to produce good damasks in -silk and gold, and of an historiated kind: if we had nothing more than -the specimen, No. 1311, p. 54, where St. Mary of Egypt is so well -represented, it would be quite enough for her to claim for herself such -a distinction. That like her neighbours, Venice wrought in velvet, -there can be little or no doubt, and if she it was who made those deep -piled stuffs, sometimes raised, sometimes pile upon pile, in which -her painters loved to dress the personages, men especially, in their -pictures, then, of a truth, Venetian velvets were beautiful. Of this, -any one may satisfy himself by one visit to our National Gallery. -There, in the “Adoration of the Magi,” painted by Paulo Veronese, A.D. -1573, the second of the wise men is clad in a robe all made of crimson -velvet, cut or raised after a design quite in keeping with the style of -the period. - -No insignificant article of Venetian textile workmanship was her laces -wrought in every variety--in gold, in silk, in thread. The portrait of -a Doge usually shows us that dignitary clothed in his dress of state. -His wide mantle, having such large golden buttons, is made of some rich -dull silver cloth; and upon his head is that curiously Phrygian-shaped -ducal cap bound round with broad gold lace diapered after some nice -pattern, as we see in the bust portrait of Doge Loredano, painted -by John Bellini, and now in our National Gallery. Not only was the -gold in the thread particularly good, but the lace itself in great -favour at our court during one time, where it used to be bought, not -by yard measure, but by weight; a pounde and a half of gold of Venys -was employed “aboutes the making of a lace and botons for the king’s -mantell of the garter.”[234] “Frenge of Venys gold,” appears twice, pp. -136, 163, in the wardrobe accounts of Edward IV. - -Laces in worsted or in linen thread wrought by the bobbin at Venice; -but more especially her point laces, or such as were done with the -needle, always had, as indeed they still have, a great reputation: -sewed to table-covers, two specimens are found in this collection, -described at p. 141. - -Venetian linens, for fine towelling and napery in general, at one time -were in favourite use in France during a part of the fifteenth century. -In the “Ducs de Bourgogne,” by Le Comte de Laborde,[235] more than -once we meet with such an entry, as “une pièce de nappes, ouvraige de -Venise,” &c. - - [232] Oliver, p. 313. - - [233] Ed. Dugdale, p. 321. - - [234] Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York, p. 8. - - [235] T. ii. Preuves, p. 107. - -_Florence_, always so industrious and art-loving, got for its loom, -about the middle of the fourteenth century, a place in the foremost -rank amid the weavers of northern Italy. Specimens of her earliest -handicraft are yet few--only two--here; but one sample of the able way -in which she knew how to diaper, well shows her ability: No. 8563, p. -215, woven in the fifteenth century, will prove this with reference -to her secular silks. The pieces described at pp. 202, 264, witness -the boldness of her design during the sixteenth century. In her webs, -expressly woven for church-use, is it that she displays her great taste -in design, and wonderful power--at least for that time, the fourteenth -century--in gearing the loom: the violet silk damask, No. 1265, p. 36, -and another like piece, No. 7072, p. 133, figured with angels swinging -thuribles, or bearing crowns of thorns in the hands, or holding a -cross, will warrant our remarks. The style of doing the face and hands -in white of those otherwise yellow angels, is a peculiarity of the -Tuscan loom. - -The orphrey-webs of Florence are equally conspicuous for drawing and -skill in weaving as her vestment textiles, and in beauty come up to -those done at Venice, and far surpass anything of the kind ever wrought -at Cologne; specimens of this sort of Florentine work may be seen at -Nos. 4059, p. 89; 7080, p. 136; 7674, p. 142; 7791, p. 143; 197, p. -291. Along with these may be classed the hood of a cope, described at -No. 8692, p. 260, as well as the apparels to the dalmatic and tunicle, -p. 143, where the cherubic heads have white faces. - -But it was of her velvets that Florence might be so warrantably proud. -Our Henry VII. in his will, “Testamenta Vetusta,”[236] bequeathed -“to God and St. Peter, and to the abbot and prior and convent of -our monastery of Westminster, the whole suit of vestments to be made -at Florence in Italy.” Gorgeous and artistically designed was this -textile, as we may yet see in one of these Westminster Abbey copes -still in existence, and belonging to Stonyhurst college. The golden -ground is trailed all over with leaf-bearing boughs of a bold type, in -raised or cut ruby-toned velvet of a rich soft pile, which is freckled -with gold thread sprouting up like loops. Though nothing so rich in -material, nor so beauteous in pattern, there are here, pp. 144, 145, -two specimens of Florentine cut, crimson velvet on a golden ground, -quite like in sort to the royal vestments, and having too that strong -peculiarity upon them--the little gold thread loop shooting out of the -velvet pile. Though a full century later than the splendid cope at -Stonyhurst, and the two pieces Nos. 7792, 7799, these illustrate the -peculiar style of Tuscan velvets. - -Among the truly prince-like gifts of vestments to Lincoln Cathedral, -by John of Gaunt and his duchess, are many made of the richest crimson -velvet of both sorts, that is, plain, and cut or raised to a pattern -upon a ground of gold, as for instance:--two red copes, of the which -one is red velvet set with white harts lying in colours, full of these -letters S. S., with pendents silver and gilt, the harts having crowns -upon their necks with chains silver and gilt; and the other cope is of -crimson velvet of precious cloth of gold, with images in the orphrey, -&c.[237] - -That peculiar sort of ornamentation--the little loop of gold thread -standing well up, and in single spots--upon some velvets, seems at -times to have been replaced, perhaps with the needle, by small dots of -solid metal, gold or silver gilt, upon the pile; of the gift of one of -its bishops, John Grandisson, Exeter cathedral had a crimson velvet -cope, the purple velvet orphrey to which was so wrought:--De purpyll -velvete operata cum pynsheds de puro auro.[238] - - [236] Ed. Nicolas, t. i. p. 33. - - [237] Mon. Anglic. viii. 1281. - - [238] Oliver, p. 345. - -_Milan_, though now-a-days she stands in such high repute for the -richness and beauty of her silks of all sorts, was not, we believe, -at any period during mediæval times, as famous for her velvets, -her brocades, or cloths of gold, as for her well wrought admirably -fashioned armour, so strong and trustworthy for the field--so furbished -and exquisitely damascened for courtly service. Still, in the sixteenth -century she earned a name for her rich cut velvets, as we may see in -the specimen, No. 698, p. 7; her silken net-work, No. 8336, p. 200, -which may have led the way to weaving silk stockings; and her laces -of the open tinsel kind once in such vogue for liturgical, as well as -secular attire, as we have in No. 8331, p. 197. - -_Britain_, from her earliest period, had textile fabrics varying in -design and material; of the colours in the woollen garments worn by -each of the three several classes into which our Bardic order was -apportioned. Of the checkered pattern in Boadicea’s cloak we have -spoken just now, p. xii. - -Of the beauty and wide repute of English needlework, we shall have to -speak when, a little further on, we reach the subject of embroidery. - -From John Garland’s words, which we gave at p. xxii, it would seem that -all the lighter and more tasteful webs wrought here came from women’s -hands; and the loom, one of which must have been in almost every -English nunnery and homestead, was of the simplest make. - -In olden times, the Egyptians wove in an upright loom, and beginning -at top so as to weave downwards, sat at their work. In Palestine the -weaver had an upright loom too, but beginning at bottom and working -upwards, was obliged to stand. During the mediæval period the loom, -here at least, was horizontal, as is shown by the one figured in that -gorgeously illuminated Bedford Book of Hours, fol. 32, at which the -Blessed Virgin Mary is seated weaving curtains for the temple. - -As samples of one of the several kinds of work wrought by our nuns -and mynchens, as well as English ladies, we refer to Nos. 1233, p. -24, 1256, p. 33, 1270, p. 38, demonstrating the ability of their -handicraft as well as elegance in design during the thirteenth century. -For specimens of the commoner sorts of silken textiles and of wider -breadth, which began to be woven in this country under Edward III., -it would be as hard as hazardous to direct the reader. Very recent -examples of all sorts--velvets among the rest--may be found in the -Brooke collection. To some students the piece of Old English printed -chintz, No. 1622, p. 84, will not be without an interest. - -For the finer sort of linen napery, Eylisham or Ailesham in -Lincolnshire was famous during the fourteenth century. Exeter -cathedral, A.D. 1327, had “unum manutergium de Eylisham”--a hand towel -of Ailesham cloth.[239] - -Our coarser native textiles in wool, in thread or in both, woven -together, forming a stuff called “burel,” made of which St. Paul’s -London, A.D. 1295, had a light blue chasuble;[240] and Exeter -cathedral, A.D. 1277, a long pall;[241] all sorts, in fine, of heavier -work, were wrought in our monasteries for men. By their rule the -Benedictine monks, and all their offsets, were bound to give a certain -number of hours every week-day to hand work, either at home or in the -field.[242] - -Weeping over the wars and strife in England during the year 1265 and -the woes of the people, our Matthew of Westminster sums up, among our -losses, the fall in our trade of woollen stuffs, with which we used -to supply the world. O Anglia olim gloriosa ... licet maris angustata -littoribus ... tibi tamen per orbem benedixerunt omnium latera nationum -de tuis ovium velleribus calefacta.[243] - -The weaving in this country of woollen cloth, as a staple branch of -trade, is older than some are willing to believe. Of the monks at -Bath abbey we are told by a late writer, “the shuttle and the loom -employed their attention, (about the middle of the fourteenth century,) -and under their active auspices the weaving of woollen cloth (which -made its appearance in England about the year 1330, and received the -sanction of an Act of Parliament in 1337) was introduced, established, -and brought to such perfection at Bath as rendered this city one of the -most considerable in the west of England for this manufacture.”[244] -Worcester cloth, which was of a fine quality, was so good, that by -a chapter of the Benedictine Order, held A.D. 1422, at Westminster -Abbey, it was forbidden to be worn by the monks, and declared smart -enough for military men.[245] Norwich, too, wove stuffs that were -in demand for costly household furniture, for, A.D. 1394, Sir John -Cobham bequeathed to his friends “a bed of Norwich stuff embroidered -with butterflies.”[246] In one of the chapels at Durham Priory there -were four blue cushions of Norwich work.[247] Worsted, a town in -Norfolk, by a new method of its own for the carding of the wool with -combs of iron well heated, and then twisting the thread harder than -usual in the spinning, enabled our weavers to produce a woollen stuff -of a fine peculiar quality, to which the name itself of worsted was -immediately given. Unto such a high repute did the new web grow that -liturgical raiment and domestic furniture of the choicest sorts were -made out of it; Exeter cathedral, among its chasubles, had several -“de nigro worsted” in cloth of gold. Elizabeth de Bohun, A.D. 1356, -bequeathed to her daughter the Countess of Arundel “a bed of red -worsted embroidered;”[248] and Joane Lady Bergavenny leaves to John of -Ormond “a bed of cloth of gold with lebardes, with those cushions and -tapettes of my best red worsted,”[249] &c. Of the sixteen standards of -worsted entailed with the bear and a chain which floated aloft in the -ship of Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, we have spoken before (p. xliii.) -In the “Fabric Rolls of York Minster” vestments made of worsted--there -variously spelt “worsett,”[250] and “woryst”[251]--are enumerated. - - [239] Oliver, p. 314. - - [240] Dugdale’s St. Paul’s, p. 323. - - [241] Oliver, p. 298. - - [242] Reg. S. Ben. c. xlviii. De Opere Manuum quotidiano, p. 129; c. - lvii. De Artificibus Monasterii, p. 131; ed. Brockie, t. i. “Lena” - is the mediæval Latin for a bed coverlet. - - [243] Flores Histor. p. 396. Frankfort, A.D. 1601. - - [244] Monasticon Anglicanum, t. ii. p. 259. - - [245] Benedict. in Anglia, ed. Reyner, App. p. 165. - - [246] Testamenta Vetusta, ed. Nicolas, t. i. p. 136. - - [247] Hist. Dunelm. Scriptores Tres. Append. p. cclxxxvi. - - [248] Testamenta Vetusta, i. 61. - - [249] Ibid. p. 227. - - [250] Pp. 301, 305. - - [251] P. 302. - -_Irish_ cloth, white and red, in the reign of John, A.D. 1213, was much -used in England; and in the household expenses of Swinford, bishop of -Hereford, A.D. 1290, an item occurs of Irish cloth for lining.[252] - -But our weavers knew how to throw off from their looms, artistically -designed and well-figured webs; in the “Wardrobe Accounts” of our -Edward II. we read this item: “to a mercer of London for a green -hanging of wool wove with figures of kings and earls upon it, for the -king’s service in his hall on solemn feasts at London.”[253] Such -“salles,” as they were called in France, and “hullings,” or rather -“hallings,” the name they went under here, were much valued abroad, and -in common use at home: under the head of “Salles d’Angleterre,” among -the articles of costly furniture belonging to Charles V. of France, -A.D. 1364, who began his reign some forty years after our Edward -II.’s death, one set of such hangings is thus put down: “une salle -d’Angleterre vermeille brodée d’azur, et est la bordeure à vignettes et -le dedens de lyons, d’aigles et de lyepars,” quoted from the MS. No. -8356, in the Imperial Library, Paris, by Michel;[254] while here in -England, Richard Earl of Arundel, A.D. 1392, willed to his dear wife -“the hangings of the hall which was lately made in London, of blue -tapestry with red roses with the arms of my sons,”[255] &c.; and Lady -Bergavenny, after bequeathing her hullying of black, red, and green, to -one friend, to another left her best stained hall.[256] - - [252] Ed. Web. for the Camden Society, p. 193, t. i. - - [253] Archæologia, t. xxvi. p. 344. - - [254] Tom. i. p. 49. - - [255] Test. Vetust. t. i. p. 130. - - [256] Ibid. pp. 228, 229. - -_Flemish_ textiles, at least of the less ambitious kinds, such as -napery and woollens, were much esteemed centuries ago, and our -countryman, Matthew of Westminster, says of Flanders, that from the -material--perhaps wool--which we sent her, she sent us back those -precious garments she wove.[257] - -Though industrious everywhere within her limits, some of her towns -stood foremost for certain kinds of stuff, and Bruges became in -the latter end of the fifteenth century conspicuous for its silken -textiles. Here in England, the satins of Bruges were in great use -for church garments; in Haconbie church, A.D. 1566, was “one white -vestmente of Bridges satten repte in peces and a clothe made thereof -to hange before our pulpitt;”[258] and, A.D. 1520, York cathedral had -“a vestment of balkyn (baudekin) with a crosse of green satten in -bryges.”[259] - -Her damask silks were equally in demand; and the specimens here -will interest the reader. Nos. 8318, p. 190, 8332, p. 197, show the -ability of the Bruges loom, while the then favourite pattern with the -pomegranate in it, betrays the likings of the Spaniards, at that time -the rulers of the country, for this token of their beloved Isabella’s -reconquered Granada. No. 8319, p. 191, is another sample of Flemish -weaving, rich in its gold, and full of beauty in design. - -In her velvets, Flanders had no need to fear a comparison with anything -of the kind that Italy ever threw off from her looms, whether at -Venice, Florence, or Genoa, as the samples we have here under Nos. -8673, p. 254, 8674, p. 255, 8704, p. 264, will prove. Nay, this last -specimen, with its cloth of gold ground, and its pattern in a dark -blue deep-piled velvet, is not surpassed in gorgeousness even by that -splendid stuff from Florence yet to be seen in one of the copes for -Westminster Abbey given it by Henry VII. - -Block-printed linen was, toward the end of the fourteenth century, -another production of Flanders, of which pieces may be seen at Nos. -7022, p. 118, 7027, p. 120, 8303, p. 184, 8615, p. 234. Though to -the eyes of many, these may look so poor, so mean; to men like the -cotton-printers of Lancashire and other places they will have a -strong attraction; to the scholar they will be deeply interesting as -suggestive of the art of printing. Such specimens are rare, but it is -likely that England can show, in the chapter library at Durham, the -earliest sample of the kind as yet known, in a fine sheet wrapped about -the body of some old bishop discovered, along with several pieces of -ancient silks, and still more ancient English embroidery, in a grave -opened by Mr. Raine, A.D. 1827, within that grand northern cathedral. - -What Bruges was in silks and velvets Yprès, in the sixteenth century, -became for linen, and for many years Flemish linens had been in -favourite use throughout England. Hardly a church of any size, scarcely -a gentleman’s house in this country, but used a quantity of towels and -other napery that was made in Flanders, especially at Yprès.[260] Of -this textile instances may be seen at pp. 34, 73, 75, 124, 203, 205, -255, 263. - - [257] Hist. p. 396, Frankfort, A.D. 1601. - - [258] Church Furniture, ed. Peacock, p. 94. - - [259] Fabric Rolls, p. 302. - - [260] Oliver’s Exeter, p. 356. - -_French_ silks, now in such extensive use, were until the end of the -sixteenth century not much cared for in France itself, and seldom -heard of abroad. The reader, then, must not be astonished at finding -so few examples of the French loom, in a collection of ancient silken -textiles. - -France, as England, used of old to behold her women, old and young, -rich and poor, while filling up their leisure hours in-doors, at work -on a small loom, and weaving certain narrow webs, often of gold, and -diapered with coloured silks, as we mentioned before (p. xxii.) Of such -French wrought stuffs belonging to the thirteenth century, some samples -are described at pp. 29, 130, 131. - -In damasks, her earliest productions are of the sixteenth century, and -are described at pp. 13, 205, 206; and the last is a favourable example -of what the loom then was in France; everything later is of that type -so well known to everybody. In several of her textiles a leaning -towards classicism in design is discernible. - -Though so few, her cloths of gold, pp. 9, 15, are good, more especially -the fine one at p. 104. - -Her velvets, too, pp. 14, 89, 106, are satisfactory. - -Satins from France are not many here. - -The curious and elaborately ornamented gloves, p. 105, which got into -fashion, especially for ladies, at the end of the sixteenth century, -will be a welcome object for such as are curious in the history of -women’s dress, in France and England. - -Quilting, too, on coverlets, shown at pp. 13, 104, displays the taste -of our neighbours in such stitchery, so much in use among them and -ourselves from the sixteenth century. - -Like Flanders, France knew how to weave fine linen, which here in -England was much in use for ecclesiastical as well as household -purposes. Three new cloths of Rains (Rennes in Brittany) were, A.D. -1327, in use for the high altar in Exeter cathedral,[261] and many -altar-cloths of Paris linen. In the poem of the “Squier of Low Degree,” -the lady is told - - Your blankettes shal be of fustyane, - Your shetes shal be of cloths of rayne; - -and, A.D. 1434, Joane Lady Bergavenny devises in her will, “two -pair sheets of Raynes, a pair of fustians,” &c.[262] For her -Easter “Sepulchre” Exeter had a pair of this Rennes sheeting; “par -linthiaminum de Raynys pro sepulchro.”[263] - - [261] Oliver, p. 314. - - [262] Test. Vet. i. 227. - - [263] Oliver, p. 340. - -_Cologne_, the queen of the Rhine, became famous during the whole of -the fifteenth and part of the sixteenth century for a certain kind of -ecclesiastical textile which, from the very general use to which it -has been applied, we have named “orphrey web.” Since by far the greater -part of this collection, as it now exists, had been made in Germany, -beginning with Cologne, it is, as might be expected, well supplied with -specimens of a sort of stuff, if not peculiar, at least abounding in -that country. Those same liturgical ornaments which Venice and Florence -wove with such artistic taste for Italian church use, Cologne succeeded -in doing for Germany. Her productions, however, are every way far below -in beauty Italy’s like works. The Italian orphrey-webs are generally -done in gold or yellow silk, upon a crimson ground of silk. Florence’s -are often distinguished from those of Venice by the introduction of -white for the faces; Cologne’s vary from both by introducing blue, -while the material is almost always very poor, and the weaving coarse. - -The earliest specimen here of this Cologne orphrey-web is No. 8279, p. -174; but it is far surpassed by many others, such as are, for instance, -to be found at pp. 61, 62, 63, 64, 69, 80, 82, 116, 117, 118, 119, 174, -175, 252, 253. Among these some have noticeable peculiarities; No. -1329, p. 61, a good specimen, has the persons of the saints so woven -that the heads, hands, and emblems are wrought with the needle; the -same, too, in Nos. 7023, p. 118, and 8667, p. 252; in No. 1373, though -the golden ground looks very fresh and brilliant, the gilding process, -as on wood, has been employed. Here in England this orphrey web was in -church use and called “rebayn de Colayn.”[264] - -The piece of German napery at No. 8317, p. 190, of the beginning of the -fifteenth century will be to those curious about household linen, an -acceptable specimen. - -If by hazard while reading some old inventory of church vestments the -reader should stumble upon some entry mentioning a chasuble made of -cloth of Cologne, let him understand it to mean not a certain broad -textile woven there, but merely a vestment composed of several pieces -of this kind of web sewed together, just as was the frontal made out of -pieces of woven Venice orphreys at No. 8976, p. 271. - - [264] Testamenta Eborac, iii. 13. - - -The countries whence silks came to us are numerous; with confidence, -however, we may say, that till the middle of the fifteenth century, -when we began to weave some of them for ourselves, the whole geography -of silken textiles lay within the basin of the Mediterranean to the -west, and the continent of Asia to the east. - -Though mention is often made of tissues coming from various places, -those cities are always to be found upon the map we have just marked -out. Among those spoken of _Antioch_, _Tarsus_, _Alexandria_, -_Damascus_, _Byzantium_, _Cyprus_, _Trip_ or _Tripoli_, and _Bagdad_, -are easily recognized, as well as the later centres of trade and -manufacture, Venice, Genoa and Lucca. To fix the localities of a few -others would be but guess-work. - -At the beginning of the fourteenth century is mentioned occasionally -a silk called “_Acca_,” and, from the description of it, it must have -been a cloth of gold shot with coloured silk, figured with animals: -William de Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon, gave to St. Alban’s monastery a -whole vestment of cloth of gold shot with sky-blue, and called cloth of -Acca; “unum vestimentum ... de panno quem Accam dicimus; cujus campus -est aerius. In reliquis vero partibus resultat auri fulgor.”[265] To -some it would look as if this stuff took its name from having been -brought to us through the port of Acre. We lean towards this belief -on finding, on the authority of Macri, in his valuable Hierolexicon, -Venice, 1735, pp. 5, 542, that so used to be written the name of the -ancient Ptolemais in Syria. - -What in one age, and at a particular place, happened to be so well -made, and hence became so eagerly sought for, at a later period, and -in another place, got to be much better wrought and at a lower price. -Time, indeed, changed the name of the market, but did not alter in any -great degree either the quality of the material, or the style of the -design wrought upon it. All over the kingdom of the Byzantine Greeks -the loom had to change its gearing very little. The Saracenic loom, -whether in Asia, Africa, or Spain, was always Arabic, though Persia -could not forget her olden Zoroasterian traditions about the “hom” -or tree of life separating lions, and having all about lion-hunting -cheetahs, and birds of various sorts. - -With regard to the whole of Asia, we learn that its many peoples, -from the earliest times, knew how not only to weave cloth of gold, -but figure it too with birds and beasts. Almost two thousand years -afterwards, Marco Polo, in the thirteenth century, found exactly -the very same kinds of textile known in the days of Darius still -everywhere, from the shores of the Mediterranean to far Cathay, in -demand and woven. What he says of Bagdad, he repeats in fewer words -about many other cities.[266] - -In finding their way to England these fabrics had given them not so -often the names of the places where they had been wrought, but, if not -in all, at least in most instances, the names of the seaports in the -Mediterranean where they had been shipped. - - [265] Mon. Anglic. ii. 221. - - [266] I Viaggi di Marco Polo, ed. A. Bartoli, Firenze, 1863. - -For beautifully wrought and figured silk, of the few terms that still -outlive the mediæval period, one is _Damask_. - -China, no doubt, was the first country to ornament its silken webs -with a pattern. India, Persia and Syria, then Byzantine Greece, -followed, but at long intervals between, in China’s footsteps. Stuffs -so figured brought with them to the west the name “diaspron” or diaper, -bestowed upon them at Constantinople. But about the twelfth century, -so very far did the city of Damascus, even then long celebrated for -its looms, outstrip all other places for beauty of design, that her -silken textiles were eagerly sought for everywhere, and thus, as often -happens, traders fastened the name of Damascen or Damask upon every -silken fabric richly wrought and curiously designed, no matter whether -it came or not from Damascus. After having been for ages the epithet -betokening all that was rich and good in silk, “Samit” had to be -forgotten, and Diaper, from being the very word significant of pattern, -became a secondary term descriptive of merely a part in the elaborate -design on Damask. - -_Baudekin_, that sort of costly cloth of gold spoken of so much during -so many years in English literature, took, as we said before, its -famous name from Bagdad. - -Many are the specimens in this collection furnishing proofs of the -ancient weavers’ dexterity in their management of the loom, but -especially of the artists’ taste in setting out so many of their -intricate and beautiful designs. - -What to some will be happily curious is that we have this very day -before our eyes pieces, in all likelihood, from the self-same web which -furnished the material, centuries ago, for vestments and ornaments used -of old in the cathedrals of England. Let any one turn to p. 122, and, -after looking at number 7036, compare that silk with this item in the -inventory of St. Paul’s, London, A.D. 1225: “Item, Baudekynus rubeus -cum Sampsone constringente ora leonum,” &c.[267] See also number 8589, -and number 8235. - -An identification between very many samples, brought together here, of -ancient textiles in silk, and the descriptions of such stuffs afforded -us in those valuable records--our old church inventories--might be -carried on, if necessary, to a very lengthened extent. - - [267] Dugdale’s St. Paul’s, p. 328. - -_Dorneck_ was the name given to an inferior kind of damask wrought -of silk, wool, linen thread and gold, in Flanders. Towards the end -of the fifteenth century, mostly at Tournay, which city, in Flemish, -was often called Dorneck--a word variously spelt as Darnec, Darnak, -Darnick, and sometimes even Darness. - -The gild of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Boston had a care cloth of -silke dornex and church furniture.[268] The “care cloth” was a sort of -canopy held over the bride and bridegroom as they knelt for the nuptial -blessing, according to the Salisbury rite, at the marriage mass. At -Exeter it was used in chasubles for orphreys.[269] A specimen of Dornex -may be seen, No. 7058, p. 129. See also York Fabric Rolls, pp. 291, -297, 298, 300, 305. - - [268] Peacock, p. 204. - - [269] Oliver, pp. 359, 365. - -_Buckram_, a cotton textile, has a history and a reputation somewhat -varied. - -In our oldest inventories mention is often made of a “panus Tartaricus” -or Tartary cloth, which was, if not always, at least often purple. -Asia, especially in its eastern borders, became famous for the fine -textiles it wove out of cotton, and dyed in every colour. Cities got -for themselves a reputation for some especial excellence in their -looms, and as Mosul had the name of Muslin from that place given to the -fine and delicate cotton webs it wrought, so the term of buckram for -another sort of cotton textile came from the city of Bokhara in Tartary -where this cloth was made. All along the middle ages buckram was much -esteemed for being costly and very fine, and consequently fit for use -in church vestments, and for secular personal wear. John Grandison, -consecrated bishop of Exeter, A.D. 1327, gave to his cathedral flags -of white and red buckram;[270] and among the five very rich veils for -covering the moveable lectern in that church, three were lined with -blue “bokeram.”[271] As late as the beginning of the sixteenth century -this stuff was held good enough for lining to a black velvet gown for a -queen, Elizabeth of York.[272] The coarse thick fabric which now goes -by the name was anything but the olden production known as “bokeram.” - - [270] Ib. p. 319. - - [271] Ib. p. 329. - - [272] Her Privy Purse Expenses, ed. Nicolas, p. 22, &c. - -_Burdalisaunder_, _Bordalisaunder_, _Bourde de Elisandre_, with other -varieties in spelling, is a term often to be met with in old wills and -church inventories. In the year 1327 Exeter had a chasuble of Bourde de -Elisandre of divers colours.[273] It was wide enough for half a piece -to form the adornment of a high altar.[274] - -The difficulty of understanding what this textile was will vanish when -we remember that in Arabic “bord” to this day means a striped cloth; -and we know, both from travellers and the importation of the textile -itself, that many tribes in North and Eastern Africa weave stuffs for -personal wear of a pattern consisting of white and black longitudinal -stripes. St. Augustin too, living in North Africa near the modern -Algiers, speaks of a stuff for clothing called “burda,” in the end of -the fourth and beginning of the fifth century. Burdalisaunder was a -silken web in different coloured stripes, and specimens of this, at -one time known as “stragulata” may be found here at pp. 21, 27, 33, -56, 57, 161, 225, 226, &c. Though made in so many places round the -Mediterranean, this silk took its name, at least in England, from -Alexandria, because it was to be had in that Egyptian city, always -celebrated for its silks, either better made or at a much lower price -than elsewhere. - -In all likelihood the curtains for the tabernacle, as well as the -girdles for Aaron and his sons, of fine linen and violet and purple, -and scarlet twice dyed, were wrought with this very pattern, so that -in the “stragulata” or “burd Aliscaunder” we behold the oldest known -design for any textile. - - [273] Oliver, p. 312. - - [274] Yorkshire Wills. Part i. p. 174. - -_Fustian_, of which two of its forms we still have in velveteen and -corduroy, was originally wove at Fustat, on the Nile, with a warp of -linen thread and a woof of thick cotton, which was so twilled and cut -that it showed on one side a thick but low pile; and the web so managed -took its name of Fustian from that Egyptian city. At what period it was -invented we do not rightly know, but we are well aware it must have -been brought to this country before the Normans coming hither, for our -Anglo-Saxon countryman, St. Stephen Harding, when a Cistercian abbot -and an old man, _circ._ A.D. 1114, forbade chasubles in his church to -be made of anything but fustian or plain linen: “neque casulas nisi -de fustaneo vel lino sine pallio aureo vel argenteo,” &c.[275] The -austerity of his rule reached even the ornament of the church. From -such a prohibition we are not to draw as a conclusion that fustian -was at the time a mean material; quite the contrary, it was a seemly -textile. Years afterwards, in the fourteenth century, Chaucer tells us -of his knight:-- - - Of fustian he wered a gepon.[276] - -Fustian, so near akin to velvet, is more especially noticed along with -what is said upon that fine textile. - -In the fifteenth century Naples had a repute for weaving fustians, but -our English churchwardens, not being learned in geography, made some -laughable bad spelling of this, like some other continental stuffs: -“Fuschan in appules,” for fustian from Naples, is droll; yet droller -still is “mustyrd devells,” for a cloth made in France at a town -called Mustrevilliers. - - [275] Mon. Anglic. ed. Dugdale, v. 225. - - [276] The Prologue, Poems, ed. Nicolas, ii. 3. - -_Muslin_, as it is now throughout the world, so from the earliest -antiquity has been everywhere in Asia in favourite use, both as an -article of dress and as furniture. Its cloud-like thinness, its -lightness, were, as they still are to some Asiatics, not the only -charms belonging to this stuff: it was esteemed equally as much for -the taste in which stripes of gold had been woven in its warp. As we -learn from the travels of Marco Polo, the further all wayfarers in Asia -wandered among its eastern nations, the higher they found the point of -excellence which had been reached by those people in weaving silk and -gold into splendid fabrics. If the silkworm lived, nay, thrived there, -the cotton plant was in its home, its birth-place, in those regions. -Where stood Nineveh Mosul stands now. - -Like many cities of Middle Asia, Mosul had earned for itself a -reputation of old for the beauty of its gold-wrought silken textiles. -Cotton grew all around in plenty; the inhabitants, especially the -women, being gifted with such quick feeling of finger, could spin -thread from this cotton of more than hair-like fineness. Cotton then -took with them, on many occasions, the place of silk in the loom; -but gold was not forgotten in the texture. This new fabric, not only -because it was so much cheaper, but from its own peculiar beauty and -comeliness, won for itself a high place in common estimation. At once, -and by the world’s accord, on it was bestowed as its distinctive name, -the name of the place where it was wrought in such perfection. Hence, -whether wove with or without gold, we call to this day this cotton web -Muslin, from the Asiatic city of Mosul. - -_Cloth of Areste_ is another of those terms for woven stuffs which -students of textiles had never heard of were it not to be found in our -old English deeds and inventories. The first time we meet it is in an -order given, A.D. 1244, by Henry III. for finding two of these cloths -of Areste with which two copes had to be made for royal chapels: “Duos -pannos del Areste ad duas capas faciendas,” &c.[277] Again it comes -a few years later at St. Paul’s, which cathedral, A.D. 1295, had, -besides a dalmatic and tunicle of this silk--“de serico albo diasperato -de Arest,”[278]--as many as thirty and more hangings of this same -texture.[279] - -From the description of these pieces we gather that this so-called -cloth of Areste must have been as beautiful as it was rich, being for -the most part cloth of gold figured elaborately, some with lions and -double-headed eagles, others, for example, with the death and burial -of our Lord--“campus aureus cum leonibus et aquilis bicapitibus de -aurifilo contextis--campus rubeus cum historia Passionis Domini et -sepulturæ ejusdem.” These designs speak of the looms at work in the -middle ages on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and we are much -strengthened in this thought by beholding how the death and burial -of our Lord, like the sample here, number 8278, p. 170-1, are shown -on a crimson ground, as we shall have to instance further on under -Symbolism, § VII. - -That this sort of stuff, wove of silk and gold, was of any kind of -Arras, or made in that town, to our seeming is a very unhappy guess. -Arras had not won for itself a reputation for its tapestry before the -fourteenth century. Tapestry itself is too thick and heavy for use in -vestments; yet this cloth of Areste was light enough for tunicles, and -when worn out was sometimes condemned at St. Paul’s to be put aside for -lining other ritual garments--“ad armaturam faciendam.”[280] The term -“Areste” has little or nothing in it common to the word “Arras,” as -written either in French, or under its Latin appellation “Atrebatum.” - -Among the three meanings for the mediæval “Aresta,” one is, any kind of -covering. To us, then, it seems as if these cloths of Areste took their -name not from the place whereat they had been wove, but from the use to -which, if not always, for the most part, we put them--that of hangings -about our churches, since in the St. Paul’s inventory they are usually -spoken of as such--“culcitræ pendules, panni penduli.”[281] Moreover, -tapestry, or Arras work, being thick and heavy, could never have been -employed for such light use as that of apparels, nor would it have been -diapered like silk, yet we find it to have been so fashioned and so -used--“maniculariis apparatis quodam panno rubeo diasperato de Laret, -&c.”[282] - - [277] Excerpta Historica, p. 404. - - [278] St. Paul’s Cathedral, ed. Dugdale, p. 322. - - [279] Ibid. p. 329. - - [280] St. Paul’s Cathedral, ed. Dugdale, p. 329. - - [281] Ibid. p. 329. - - [282] Ibid. p. 335. - -For not a few it would be hard to understand some at least among those -epithets meant in by-gone days to tell how - - -SILKS WERE DISTINGUISHED THROUGH THEIR COLOURS AND SHADES OF COLOUR. - -To the inventories of vestments and church-stuffs of all sorts must we -go to gather the information which we want about the textiles in use in -this country at any particular period during by-gone days. The men who -had, in the thirteenth century, the drawing up of such lists, seem to -have been gifted with a keen eye for the varieties of shade and tints -in the colour of silks then before them. For instance, a chasuble at -St. Paul’s, London, A.D. 1295, is set down thus:--“De sameto purpureo -aliquantulum sanguineo”--that is, made of samit (a thick silk) dyed -in a purple somewhat bordering on a blood-red tone. Such language is -unmistakable; not so, however, many other terms at the time in common -use, and though well understood then, are now not so intelligible. -We are told in the same inventory[283] several times of a “pannus -Tarsicus,” a Tarsus cloth, and of a “pannus Tarsici coloris,” a Tarsus -coloured cloth. What may have been the distinctive qualities of the -stuffs woven at Tarsus, what the peculiar beauty in that tint to which -that once so celebrated city had given its own name, we cannot say. -We think, however, those Tarsus textiles were partly of silk, partly -of fine goats’ hair, and for this reason Varro tells[284]--“Tondentur -(capræ) quod magnis villis sunt, in magna parte Phrygiæ; unde Cilicia, -et cætera ejus generis ferri solent. Sed, quod primum ea tonsura in -Cilicia sit instituta, nomen id Cilicas adjecisse dicunt.” Goats are -shorn in a great part of Phrygia, because there they have long shaggy -hair. Cilicia (the Latin for hair cloths) and other things of the -same sort, are usually brought from that country. For the reason that -in Cilicia such a shearing of goats arose, they say that the name of -Cilician was given to such stuffs woven of goats’ hair. As Tarsus is, -so always was it, the head city in all that part of Asia Minor known of -old as Phrygia. Hence then we think that-- - - [283] Pp. 322, 323. - - [284] De Re Rustica, lii. cap. xi. - -_Cloth of Tarsus_, _of Tars_, &c., was woven of fine goats’ hair and -silk. But this web was in several colours, and always looked upon as -very costly. - -The _Tarsus colour_ itself was, as we take it, some shade of purple -differing from, and perhaps to some eyes more beautiful than, the -Tyrian dye. The people of Tarsus no doubt got from their murex, a -shell-fish of the class mollusca and purpurifera family to be found on -their coast, their dyeing matter; and when it is borne in mind what -changes are wrought in the animal itself by the food it eats, and -what strong effects are made by slight variations in climate, even -atmosphere, upon materials for colouring in the moments of application, -we may easily understand how the difference arose between the two tints -of purple. - -We are strengthened in our conjecture that not only was the cloth of -Tarsus of a rare and costly kind, but its tint some shade of royal -purple, from the fact that while noticing the robes worn on a grand -public occasion by a king, Chaucer thus sketches the prince:-- - - The gret Emetrius, the king of Inde, - Upon a stede bay, trapped in stele, - Covered with cloth of gold diapred wele, - Came riding like the god of armes Mars. - His cote armure was of a cloth of Tars, - Couched with perles, &c.[285] - - [285] Knightes Tale, Poems, ed. Nicolas, ii. 64-5. - -_Sky-blue_ was a liturgical colour everywhere in use for certain -festivals throughout England, as we have shown in another place.[286] -In the early inventories the name for that tint is “Indicus,” “Indus,” -reminding us of our present _indigo_. In later lists it is called -“Blodius,” not sanguinary, but blue. - - [286] Church of our Fathers, t. ii. p. 259. - -_Murrey_, or a reddish brown, is often specified; and a good specimen -of the tint is given us, No. 709, p. 9. Old St. Paul’s, London, had -several pieces of baudekin of this colour: “baudekynus murretus cum -griffonibus datus pro anima. Alphonsi filii regis E.”[287] - -Going far down, and much below the middle ages, Purple, in all its -tones, and tints, and shades, was spoken of and looked upon as -allowable to be worn in garments only to worshipful, ennobled, or royal -personages. Whether it glowed with the brightness it seemed to have -stolen from the rose, or wore its darkest tone it could borrow from -the violet, whether it put on any one of those hundred shades to be -found between those two extremes, it mattered not; it was gazed at with -an admiring, a respectful eye. Eagerly sought out, and bought at high -price, were those textiles that showed this colour, and had been dyed -at Tyre, Antioch, Tarsus, Alexandria, Byzantium, or Naples. All these -places were at one time or another, in days of old, famous for their -looms, no less than their ability in the dyeing, especially of purple, -among the nations living on the shores of the Mediterranean; and each -of them had in its own tone a shade which distinguished it from that -of all the others. What the tint of purple was which established this -difference we cannot at this distance of time, and with our means -of knowing, justly say. Of this, however, we are perfectly aware, -that silks of purple usually bore their specific name from those -above-named cities, as we perceive while reading the old inventories -of our churches and cathedrals. Moreover, our native writers let us -know that, if not always from Greece, it was through that country -that purple textiles were brought to England. Besides speaking of a -conversation held about, beside other things, the produce of Greece in -purple silks--“Græcorum purpuris, et pannis holosericis”--Gerald Barry -gives us to understand that in his days not only were our churches -sumptuously hung with costly palls and purple silks, but that these -textiles were the work of Grecian looms--“rex (Willielmus Rufus) -ecclesiam quandam (in nova foresta) intraret quam adeo pulchram et -decentius ornatam auletis historicis, et pretiosis Græcorum palliis, -pannis holosericis et purpureis undique vestitam,” &c.[288] - -Silks woven of two colours, so that one of them showed itself unmixed -and quite distinct on one side, and the second appeared equally clean -on the other--a thing sometimes now looked upon as a wonder in modern -weaving--might occasionally be met with here at the mediæval period: -Exeter Cathedral had, A.D. 1327:--“Unus pannus sericus curtus rubei -coloris interius et crocei coloris exterius.”[289] - - [287] St. Paul’s, ed. Dugdale, p. 328, &c. - - [288] Giraldus Cambrensis, De Instructione Principum, pp. 168-173. - - [289] Oliver, p. 316. - -_Shot_, or, as they were then called, _changeable_ silks, were -fashionable in England during the sixteenth century, for when the -King’s (Edward VI.) Lord of Misrule rode forth with great pageantry, -among other personages there came “afor xx. of ys consell on horsbake -in gownes of chanabulle lynyd with blue taffata and capes of the sam, -like sage (men); then cam my lord with a gowne of gold furyd,” &c.[290] -At York Cathedral, A.D. 1543, there was “a vestment of changeable -silke,”[291] “besides one of changeable taffety for Good Friday.”[292] - - [290] Diary of Henry Machyn, ed. Nichols for the Camden Society, p. 13. - - [291] Fabric Rolls, p. 301. - - [292] Ibid. p. 311. - -_Marble_ silk had a weft of several colours so put together and woven -as to make the whole web look like marble, stained with a variety of -tints; hence it got its name. In the year 1295 St. Paul’s had “paruram -de serico marmoreo”[293]--an apparel of marble silk; “tunica de quodam -panno marmoreo spisso”[7]--a tunicle of a certain thick marble cloth; -“tunica de diaspro marmoreo spisso”[294]--a tunicle of thick diaper -marble; “casula marmorei coloris”[295]--a chasuble of marble colour. -During full three centuries this marble silk found great favour among -us since H. Machyn, in his very valuable and curious Diary tells his -readers how “the old Qwyne of Schottes rod thrught London,” and how -“then cam the Lord Tresorer with a C. gret horsse and ther cotes of -marbull,”[9] &c., to meet her the 6th of November, A.D. 1551.[296] - - [293] Ibid. p. 320. - - [294] Ibid. p. 322. - - [295] Ibid. p. 323. - - [296] Pp. 11, 12. - - - - -SECTION II.--EMBROIDERY. - - -The art of working with the needle flowers, fruits, human and animal -forms, or any fanciful design, upon webs woven of silk, linen, cotton, -wool, hemp, besides other kinds of stuff, is so old that it reaches far -into the prehistoric ages. - -Those patterns, after so many fashions, which we see figured upon the -garments worn by men and women in Egyptian and Assyrian monuments, but -especially on the burned-clay vases made and painted by the Greeks -during their most archaic as well as later times, or we read about in -the writings of that people, were not wrought in the loom, but done by -the needle. - -The old Egyptian loom--and that of the Jews must have been like -it--was, as we know from paintings, of the simplest shape, and seems -to have never been able to do anything more diversified in the -designs of its patterns than straight lines in different colours, -and at best nothing higher in execution than checker-work: beyond -this, all else was put in by hand with the needle. In Paris, at the -Louvre, are several pieces of early Egyptian webs coloured, drawings -of which have been published by Sir Gardner Wilkinson in his short -work “The Egyptians in the time of the Pharaohs.”[297] There are two -pieces of the same textile scarlet, with one brede woven of narrow -red stripes on a broad yellow stripe, the other border being a broad -yellow stripe edged by a narrow scarlet one, both wrought up and down -with needlework; the second piece of blue is figured all over in -white embroidery with a pattern of netting, the meshes of which shut -in irregular cubic shapes, and in the lines of the reticulation the -mystic “gammadion” or “fylfot” is seen. Of them Sir J. G. Wilkinson -says:--“They are mostly cotton, and, though their date is uncertain, -they suffice to show that the manufacture was Egyptian; and the many -dresses painted on the monuments of the eighteenth dynasty show that -the most varied patterns were used by the Egyptians more than 3000 -years ago, as they were at a later period by the Babylonians, who -became noted for their needlework.”[298] Other specimens of Egyptian -embroidery were on those corslets sent to Grecian temples by Amasis, -about which we have before spoken (p. xiv.) - - [297] P. 42. - - [298] Ibid. p. 41. - -That the Israelites embroidered their garments, especially those worn -in public worship, is clear from several passages in the Book of -Exodus. The words “embroidery” and “embroidered” that come there so -frequently in our English versions are not to be understood always to -mean needlework, but on occasions the tasteful weaving in stripes of -the gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted -linen; the pomegranates at the bottom of Aaron’s tunic between the -golden bells, and wrought of four of these stuffs, were, it is likely, -made out of such coloured shreds, and of that kind which is now called -cut-work. - -Picking up from Greek and Latin writers only, as was his wont, those -scraps of which his Natural History is made, Pliny tells us, even in -Homer, mention is made of embroidered cloths, which originated such -as by the Romans are called “triumphal.” To do this with the needle -was found out by the Phrygians, hence such garments took the name -Phrygionic: “Pictas vestes jam apud Homerum fuisse unde triumphales -natæ. Acu facere id, Phryges invenerunt ideoque Phrygioniæ appellatæ -sunt.”[299] He might have added that the only word the Romans had to -mean an embroiderer was “Phrygio,” which arose from the same cause. -Many passages in Virgil show that from Western Asia the Romans learned -their knowledge of embroidery, and borrowed the employment of it on -their garments of State; besides, “those art-wrought vests of splendid -purple tint:”--“arte laboratæ vestes ostroque superbo,”[300] brought -forth for the feast by the Sidonian Dido, the Phrygian Andromache -bestows upon Ascanius, as a token of her own handicraft, garments shot -with gold and pictured, as well as a Phrygian cloak, along with other -woven stuffs-- - - Fert picturatas auri subtemine vestes, - Et Phrygiam Ascanio chlamydem, &c.[301] - -and Æneas veils his head for prayer with the embroidered hem of his -raiment-- - - Et capita ante aras Phrygio velamur amictu.[302] - - [299] Lib. viii. c. 47. - - [300] Æneid i. 643. - - [301] Ibid. iii. 482. - - [302] Ibid. iii. 545. - -In Latin while an embroiderer was called a Phrygian, “Phrygio,” -needlework was denominated “Phrygium,” or Phrygian stuff; hence, -when, as often happened, the design was wrought in solid gold wire or -golden thread, the embroidery so worked got named “auriphrygium.” From -this term comes our own old English word “orphrey.” Though deformed -after so many guises by the witless writers of many an inventory of -church goods, or by the sorry cleric who in a moment of needful haste -had been called upon to draw up a will; other men, however small -their learning, always spelled the word “orphrey,” in English, and -“auriphrygium,” in Latin. In the Exeter inventory, given by Oliver, -“cum orphrey de panno aureo, &c. cum orphrais, &c.”[303] are found; -and the cope bequeathed by Henry Lord de Scrope, A.D. 1415, had its -“orphreis” “embraudata nobiliter cum imaginibus,” &c.[304] The many -beautiful orphreys on the Lincoln vestments are fully described in -the “Monasticon Anglicanum:”[305] no one could be more earnest in -commanding the use on vestments of the auriphrygium, or embroidered -“orphrey” than St. Charles Borromeo.[306] - -While Phrygia in general, Babylon in particular became celebrated for -the beauty of its embroideries: “colores diversos picturæ intexere -Babylon maxime celebravit et nomen imposuit;”[307] and those who have -seen the sculptures in the British Museum brought from Nineveh, and -described and figured by Layard, must have witnessed how lavishly the -Assyrians must have adorned their dress with that sort of needlework -for which one of their greatest cities was so famous. - -Up to the first century of our era, the reputation which Babylon had -won for her textiles and needlework still lived. Josephus, himself -a Jew, who had often been to worship at Jerusalem, tells us that -the veils of its Temple given by Herod were Babylonian, and of the -outer one that writer says:--“there was a veil of equal largeness -with the door. It was a Babylonian curtain, embroidered with blue -and fine linen, and scarlet and purple, and of a texture that was -wonderful.”[308] - - [303] Pp. 330, 335-336. - - [304] Rymer’s Fœdera, t. ix. p. 272. - - [305] T. viii. pp. 1290, new edition. - - [306] Church of our Fathers, t. i. p. 453. - - [307] Pliny, lib. viii. c. 47. - - [308] Wars of the Jews, b. v. c. 5; Works translated by Weston, t. 4, - p. 121. - -What the Jews did for the Temple we may be sure was done by Christians -for the Church. The faithful, however, went even further, and wore -garments figured all over with passages from Holy Writ wrought in -embroidery. From a stirring sermon preached by St. Asterius, bishop of -Amasia in Pontus, in the fourth century, we learn this. Taking for his -text, “a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen,” -this father of the Church, while upbraiding the world for its follies -in dress, lets us know that some people went about arrayed like painted -walls, with beasts and flowers all over them; while others, pretending -a more serious tone of thought, dressed in clothes figured with a -sketch of all the doings and wonders of our Lord. “Strive,” thunders -forth St. Asterius, “to follow in your lives the teachings of the -Gospel, rather than have the miracles of our Redeemer embroidered upon -your outward dress.”[309] - -To have had so many subjects shown upon one garment, it is clear that -each must have been done very small, and all wrought in outline; -a style which is being brought back, with great effect, into -ecclesiastical use. - -Of the embroidery done by Christian ladies abroad during the Lower -Roman Empire, we have already spoken, p. xxxv. Coming to our own land, -and its mediæval times, we find how at the beginning of that period -our Anglo-Saxon sisters knew so well to handle their needle. The many -proofs of this we have brought forward in another place.[310] - -The discriminating accuracy with which our old writers sought to follow -while noting down the several kinds of textile gifts bestowed upon a -church is as instructive as praiseworthy. Ingulph did not think it -enough to say that abbot Egelric had given many hangings to the Church -of Croyland, the great number of which were silken, but he must tell -us, too, that some were ornamented with birds wrought in gold, and -sewed on--in fact, of cut-work--other some with those birds woven -into the stuff, other some quite plain:--“Dedit etiam multa pallia -suspendenda in parietibus ad altaria sanctorum in festis, quorum -plurima de serico erant, aureis volucribus quædam insita, -quædam intexta, quædam plana.”[311] - -So also the care often taken by the writers of inventories, like him -who wrote out the Exeter one, to mention how some of the vestments had -nothing about them but true needlework, or, as they at times express -it, “operata per totum opere acuali,” may be witnessed in that useful -work, “The Lives of the Bishops of Exeter,” by Oliver.[312] - -By the latter end of the thirteenth century embroidery, as well -as its imitation, got for its several styles and various sorts -of ornamentation mixed up with it a distinguishing and technical -nomenclature; and the earliest document in which we meet with -this set of terms is the inventory drawn up, A.D. 1295, of the -vestments belonging to our London St. Paul’s Cathedral: herein, -the “opus plumarium,”[313] the “opus pectineum,”[314] the “opus -pulvinarium,”[315] cut-work, “consutum de serico,”[316] “de serico -consuto,”[317] may be severally found in Dugdale’s “History of St. -Paul’s.” - - [309] Ceillier, Hist. Gen. des Auteurs Sacrés et Ecclesiastiques, t. - viii. p. 488. - - [310] The Church of our Fathers, t. ii. p. 267, &c. &c. - - [311] Ingulphi Hist. ed. Savile, p. 505, b. - - [312] Pp. 336, 344, &c. - - [313] P. 320. - - [314] P. 316. - - [315] P. 319. - - [316] P. 320. - - [317] P. 319. - -The “opus plumarium” was the then usual general term for what is now -commonly called embroidery; and hence, in some old inventories, we -meet with such notices as this:--“capæ opere plumario factæ id est, -brudatæ.” - -This term was given to embroidery needlework because the stitches were -laid down never across but longwise, and so put together that they -seemed to overlap one another like the feathers in the plumage of a -bird. Not inaptly then was this style called “feather-stitch” work, -in contradistinction to that done in cross and tent stitch, or the -“cushion-style,” as we shall, a little further on, have occasion to -notice next. - -Among the many specimens here done in feather-stitch, in all ages, we -would especially instance No. 84, p. 3. - -The “opus pulvinarium,” or “cushion style,” was that sort of embroidery -like the present so-called Berlin-work. As now, so then it was done in -the same stitchery, with pretty much the same materials, and put if not -always, at least often, to the same purpose of being used for cushions, -upon which to sit or to kneel in church, or uphold the mass-book at -the altar; hence its name of “cushion-style.” In working it, silken -thread is known to have been often used. Among other specimens, and in -silk, the rare and beautiful liturgical cushion of a date corresponding -to the London inventory, is to be seen here, No. 1324, p. 59. Being -so well adapted for working heraldry, from an early period till now, -this stitch has been mostly used for the purpose; and the emblazoned -orphreys, like the narrow hem on the Syon cope, are wrought in it. - -The oldest, the most elaborate, the best known sample in the world, -and what to us is more interesting still from being in reality not -French but English needlework, is the so-called, but misnamed, Bayeux -tapestry, a shred of which is in this collection, No. 675, p. 6. Of all -this more anon, § IV. - -The “opus pectineum” was a kind of woven-work imitative of embroidery, -and used as such, in truth, about which we have a description in the -Dictionary of the Londoner, John Garland, who thus speaks of the -process: “Textrices ducunt pectines cum trama quæ trahitur a spola et -pano,” &c.[318] From this use of a comb-like instrument--“pecten”--in -the manufacture the work itself received the distinctive appellation -of “pectineum,” or comb-wrought. Before John Garland forsook England -for France, to teach a school there, he must have often seen, while -at home, his countrywomen sitting down to such an occupation; and the -“amictus de dono dominæ Kathærinæ de Lovell de opere pectineo,”[319] -may perhaps have been the doing of that same lady’s own hands. - - [318] Ed. H. Geraud, Paris sous Philippe le Bel. p. 607. - - [319] Dugdale’s Hist. of St. Paul’s, p. 319. - -Of such work as this “opus pectineum,” or comb-drawn, wrought by -English women here at home, we have several specimens in this -collection, pp. 24, 33, 38, &c. - -Foreign ones are plentifully represented in the many samples of such -webs from Germany, especially from Cologne, pp. 61, 62, 63, &c. - -Likely is it that Helisend, the bold young lady from the south of -England, and one of the waiting maids to the English Maud, queen of -David, king of Scotland, _circa_ A.D. 1150, got, from her cunning -in such work, the reputation of being so skilful in weaving and -church-embroidery:--“operis texturæ scientia purpuraria nobilis -extiterat, et aurifrixoria artificiosæ compositionis peroptima super -omnes Angliæ mulieres tunc temporis principaliter enituerat.”[320] - -Our mediæval countrywomen were so quick at the needle that they could -make their embroidery look as if it had been done in the loom--really -woven. Not long ago, a shred of crimson cendal, figured in gold and -silver thread with a knight on horseback, armed as of the latter time -of Edward I., was shown us. At the moment we took the mounted warrior -to have been, not hand-worked, but woven, so flat, so even was every -thread. Looking at it however through a glass and turning it about, we -found it to have been unmistakably embroidered by the finger in such a -way that the stitches for laying down upon the surface, and not drawing -through the gold threads and thus saving expense, were carried right -into the canvas lining at the back of this thin silk. After this same -manner was really done, to our thinking, all the design, both before -and behind upon that fine English-wrought chasuble, No. 673, p. 5. - -At the latter end of the thirteenth century our women struck out for -themselves a new way of embroidery. Without leaving aside the old and -usual “opus plumarium,” or feather-stitch, they mixed it with a new -style, both of needlework and mechanism. So beautiful and telling was -the novel method deemed abroad, that it won for itself from admiring -Christendom the complimentary appellation of “opus Anglicum,” or -English work. In what its peculiarity consisted has long been a -question and a puzzle among foreign archæological writers; and a living -one of eminence, the Canon Voisin, vicar general to the bishop of -Tournai, while noticing a cope of English work given to that church, -says:--“Il serait curieux de savoir quelle broderie ou quel tissu on -designait sous le nom de _opus Anglicum_.”[321] - - [320] Reginaldi Dunelmensis Libellus, &c. Ed. Surtees Society, p. 152. - - [321] Notice sur les Anciennes Tapisseries de la Cathedral de Tournai, - p. 16. - -But the reader may ask what is - - -THE OPUS ANGLICUM, OR ENGLISH WORK, - -about which one heard so much of old? - -Happily, we have before us in the present collection, as well as -elsewhere in this country, the means of helping our continental friends -with an answer to their question. - -Looking well into that very fine and invaluable piece of English -needlework, the Syon cope, No. 9182, p. 275, we find that for the human -face, all over it, the first stitches were begun in the centre of the -cheek, and worked in circular, not straight lines, into which, however, -after the further side had been made, they fell, and were so carried -on through the rest of the fleshes; in some instances, too, even all -through the figure, draperies and all. But this was done in a sort of -chain stitch, and a newly practised mechanical appliance was brought -into use. After the whole figure had thus been wrought with this kind -of chain stitch in circles and straight lines, then with a little thin -iron rod ending in a small bulb or smooth knob slightly heated, were -pressed down those middle spots in the faces that had been worked in -circular lines; as well, too, as that deep wide dimple in the throat, -especially of an aged person. By the hollows thus lastingly sunk, a -play of light and shadow is brought out, that, at a short distance, -lends to the portion so treated a look of being done in low relief. -Chain stitch, then, worked in circular lines, and relief given to parts -by hollows sunk into the faces, and other portions of the persons, -constitute the elements of the “opus Anglicum,” or embroidery after the -English manner. How the chain-stitch was worked into circles for the -faces, and straight lines for the rest of the figures, is well shown by -a wood-cut, after a portion of the Steeple Aston embroideries, given in -the Archæological Journal, t. iv. p. 285. - -Though, indeed, not merely the faces and the extremities, but the dress -too of the persons figured, were sometimes wrought in chain-stitch, and -afterwards treated as we have just described, the more general practice -was to work the draperies in our so-called feather-stitch, which used -to be also employed for the grounding, but diapered after a pretty, -though simple, zig-zag design, as we find in the Syon cope. - -Apart from its stitching in circles, and those hollows, there are -elements in the design for sacred art-work almost peculiar to mediæval -England. Upon the rood loft in old Westminster Abbey, stood hard by the -cross two six-winged seraphim, each with his feet upon a wheel; so, -too, in the Syon cope, as well as in English needlework on chasubles -and copes, wrought even late in the fifteenth century. When, therefore, -such angel-figures are found on embroideries, still to be seen in -foreign hands, a presumption exists that the work is of English -production. - -How highly English embroideries were at one period appreciated by -foreigners may be gathered from the especial notice taken of them -abroad; and spoken of in continental documents. Matilda, the first -Norman William’s queen, stooped to the meanness of filching from -the affrighted Anglo-Saxon monks of Abingdon their richest church -vestments, and would not be put off with inferior ones.[322] Other -instances we have given.[323] In his will, dated A.D. 1360, Cardinal -Talairand, bishop of Albano, speaks of the English embroideries on -a costly set of white vestments.[324] Ghini, by birth a Florentine, -but, in the year 1343, bishop of Tournai, bequeathed to that cathedral -an old English cope, as well as a beautiful corporal of English -work--“cappam veterem cum imaginibus et frixio operis Anglicani. Item -unum corporale de opere Anglicano pulchrum,” &c.[325] Among the copes -reserved for prelates’ use in the chapel of Charles, Duke of Bourgogne, -brother-in-law to our John Duke of Bedford, there was one of English -work, very elaborately fraught with many figures, as appears from this -description of it: “une chappe de brodeure d’or, façon d’Engleterre, -à plusieurs histoires de N.D. et anges et autres ymages, estans en -laceures escriptes, garnie d’un orfroir d’icelle façon fait à apostres, -desquelles les manteulx sont tous couvers de perles, et leur diadesmes -pourphiler de perles, estans en manière de tabernacles, faits de deux -arbres, dont les tiges sont toutes couvertes de perles et à la dite -chappe y a une bille des dites armes, garnie de perles comme la dessus -dicte.”[326] - -Besides textiles, leather was at one time the material upon which our -embroiderers exercised the needle; and the Exeter inventory, drawn -up A.D. 1277, mentions, for its bier, a large pillow covered with -leather figured with flowers: “magnum cervical co-opertum coreo cum -floribus.”[327] - - [322] Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon, p. 491. - - [323] Church of our Fathers, t. iv. p. 271, &c. - - [324] Texier, Dictionnaire, d’Orfeverie, p. 195. - - [325] Voisin, Notice sur les Anciennes Tapisseries, p. 17. - - [326] Les Ducs de Bourgogne, t. ii. p. 244, ed. Le Comte de Laborde. - - [327] Ed. Oliver, p. 298. - -While so coveted abroad, our English embroidery was highly prized and -well paid for here at home. Henry III. had a chasuble embroidered -by Mabilia of Bury St. Edmund’s;[328] and Edward II. paid a hundred -marks--a good round sum in those days--to Rose, the wife of John de -Bureford, a citizen and mercer of London, for a choir-cope of her -embroidering, and which was to be sent to Rome for the Pope as an -offering from the queen.[329] - -Though English embroidery fell on a sudden from its high estate, it -never died. All along through those years, wasted with the wars of -the Roses, the work of the English needle was very poor, very coarse, -and, so to say, ragged; as, for instance, the chasuble here, No. 4045, -p. 88. Nothing whatsoever of the celebrated chain-stitch with dimpled -faces in the figures can be found about it. Every part was done in the -feather-stitch, slovenly put down, with some few exceptions, among -which may be enumerated the three rich English copes with pointed -hoods running, like one here, p. 207, through the orphreys, still to -be seen in the Chapter Library at Durham, and other vestments of the -period in private hands. During the early part of the seventeenth -century our embroiderers again struck out for themselves a new style, -which consisted in throwing up their figures a good height above -the grounding. Of this raised work there is a fine specimen in the -fourth of those Durham copes. It is said to have been wrought for and -given by Charles I. to that cathedral. This red silk vestment is well -sprinkled with bodiless cherubic heads crowned with rays and borne up -by wings; while upon the hood is shown David, who is holding in one -hand Goliath’s severed head; and the whole is done in highly raised -embroidery. Belonging to a few of our aristocracy are bibles of the -large folio size, covered in rich white silk or satin, and embroidered -with the royal arms done in bold raised-work. Each of such volumes is -said to have been a gift from that prince to a forefather of the man -who now owns it; and a very fine one we lately saw at Ham House. - -This style of raised embroidery remained in use for many years; and -even yet to be found are certain quaint old looking-glasses, the broad -frames of which are overlaid with this kind of raised embroidery, -sometimes setting forth, as in the specimen No. 892, p. 319, of the -Brooke collection here, the story of Ahasuerus and Esther, or a passage -in some courtship carried on after the manners of Arcadia.[330] - - [328] Issue Rolls, p. 23. - - [329] Issue Rolls, p. 133. - - [330] Archæological Journal, t. xviii. 191. - -Occasionally on work of an earlier period, some element or another of -this raised style may be found; for instance, in that fine Rhenish -embroidery, Nos. 1194-5, p. 21, the bushiness of hair on all the -angels’ heads, is striking, but this is done with little locks of -auburn coloured silk. - -But a very few people, at the present moment, have the faintest idea -about the labour, the money, the length of time often bestowed of old -upon embroideries which had been sketched as well as wrought by the -hands of men, each in his own craft the ablest and most cunning of that -day. In behalf of this our own land, we may gather evidences strewed -all over the present Introduction: as a proof of the self-same doings -elsewhere, may be set forth a remarkable passage given, in his life -of Antonio Pollaiuolo, by Vasari, where he says: “For San Giovanni in -Florence there were made certain very rich vestments after the design -of this master, namely, two dalmatics, a chasuble, and a cope, all -of gold-wove velvet with pile upon pile--di broccato riccio sopra -riccio--each woven of one entire piece and without seam, the bordering -and ornaments being stories from the life of St. John, embroidered with -the most subtile mastery of that art by Paolo da Verona, a man most -eminent of his calling, and of incomparable ingenuity: the figures are -no less ably executed with the needle than they would have been if -Antonio had painted them with the pencil; and for this we are largely -indebted to the one master for his design, as well as to the other -for his patience in embroidering it. This work took twenty-six years -for its completion, being wholly in close stitch--questi ricami fatti -con punto serrato--which, to say nothing of its durability, makes the -work appear as if it were a real picture limned with the pencil; but -the excellent method of which is now all but lost, the custom being -in these days to make the stitches much wider--il punteggiare piu -largo--whereby the work is rendered less durable and much less pleasing -to the eye.”[331] These vestments may yet be seen framed and glazed in -presses around the sacristy of San Giovanni.[332] Antonio died A.D. -1498. The magnificent cope once belonging to Westminster Abbey, and -now at Stonyhurst and exhibited here, A.D. 1862, is of one seamless -piece of gorgeous gold tissue figured with bold wide-spreading foliage -in crimson velvet, pile upon pile, and dotted with small gold spots; -it came, it is likely, from the same loom that threw off these San -Giovanni vestments, at Florence.” - - [331] Vite de’ piu Eccellenti Pittori, &c., di G. Vasari, Firenze, F. - Le Monnier, 1849. t. v. pp. 101, 102; English translation, by Mrs. - Foster, t. ii. p. 229. - - [332] Ib. - - -OUR OLD ENGLISH OPUS CONSUTUM, OR CUT WORK, - -in French, “appliqué,” is a term of rather wide meaning, as it takes in -several sorts of decorative accompaniments to needlework. - -When anything--flower, fruit, or figure--is wrought by itself upon -a separate piece of silk or canvas, and afterwards sewed on to the -vestment for church use, or article for domestic purpose, it comes to -be known as “cut-work.” Though often mixed with embroidery, and oftener -still employed by itself upon liturgical garments; oftenest of all, it -is to be found in bed-curtains, hangings for rooms and halls, hence -called “hallings,” and other items in household furniture. - -Of cut-work in embroidery, those pieces of splendid Rhenish needlework -with the blazonment of Cleves, all sewed upon a ground of crimson silk, -as we see, Nos. 1194-5, p. 21. The chasuble of crimson double-pile -velvet, No. 78, p. 1, affords another good example. The niches in which -the saints stand are loom-wrought, but those personages themselves are -exquisitely done on separate pieces of fine canvass, and afterwards let -into the unwoven spaces left open for them. - -A Florentine piece of cut-work, No. 5788, p. 111, is alike remarkable -for its great beauty, and the skill shown in bringing together so -nicely, weaving and embroidery. Much of the architectural accessories -is loom-wrought, while the extremities of the evangelists are all -done by the needle; but the head, neck, and long beard are worked by -themselves upon very fine linen, and afterwards put together after -such a way that the full white beard overlaps the tunic. Another and -a larger example, from Florence, of the same sort, is furnished us at -No. 78, p. 1. Quite noteworthy too is the old and valuable vestment, -No. 673, p. 5, in this regard, for parts of the web in the back orphrey -were left open, in the looms for the heads, and extremities of the -figures there, to be done afterwards in needlework. Such a method of -weaving was practised in parts of Germany, and the web from the looms -of Cologne, No. 1329, p. 61, exhibits an example. - -Other methods were bade to come and yield a quicker help in this -cut-work. To be more expeditious, all the figures were at once shaped -out of woven silk, satin, velvet, linen, or woollen cloth as wanted, -and sewed upon the grounding of the article. Upon the personages thus -fashioned in silk, satin, or linen, the features of the face and the -contours of the body were wrought by the needle in very narrow lines -done in brown silk thread. At times, even thus much of embroidery -was set aside for the painting brush, and instances are to be found -in which the spaces left uncovered by the loom for the heads and -extremities of the human figures, are filled in by lines from the brush. - -Often, too, the cut-work done in these ways is framed, as it were, with -an edging, either in plain or gilt leather, hempen, or silken cord, -exactly like the leadings of a stained glass window. - -Belonging to ourselves is an old English chasuble, the broad cross, -at the back of which is figured with “The Resurrection of the Body.” -The dead are arising from their graves, and each is wrought in satin, -upon which the features on the face, and the lineaments of the rest of -the body, are shown by thin lines worked with the needle in dark brown -silk; and the edge, where each figure is sewed on the grounding, is -covered with a narrow black silk cord, after much the same fashion as -the lectern-veil here, No. 7468, p. 141, of silk and gold cut work. -Instances there are wherein, instead of needlework, painting was -resorted to; No. 8315, p. 189, shows us a fine art-work in its way, -upon which we see the folds of the white linen garment worn by our -Lord, marked by brown lines put in with the brush, while the head and -extremities, and the ground strewed with flowers, are wrought with -the needle. No. 8687, p. 258, gives us a figure where the whole of -the person, the fleshes and clothing, are done in woven silk cut out, -shaded and featured in colours by the brush with some little needlework -here and there upon the garments. In that old specimen, No. 8713, -p. 270, such parts of the design as were meant to be white are left -uncovered upon the linen, and the shading is indicated by brown lines. - -Perhaps in no collection open anywhere to public view could be found a -piece of cut-work so full of teaching about the process, and its easy -way of execution, as the one here, No. 1370, p. 76; to it we earnestly -recommend the attention of such of our readers as may wish to learn all -about this method. - -For the invention of cut-work or “di commesso,” as Vasari calls -it, that writer tells us we are indebted to one of his Florentine -countrymen: “It was by Sandro Botticelli that the method of preparing -banners and standards in what is called cut-work, was invented; and -this he did that the colours might not sink through, showing the tint -of the cloth on each side. The baldachino of Orsanmichele is by this -master, and is so treated,” &c., and this work serves to show how much -more effectually that mode of proceeding preserves the cloth than do -those mordants, which, corroding the surface, allow but a short life to -the work; but as the mordants cost less, they are more frequently used -in our day than the first-mentioned method.[333] - -However accurate such a statement may be regarding Italy in general, -and Tuscany in particular, it is, nevertheless, utterly untrue as -applicable to the rest of the world. In this collection may be seen a -valuable piece of this same cut-work--or as Vasari would call it “di -commesso”--by French hands, fraught with a story out of our English -Romance, and done towards the end of the fourteenth century, No. 1370, -p. 76. Now, as Botticelli was born A.D. 1457, and died A.D. 1515, he -came into being almost a whole century too late to have originated such -a process of ornamental needlework, which was well known and practised -in these parts so many years before the birth of that Florentine -painter. - - [333] Vite de’ piu Eccellenti Pittori, &c., di G. Vasari, t. v. p. 121; - English translation, t. ii. p. 239. - -There are some accessories, in mediæval embroidery, which ought not to -be overlooked here. - -In some few instances, - - -GOLD, AND SILVER GILT, - -in very many more, wrought after the smith’s cunning into little -star-like flowers--broader, bigger, and more craftily fashioned than -our modern spangles--are to be found sewed upon the silks or amid the -embroidery in the specimens before us, particularly those from Venice -and its main-land provinces in Italy, and from Southern Germany. At No. -8274, pp. 168-9, we have a part of an orphrey embroidered on parchment, -and having along with its coral, gold beads, and seed pearls, small -bosses and ornaments in gilded silver stars; it is Venetian, and of -the second half of the twelfth century. No. 8307, pp. 185-6 is a linen -amice, the silken apparel of which has sewed to it large spangle-like -plates in gilded silver struck with a variety of patterns, showing -how the goldsmith’s hand had been sought by the Germans of the -fifteenth century to give beauty to this silken stuff. The fine piece -of ruby-tinted Genoa velvet, which was once the apparel for the lower -hem of an alb, is sprinkled somewhat thickly with six-rayed stars of -gold and silver; but those made of the latter metal have turned almost -black: here we have a sample of Lombard taste in this matter, of the -ending of the fifteenth century. Silver-gilt spangles wrought to figure -six-petalled flowers on a fine example of gold tissue, under No. 8588, -pp. 222-3, present us with a German craftsman’s work, in the fourteenth -century. No. 8612, p. 233, is not without its value in reference to -Italian taste. All over, this curious now fragmental piece of silk -damask, has at one time been thickly strewed with trefoils cut out of -gilt metal, but very thin, and not sewed but glued on to the silk: many -of these leaves have fallen off, and those remaining turned black. - -From among these examples a few will show the reader how the goldsmith -had been tasked to work upon them as jeweller also, and gem the -liturgical garments to which these shreds belong, with real or imitated -precious stones. In the orphrey upon the back of that very rich fine -crimson velvet chasuble, No. 1375, pp. 81-2, the crossed nimb about -our Lord’s head is gemmed with stones set in silver gilt; and the -sockets still left on the piece of crimson velvet, No. 8334, p. 199, -unmistakably speak for themselves. - -Besides precious stones, coral, and seed-pearls, - - -GLASS, - -coloured and wrought into small beads and bugles, is another of those -hard materials, the presence of which we find in this collection. As -now, so far back during the mediæval period, the Venetians, at the -island of Murano, wrought small glass beads and bugles of all colours, -as well as pastes--smalti--in every tint for mosaics, and imitations of -jewels. This art, which they had learned from the Greeks, they followed -with signal success; and likely is it that from Venice came the several -specimens of glass--blue, like lapis lazuli--which we still see on -that beautiful frontal in Westminster Abbey,[334]--the work of our -countryman Peter de Ispagna,[335] the member of an old Essex family. -At No. 8276, pp. 168-9, is a piece of an orphrey for a chasuble, -plentifully embroidered with glass beads and bugles, which shows how -much such a style of ornament was used towards the latter end of the -twelfth century, at least in Lower Germany, and some of the Italian -provinces. Belonging to St. Paul’s, London, A.D. 1295, among many other -amices, there was one having glass stones upon it; “amictus ... ornatus -lapidibus vitreis magnis et parvis per totum in capsis argenteis -deauratis, &c.”[336] - - [334] Church of our Fathers, 1, p. 235. - - [335] Monumenta Vetusta, vi. p. 26. - - [336] Dugdale’s St. Paul’s, p. 318. - -ENAMEL. - -Another form of glass fastened by heat to gold and copper--enamel, -the invention neither of Egypt, Greece, nor Italy, but of our own old -Britons,[337] was extensively employed as an adornment upon textiles. -Besides the examples we have given,[338] that gorgeous “chesable of red -cloth of gold with orphreys before and behind set with pearls, blue, -white and red, with plates of gold enamelled, wanting fifteen plates, -&c.”[339] bestowed by John of Gaunt’s duchess of Lancaster, upon -Lincoln Cathedral, is another instance to show how such a kind of rich -ornamentation was sewed to garments, especially for church use, in such -large quantities. - - [337] Philostratus, Icon. L. 1. cap. 528. - - [338] Church of our Fathers, t. i. p. 469. - - [339] Dugdale’s Mon. Anglic. t. VIII. p. 1281. - -Here, in England, the old custom was to sew a great deal of goldsmith’s -work, for enrichment, upon articles meant for personal wear, as well -as on ritual garments. When our first Edward’s grave, in Westminster -Abbey, was opened, A.D. 1774, on the body of the king, besides other -silken robes, was seen, a stole-like band of rich white tissue put -about the neck, and crossed upon his breast: it was studded with -gilt quatrefoils in filigree work and embroidered with pearls. From -the knees downwards the body was wrapped in a pall of cloth of gold. -Concerning attire for liturgical use, the fact may be verified in those -instances we have elsewhere given.[340] When Henry III., in the latter -end of his reign, bestowed a frontal on the high altar in Westminster -Abbey, besides carbuncles in golden settings, as we have just read, p. -xxxvi, we may have observed that along with several larger pieces of -enamel, there were as many as 866 smaller ones--the “esmaux de plique” -of the French--all fastened on this liturgical embroidery. - -A good instance of the appliance of figured solid gold or silver, upon -church vestments, is the following one of a cope beaten all over with -lions in silver, given by a well-wisher to Glastonbury Abbey:--“dederat -unam capam rubeam cum leonibus laminis argenteis capæ infixis, &c.”[341] - -In the Norman-French, for so long a period in use at our Court, silken -stuffs thus ornamented were said to be “batuz,” or as we now say beaten -with hammered-up gold. Among the liturgical furniture provided by -Richard II. for the chapel in the castle of Haverford, were “ii rydell -batuz”--two altar-curtains beaten (no doubt with ornaments in gilt -silver.)[342] - - [340] Church of Our Fathers, i. 360, 362, 469, &c. - - [341] Johannes Glastoniensis, p. 203. - - [342] Kalendars of the Treasury, &c. ed. Palgrave, t. iii. p. 359. - -For the secular employment of this same sort of decoration, we have -several curious examples. Our ladies’ dresses for grand occasions were -so adorned, as we may see in the verses following:-- - - In a robe ryght ryall bowne, - Of a redd syclatowne, - Be hur fadur syde; - - A coronell on hur hedd sett, - Hur clothys wyth bestes and byrdes wer bete, - All abowte for pryde.[343] - -A.D. 1215 our King John sent an order to Reginald de Cornhull and -William Cook to have made for him, besides five tunics, five banners -with his arms upon them, well beaten in gold: “quinque banerias de -armis nostris bene auro bacuatas” (_sic_).[344] The _c_ for _t_ must be -a misprint in the last word. - -An amice at St. Paul’s had on it the figures of two bishops and a king -hammered up out of gilt silver: “amictus ornatus cum duobus magnis -episcopis et uno rege stantibus argenteis deauratis.”[345] - -From the original bill for fitting out one of the ships in which -Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, during the reign of Henry VI., went over to -France, where he had been appointed to a high command, we gather hints -which throw light upon this as well as several matters belonging to -this Introduction. Among other items for the above-named equipage are -these:--“Four hundred pencils (long narrow strips, may be of silk, used -as flags), beat with the Raggedstaff in silver; the other pavys (one -of two shields, likely of wood, and fastened outside the ship at its -bows), painted with black, and a Raggedstaff beat with silver occupying -all the field; one coat (perhaps of silk, but no doubt blazoned with -the Beauchamp’s arms,) for my Lord’s body, beat with fine gold; two -coats (like the foregoing) for heralds, beat with demi gold; a great -streamer for a ship of forty yeards in length and eight yeards in -breadth, with a great Bear and Griffin holding a Raggedstaff poudred -full of Raggedstaffs; three penons (small flags) of satten; sixteen -standards of worsted entailed with the Bear and a chain.”[346] The -quatrefoils on the robe of our First Edward, the silver lions on the -Glastonbury cope, the beasts and birds on the lady’s gown, the Bear, -and Griffin, and Raggedstaff belonging to the Beauchamp’s blazoning, -and all such like enrichments--mostly heraldic--put upon silken stuffs, -were cut out of very thin plates of gold or silver, so as to hang upon -them lightly, and were hammered up to show in low relief the fashion -of the flower and the lineaments of the beast or bird meant to be -represented. - -In fact, such a style of ornamentation done in gold or silver, stitched -on silken stuffs made up into liturgical garments, knights’ coats of -arms, ladies’ dresses, heralds’ tabards, or flags and penoncels, was -far more common once than is now thought. It had struck out for itself -a technical expression. In speaking of it men would either write -or say, “silk beaten with gold or silver,” as the case might be--a -meaning, by the way, for the word “beat,” quite overlooked by our -lexicographers; yet, making her will as late as the year 1538, Barbara -Mason bequeathed to a church “a vestment of grene sylke betyn with -goold.”[347] - - [343] Ancient English Metrical Romances, t. iii. pp. 8, 9. - - [344] Close Rolls, ed. D. Hardy, p. 193. - - [345] Dugdale, p. 318. - - [346] Dugdale’s Baronage of England, i. 246. - - [347] Bury Wills, p. 134. - -The badge on the arm of the livery coat once commonly worn, and -yet rowed for by the Thames watermen, as well as the armorials -figured, before and behind, upon the fine old picturesque frocks -of our buffetiers--the yeomen of the Royal guard, called in London -“beefeaters,”--help to keep up the tradition of such a style of -ornament in dress. - -_Spangles_, when they happened to be used, were not like such as are -now employed, but fashioned after another and artistic shape, and put -on in a different manner. Before me lies a shred from the chasuble -belonging to the set of vestments wrought, it is said, by Isabella of -Spain and her maids of honour, and worn the first time high mass was -sung in Granada, after it had been taken by the Spaniards from the -Moors. Upon this shred are flowers, well thrown up in relief, done in -spangles on a crimson velvet ground. These spangles--some in gold, some -in silver--are, though small, in several sizes; all are voided--that -is, hollow in the middle--with the circumference not flat, but convex, -and are sewed on like tiles one overlapping the other, and thus produce -a rich and pleasing effect. Our present spangles, in the flat shape, -are quite modern. - -Sadly overlooked, or but scantily employed on modern embroideries, is -the process of - - -DIAPERING, - -after so many graceful and ever-varying forms to be found almost always -upon mediæval works of the needle. - -The garments worn by high personages in the embroidery, and meant to -imitate a golden textile, were done in gold _passing_ sometimes by -itself, sometimes with coloured silk thread laid down alternately aside -it, so as to lend a tinge of green, crimson, pink, or blue, to the -imagined tissue of the robe, as if it were made of a golden stuff shot -with the adopted tint. - -For putting on this gold passing, it was of course required to sew it -down. Now, from this very needful and mechanical requirement, those -mediæval needlewomen sought and got an admirable as well as ingenious -element of ornamentation, and so truthful too. Of this our ladies at -this day, seem, from their work, to have a very narrow, short idea. -Taking thin (usually red) silk, and while fastening the golden or -silver passing, they dotted it all over in small stitches set exactly -after a way that showed the one same pattern. So teeming were their -brains in this matter that hardly the same design in diapering is twice -to be found upon the same embroidered picture. With no other appliance -they were thus enabled to lend to their draperies the appearance of -having been, not wrought by the needle, but actually cut out of a piece -of textile, and for which they have been sometimes mistaken. - -Of the many samples here of this kind of diapering we select one or -two--Nos. 1194-5, p. 21, which is so very fine, and of itself quite -enough for showing what we wish to point out, and to warrant our -praises of the method; No. 8837, p. 200, is another worth attention. - - -THREAD EMBROIDERY, - -after several of its modes, is represented here; and though the -specimens are not many, some of them are splendid. - -By our English women, hundreds of years gone by, among other -applications of the needle, one was to darn upon linen netting or -work thereon with other kinds of stitchery, religious subjects for -Church-use; or flowers and animals for household furniture. - -In this country such a sort of embroidering was called -net-work--filatorium--as we learn from the Exeter Inventory, where -we read that its cathedral possessed, A.D. 1327, three pieces of -it, for use at the altar--one in particular for throwing over the -desk: “tria filatoria linea, unde unum pro desco.”[348] From their -liturgical use, as we have noticed, p. 212, they were more generally -named lectern-veils, and as such are spoken of, in the same Devonshire -document: “i lectionale de panno lineo operato de opere acuali, -&c.”[349] Of those narrow, light, and moveable lecterns over which -these linen embroideries were cast, Exeter had three--two of wood, -another which folded up (see p. 212 here,) of iron: “i descus volubilis -de ferro, pro Evangelio supra legendo; ii alia lectrina lignea.”[350] - -Almost every one of these thread embroideries were wrought during -the fourteenth century, and several of them for the service of the -sanctuary, either as reredos, frontal, or lectern-veil; and while those -described at pp. 19, 20, 31, 53, 60, 71, 99, 120, 242-3, 249, 261-7, -deserve consideration, a more complete and an especial notice is due -to those two very fine ones under Nos. 8358, p. 210, and 8618, p. 235. -As early as A.D. 1295, St. Paul’s had a cushion covered with knotted -thread: “pulvinar opertum de albo filo nodato.”[351] - - [348] Ed. Oliver, p. 312. - - [349] Ib. p. 356. - - [350] Ib. p. 329. - - [351] Dugdale, p. 316. - - -QUILTING, - -too, must not be forgotten here; and a short look at Nos. 727, p. 14, -and 786, p. 16, will be sufficient to make us understand how, in hands -guided by taste, a work of real, though humble art, may be brought out -and shewn upon any article, from a lady’s skirt to a gentleman’s daily -skull-cap, by such a use of the needle. - -_Crochet_, knitting done with linen thread, and in the convents -throughout Flanders, as well as the thick kinds of lace wrought there -upon the cushion with bobbins, came, under the name of nun’s lace, to -be everywhere much employed, from the sixteenth century and upwards, -for bordering altar-cloths, albs, and every sort of towel required in -the celebration of the liturgy. No. 1358, p. 72, is a good example. - - - - -SECTION III.--TAPESTRY. - - -Though regarding actual time so very old, still in comparison with -weaving and embroidery, the art of tapestry is, it would seem, the -youngest of the three. - -It is neither real weaving, nor true embroidery, but unites in its -working those two processes into one. Though wrought in a loom and upon -a warp stretched out along its frame, it has no woof thrown across -those threads with a shuttle or any like appliance, but its weft is -done with many short threads, all variously coloured, and put in by -a kind of needle. It is not embroidery, though so very like it, for -tapestry is not worked upon what is really a web--having both warp and -woof--but upon a series of closely set fine strings. - -From the way in which tapestry is spoken of in Holy Writ, we are -sure the art must be very old; but if it did not take its first rise -in Egypt, we are led by the same authority to conclude that it soon -became much and successfully cultivated by the people of that land. -The woman in Proverbs vii. 16, says:--“I have woven my bed with cords. -I have covered it with painted tapestry, brought from Egypt.” While, -therefore, in those words we hear how it used to be employed as an -article of household furniture among the Israelites, by them are we -also told that the Egyptians were the makers. - -Like weaving and fine needlework, the art of tapestry came from Egypt -and Asia, westward; and in the days of Virgil our old British sires -were employed in the theatres at Rome as scene-shifters, where they had -to take away those tapestries on which they themselves, as examples of -imperial triumph, had been figured:-- - - Juvat ... - Vel scena ut versis discedat frontibus, utque - Purpurea intexti tollant aulæa Britanni.[352] - -From Egypt through Western Asia the art of tapestry-making found its -way to Europe, and at last to us; and among the other manual labours -followed by their rule in religious houses, this handicraft was one, -and the monks became some of its best workmen. The altars and the walls -of their churches were hung with such an ornamentation. Matthew Paris -tells us, that among other ornaments which, in the reign of Henry I, -Abbot Geoffrey had made for his church of St. Alban’s monastery, were -three reredoses, the first a large one wrought with the finding of -England’s protomartyr’s body; the other two smaller-ones figured with -the gospel story of the man who fell among thieves, the other with that -of the prodigal son: “dedit quoque dossale magnum in quo intexitur -inventio Sancti Albani, cujus campus est aerius, et aliud minus ubi -effigiatur Evangelium de sauciato qui incidit in latrones, et tertium -ubi historia de filio prodigo figuratur.”[353] While in London, A.D. -1316, Simon Abbot, of Ramsey, bought for his monks’ use looms, staves, -shuttles and a slay: “pro weblomes emptis xx^s. Et pro staves ad easdem -vj^d. Item pro iiij shittles pro eodem opere ij^s vj^d. Item in j. slay -pro textoribus viij^d.”[354] - -What was done in one monastery was but the reflex of every other; -hence, Giffard, one of the commissioners for the suppression of the -smaller houses, in the reign of Henry VIII., thus writes to Cromwell, -while speaking of the monastery of Wolstrope, in Lincolnshire:--“Not -one religious person there but that he can and doth use either -imbrothering, writing books with very fair hand, making their own -garments, carving, painting, or graving, &c.”[355] - - [352] Georg. L. iii. 24, &c. - - [353] Vitæ S. Albani Abbatum, p. 40. - - [354] Mon. Anglic. ii. p. 585. - - [355] Collier, Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain, ed. Lathbury, - t. v. p. 3. - -Pieces of English-made tapestry still remain. That fine, though -mutilated specimen at St. Mary’s Hall, Coventry, is one; a second is -the curious reredos for an altar, belonging to the London Vintners’ -Company; it is figured with St. Martin on horseback cutting with his -sword his cloak in two, that he might give one-half to a beggar man; -and with St. Dunstan singing mass, and wrought by the monks of St. -Alban’s. - -Though practised far and wide, the art of weaving tapestry became -most successfully followed in many parts of France and throughout -ancient Flanders where secular trade-gilds were formed for its especial -manufacture, in many of its towns. Several of these cities won for -themselves an especial fame; but so far, at last, did Arras outrun -them all that arras-work came, in the end, to be the common word, both -here and on the Continent, to mean all sorts of tapestry, whether -wrought in England or abroad. Thus is it, we think, that those fine -hangings for the choir of Canterbury Cathedral, now at Aix-en-Provence, -though made at home, perhaps too by his own monks, and given to that -church by Prior Goldston, A.D. 1595, are spoken of as, not indeed from -Arras, but arras-work--“pannos pulcherrimos opere de arysse subtiliter -intextos.”[356] - -Arras is but one among several other terms by which, during the middle -ages, tapestry was called. - -From the Saracens, it is likely Western Europe learned the art: at -all events its earliest name in Christendom was Saracenic work--“opus -Saracenicum”--and as our teachers, we too wrought in a low or -horizontal loom. The artizans of France and Flanders were the first -to bring forwards the upright or vertical frame, afterwards known -abroad as “de haute lisse,” in contradistinction to the low or -horizontal frame called “de basse lisse.” Those who went on with the -latter unimproved loom, though thorough good Christians, came to be -known, in the trade, as Saracens, for keeping to the method of their -paynim teachers; and their produce, Saracenic. In year 1339 John de -Croisettes, a Saracen-tapestry worker, living at Arras, sells to the -Duke of Touraine a piece of gold Saracenic tapestry figured with the -story of Charlemaine: “Jean de Croisettes, tapissier Sarrazinois -demeurant à Arras, vend au Duc de Touraine un tapis Sarrazinois à or de -l’histoire de Charlemaine.”[357] Soon however the high frame put out -of use the low one; and among the many pieces of tapestry belonging -to Philippe Duke of Bourgogne and Brabant, very many are especially -entered as of the high frame, and one of them is thus described:--“ung -grant tapiz de haulte lice, sauz or, de l’istoire du duc Guillaume de -Normandie comment il conquist Engleterre.”[358] - - [356] Anglia Sacra, t. i. p. 148. - - [357] Voisin, p. 4. - - [358] Les Ducs de Bourgogne, par le Comte de Laboure, t. ii. p. 270. - -With the upright, as with the flat frame, the workman went the same -road to his labours; but, in either of these ways, had to grope in the -dark a great deal on his path. In both, he was obliged to put in the -threads on the back or wrong side of the piece following his sketch as -best he could behind the fixings or warp. As the face was downward in -the flat frame he had no means of looking at it to correct a fault. In -the upright frame he might go in front, and with his own doings in open -view on one hand, and the original design full before him on the other, -he could mend as he went on, step by step, the smallest mistake, were -it but a single thread. Put side by side, when done, the pieces from -the upright frame were, in beauty and perfection, far beyond those that -had come from the flat one. In what that superiority consisted we do -not know with certitude, for not one single flat sample, truly such, is -recognizable from evidence within our reach. - -To us it seems that the Saracenic work was in texture light and thin, -so that it might be, as it often was, employed for making vestments -themselves, or sewed instead of needlework embroidered on those -liturgical appliances. In the inventory of St. Paul’s, London, A.D. -1295, mention is made of it thus: “Duo amicti veteres quorum unus de -opere Saraceno.”[359] “Stola de opere Saraceno.”[360] “Vestimentum de -opere Saraceno.”[361] “Tunica et Dalmatica de indico sendato afforciato -cum bordura operis Saraceni.”[362] “Quatuor offertoria de rubeo serico -quorum duo habent extremitates de opere Saraceno.”[363] - - [359] Dugdale, p. 319. - - [360] Ib. p. 319. - - [361] Ib. p. 320. - - [362] Ib. p. 322. - - [363] Ib. p. 324. - -Of the tapestries in this collection, perhaps Nos. 1296, p. 296, and -1465, p. 298, may be of the so-called Saracenic kind, because wrought -in the low flat loom, or, “de basse lisse,” while all the rest are -assuredly of the “dehaute lisse,” or done in the upright frame. - -When the illuminators of MSS. began--and it was mostly in -Flanders--to put in golden shadings all over their painting, their -fellow-countrymen, the tapestry-workers, did the same. - -Such a manner, in consequence, cannot be relied on as any criterion -whereby to judge of the exact place where any specimen of tapestry had -been wrought, or to tell its precise age. To work figures on a golden -ground, and to shade garments, buildings, and landscapes with gold, are -two different things. - -Upon several pieces here gold thread has been very plentifully used, -but the metal is of so debased a quality that it has become almost -black. - -For Church decoration and household furniture the use of tapestry, both -here and abroad, was--nay, on the Continent still is--very great. -The many large pieces, mostly of a scriptural character, provided -by Cardinal Wolsey for his palace at Hampton Court, were very fine. -The most beautiful collection in the world--the Arazzi--now in the -Vatican at Rome, may be judged of by looking at a few of the original -cartoons at present in the Museum, drawn and coloured by Raffael’s own -hand. Duke Cosimo tried to set up tapestry work at Florence, but did -not succeed. Later, Rome produced some good things; among others, the -fine copy of Da Vinci’s Last Supper still hung up on Maundy Thursday. -England herself made like attempts--first at Mortlake, then years -afterwards in London, at Soho. Works from these two establishments -may be met with. At Northumberland House there is a room all hung -with large pieces of tapestry wrought at Soho, and for that place, in -the year 1758. The designs were done by Francesco Zuccherelli, and -consist of landscapes composed of hills crowned here and there with the -standing ruins of temples, or strewed with broken columns, among which -are wandering and amusing themselves groups of country folks. Mortlake -and Soho were failures. Not so the Gobelins at Paris, as may be -observed in the beautifully executed specimens in the Museum. As now, -so in ages gone by, pieces of tapestry were laid down for carpeting. - -In many of our old-fashioned houses--in the country in particular--good -samples of Flemish tapestry may be found. Close to London, Holland -House is adorned with some curious specimens, especially in the raised -style. - -Imitated tapestry--if paintings on canvas may be so called--existed -here hundreds of years ago under the name of “stayned cloth,” and the -workers of it were embodied into a London civic gild. Of this “stayned -cloth” we have lately found hangings upon the walls of a dining-room in -one mansion; in another ornamenting, with great effect, the top of a -stair-case. - -At the beginning of the sixteenth century Exeter Cathedral had several -pieces of old painted or “stayned” cloth: “i pannus veteratus depictus -cum ymaginibus Sancti Andree in medio et Petri et Pauli ex lateribus; -i front stayned cum crucifixo, Maria et Johanne, Petro et Paulo; viij -parvi panni linei stayned, &c.”[364] - -The very great use at that time of such articles in household furniture -may be witnessed in the will, A.D. 1503, of Katherine Lady Hastings, -who bequeaths, besides several other such pieces, “an old hangin of -counterfeit arres of Knollys, which now hangeth in the hall, and all -such hangyings of old bawdekyn, or lynen paynted as now hang in the -chappell.”[365] - - [364] Ed. Oliver, p. 359. - - [365] Testamenta Vetusta, ii. 453. - - -CARPETS - -are somewhat akin to tapestry, and though the use of them may perhaps -be not so ancient, yet is very old. Here, again, to the people of -Asia, must we look for the finest as well as earliest examples of this -textile. Few are the mediæval specimens of it anywhere, and we are glad -to recommend attention to two pieces of that period fortunately in the -collection, No. 8649, p. 248, of the fourteenth century, and No. 8357, -p. 209, of the sixteenth, both of Spanish make. - -As even the antechambers of our royal palaces, so the chancels in most -of our country parish churches used to be strewed with rushes. When, -however, they could afford it, the authorities of our cathedrals, even -in Anglo-Saxon times, sought to spread the sanctuary with carpets; and -at last old tapestry came to be so employed, as now in Italy. Among -such coverings for the floor before the altar, Exeter had a large -piece of Arras cloth figured with the life of the Duke of Burgundy, -the gift of one of its bishops, Edmund Lacy, A.D. 1420, besides two -large carpets, one bestowed by Bishop Nevill, A.D. 1456, the other, -of a chequered pattern, by Lady Elizabeth Courtney: “Carpet et panni -coram altari sternendi--i pannus de Arys de historia Ducis Burgundie--i -larga carpeta, &c.”[366] In an earlier inventory, we find that among -the “bancaria,” or bench-coverings, in the choir of the same cathedral, -A.D. 1327, one was a large piece of English-made tapestry, with a -fretted pattern--“unum tapetum magnum Anglicanum frettatum.”[367] And -we think that as the Record Commission goes on under the Master of the -Rolls, to print our ancient historians, evidences will turn up showing -that the looms at work in all our great monasteries, among other webs, -wrought carpets. From existing printed testimony we know that, in -all likelihood, such must have been the practice at Croyland, where -Abbot Egelric, the second of the name bestowed before the year 992, -when he died, upon his church: “two large foot-cloths -(so carpets were then called) woven with lions to be laid out before -the high altar on great festivals, and two shorter ones trailed all -over with flowers, for the feast days of the Apostles: “Dedit etiam -duo magna pedalia leonibus intexta, ponenda ante magnum altare in -festis principalibus et duo breviora floribus respersa pro festis -Apostolorum.”[368] The quantity of carpeting in our palaces may be seen -by the way in which “my lady the queen’s rooms were strewed with them -‘when she took her chamber.’”[369] - - [366] Ed. Oliver, p. 32. - - [367] Ib. p. 317. - - [368] Ingulphi Hist. ed. Savile, p. 505, b. - - [369] Leland’s Collectanea, t. iv. pp. 179, 186, &c. - - - - -SECTION IV. - - -While telling of a coronation, a royal marriage, the queen’s ‘taking -her chamber,’ her after-churching, a baptism, a progress, or a -funeral, the historian or the painter cannot bring before his own -mind, much less set forth to ours, a fit idea of the circumstances in -the splendour shown on any one of these imperial occasions, unless he -can see old samples of those cloths of gold, figured velvets, curious -embroidery, and silken stuffs, such as are gathered in this collection, -and used to be worn of old for those functions. - -Of the many valuable, though indirect uses to which this curious -collection of textiles may, on occasions, be turned, a few there are to -which we call particular attention, for the ready help it is likely to -afford. In the first place, to - - -THE HISTORIAN, - -in some at least of his researches, as he not only writes of bloodshed -and of wars, that make or unmake kings, but follows his countrymen in -private life through their several ways onward to civilization and the -cultivation of the arts of peace. - -Besides a tiny shred (No. 675, p. 6) of the very needlework itself, -we have here a coloured plaster-cast of one of the figures in the -so-called Bayeux Tapestry, which, among some, it has of late been a -fashion to look upon as a great historic document, because it was, they -say, worked by no less a personage than William’s own queen, Matilda, -helped by her handmaids. - -Its present and modern title is altogether a misnomer. It is -needlework, and no tapestry. Not Normandy, but England, is most likely -to have been the country; not Bayeux, but London, the place wherein it -was wrought. Probabilities forbid us from believing that either Matilda -herself, or her waiting ladies, ever did a stitch on this canvas; nay, -it is likely she never as much as saw it. - -Coarse white linen and common worsted would never have been the -materials which any queen would have chosen for such a work by which -her husband’s great achievement was to be celebrated. - -But three women are seen upon the work, and Matilda is not one of -them. Surely the dullest courtier would never have forgotten such an -opportunity for a compliment to his royal mistress by putting in her -person. - -A piece, nineteen inches broad and two hundred and twenty-six feet -long, crowded with fighting men--some on foot, some on horseback--with -buildings and castles, must have taken much time and busied many hands -for its working. Yet of all this, nought has ever turned up in any -notice of Matilda’s life. She was not, like the Anglo-Saxon Margaret -queen of Scotland, known to fill up her time amidst her maids with -needlework, nor ever stood out a parallel to an older Anglo-Saxon -high-born lady, the noble Ælfleda, of whom we now speak. Her husband -was the famous Northumbrian chieftain, Brithnoth, who had so often -fought and so sorely worsted the invading Danes, by whom he was at last -slain. His loving wife and her women wrought his deeds of daring in -needlework upon a curtain which she gave to the minster church at Ely, -wherein the headless body of her Brithnoth lay buried: “cortinam gestis -viri sui (Brithnothi) intextam atque depictam in memoriam probitatis -ejus, huic ecclesiæ (Eliensi) donavit (Ælfleda).”[370] Surely when -Ælfleda’s handiwork found a chronicler, that of a queen would never -have gone without one. Moreover, had such a piece any-wise or ever -belonged to William’s wife, we must think that, instead of being let -to stray away to Bayeux, towards which place she bore no particular -affection, she would have bequeathed it, like other things, to her -beloved church at Caen. Yet in her will no notice of it comes, and -the only mention of any needlework is of two English specimens, one a -chasuble bought of Aldaret’s wife at Winchester, and a vestment then -being wrought for her in England: “casulam quam apud Wintoniam operatur -uxor Aldereti ... atque aliud vestimentum quod operatur in Anglia,” -both of which she leaves to the Church of the Holy Trinity at Caen. - - [370] Historia Eliensis, Lib. Secund. ed. Stewart, p. 183. - -But there is the tradition that it is Matilda’s doing. True, but it is -barely a hundred years old, and its first appearance was in the year -1730 or so: tradition so young goes then for nothing. Who then got it -worked, and why did it find its way to Bayeux? - -Odo, bishop of Bayeux, and own brother to William came himself, and, -like other rich and powerful Norman Lords, brought vassals who fought -at Hastings. Of all the great chiefs, but one, at most but two, are -pointed out by name on this piece. Odo, however, is figured in no less -than three of its compartments; furthermore, three men quite unknown to -fame, Turold, Vital, and Wadard, receive as many times as the bishop -this same honourable distinction. Rich and influential in Normandy, -Odo, after being made Earl of Kent by his victorious brother, became -richer and more influential in England; hence the three above-mentioned -individuals, the prelate’s feudatories, by their master’s favour, got -possession of wide landed estates in many parts of England, as appears -from Domesday. Coming from Bayeux itself, and owing service to its -bishop, through whom they had become rich lords in England, these three -men may have very naturally wished to make a joint offering to the -cathedral of their native city. Hence they had this piece of needlework -done in London, and on it caused, neither Matilda nor any of the great -chiefs of the Norman expedition, but instead, the bishop of Bayeux and -themselves its citizens to be so conspicuously set forth upon what was -meant to be, for Bayeux itself, a memorial of the part that the bishop -and three men of Bayeux had taken in the Norman conquest of England. - -On second thoughts, we look upon this curious piece as the work of the -early part of the twelfth century, perhaps as an offering to the new -church (the old one having been burned down by our Henry I. A.D. 1106) -of Bayeux, as in measurement it exactly fits for hanging both sides of -the present nave, its original as well as recent purpose. - -In future, then, our writers may be led to use with caution this -so-called Bayeux Tapestry, as a document contemporaneous with the -Norman conquest. - -Though, in the reign of our Henry II. London was the head city of this -kingdom, and the chief home of royalty, some reader may perhaps be -startled on hearing that while its churches were 120, the inhabitants -amounted only to the number of 40,000, as we learn from Peter, its then -archdeacon: “nam quum sint in illa civitate (Londinensi) quadra-ginta -millia hominum, atque centum et viginti ecclesiæ,” &c.[371]--yet, at -that very time, the capital of Sicily--Palermo--by itself was yielding -to its king a yearly revenue quite equal in amount to the whole income -of England’s sovereign, as we are told by Gerald Barry the learned -Welsh writer then living: “Urbs etenim una Siciliæ, Palernica scilicet, -plus certi redditus regi Siculo singulis annis reddere solet, quam -Anglorum regi nunc reddit Anglia tota.”[372] This great wealth was -gathered to Sicily by her trade in silken textiles, first with the -Byzantines and the coasts of Asia Minor and Alexandria, where those -stuffs were at the time wrought; and secondly, with Europe, and the -products of her own looms somewhat later. Many of the pieces in this -collection were woven at Palermo and other cities in that island. -She herself was not the least consumer of her own industry, and of -the profuse employment of silk for royal awnings, during the twelfth -century in the kingdom of the two Sicilies. We have an example in -the silken tent, made for queen Joan, and given her by her husband -king William, large enough to hold two hundred knights sitting down -to dinner; and which, along with her chair of gold, and golden table -twelve feet long and a foot and a-half wide, her brother, our Richard -I. got back for his sister from Tancred: “Ipse (Richardus rex) enim a -rege Tancredo exigebat--cathedram auream ad opus ejusdem Johannæ de -consuetudine reginarum illius regni et ad opus sui ipsius mensam auream -de longitudine duodecim pedum, et de latitudine unius pedis et semis -et quoddam tentorium de serico magnum adeo quod ducenti milites in eo -possint simul manducare.”[373] - -Among the old copes, dalmatics and chasubles which, one after the -other, find their way at last to collections such as this, must the -historian seek for what remains of those gorgeous robes worn at some -interesting ceremony, or on some stirring occasion, by personages -celebrated in our national annals. For example, along with the several -gifts bestowed upon the church of Ely, by king Edgar, we find mentioned -his mantle of costly purple and gold, of which was made a vestment: -“Enimvero chlamydem suam de insigni purpura ad modum loricæ auro -undique contextam illuc (ecclesiæ Eliensi) contulit rex Ædgarus.”[374] -Of a whole set of mass vestments at Windsor made out of the crimson and -gold cloth powdered with birds, once the array worn by a royal princess -when she was married, we have already spoken. - - [371] Petri Blesensis Opera, ed. Giles, t. ii. p. 85. - - [372] Geraldi Cambrensis De Instructione Principum, ed. J. S. Brewer, - p. 168. - - [373] Rog. Hoveden Annal. ed. Savile, p. 384, b. - - [374] Hist. Elien. Lib. Secund. ed. Stewart, p. 160. - -Queen Philippa gave to Symon, bishop of Ely, the gown she wore at her -churching after the birth of her eldest son the Black Prince. The -garment was of murrey-coloured velvet, powdered with golden squirrels, -and so ample that it furnished forth three copes for choir use: -“Contulit sibi (Symoni de Monte Acuto) Domina regina quandam robam -preciosam cum omnibus garniamentis de velvet murreo squirrillis aureis -pulverizato; qua induta erat in die Purificationis suæ post partum -Principis excellentissimi Domini Edwardi filii sui primogeniti. De -quibus garniamentis tres capæ efficiuntur,” &c.[375] To St. Alban’s -Abbey was sent by Elizabeth Lady Beauchamp the splendid mantle made -of cloth of gold lined with crimson velvet which Henry V. had on as -he rode in state on horseback through London, the day before his -coronation. Also another gown of green and gold velvet out of both -of which vestments were made: “Elizabeth Beauchamp mulier nobilis -... contulit monasterio S. Albani quandam togam pretiosissimam auro -textam duplicatam cum panno de velvetto rubeo resperso cum rosis -aureis quæ quondam erat indumentum regis Henrici quinti dum regaliter -equitaret per Londonias pridie ante coronationem suam. Item dedit et -aliam gounam de viridi velvetto auro texto unde fieri posset integrum -vestimentum quæ similiter fuit ejusdem regis.”[376] Naturally wishful -to know something about such costly stuffs, the historian will have -to come hither, where he may find specimens in the gorgeous velvet -and gold chasubles in this collection. Whilst here perchance his eye -may wander toward such pieces as those Nos. 1310, p. 53, and 8624, -p. 239, whereon he sees figured, stags with tall branching horns, -couchant, chained, upturning their antlered heads to sunbeams darting -down upon them amid a shower of rain; and beneath the stags are -eagles; p. 239. This Sicilian textile, woven about the end of the -fourteenth century, brings to his mind that bronze cumbent figure of -a king in Westminster Abbey. It is of Richard II. made for him before -his downfal, and by two coppersmiths of London, Nicholas Broker and -Godfrey Prest. This effigy, once finely gilt, is as remarkable for its -beautiful workmanship, as for the elaborate manner in which the cloak -and kirtle worn by the king are diapered all over with the pattern -(now hid under coats of dirt) on that silken stuff out of which those -garments must have been cut for his personal wear while living; and it -consists of a sprig of the Planta genesta, the humble broom plant--the -haughty Plantagenets’ device--along with a couchant hart chained and -gazing straight forwards, and above it a cloud with rays darting up -from behind. With Edward III. Richard’s grandfather, “sunbeams issuing -from a cloud” was a favourite cognizance. The white hart he got from -the white hind, the cognizance of his mother Joan, the fair maid of -Kent, and rendered remarkable by the unflinching steadfastness of -the faithful Jenico in wearing it as his royal master’s badge after -Richard’s downfal. Sometimes, did that king take as a device a white -falcon, for, at a tournament held by him at Windsor, forty of his -knights came clothed in green with a white falcon on the stuff. During -a foppish reign, Richard was the greatest fop. When he sat to those -two London citizens for his monument, which they so ably wrought, and -which still is at Westminster, our own belief is that he wore a dress -of silk which had been expressly woven for him at Palermo. We think, -too, that the couple of specimens here, Nos. 1310, p. 53, and 8624, p. -239, were originally wrought in Sicily, after designs from England, and -for the court of Richard: they quite answer the period, and show those -favourite devices, the chained hart, sunbeams issuing from a cloud, the -falcon or eagle--a group in itself quite peculiar to that monarch. For -the slight variations in these stuffs from those upon the Westminster -monument, we will account, a little further on, while treating the -subject of symbolism, Section VII. - - [375] Anglia Sacra, ed. Wharton, t. i. p. 650. - - [376] Mon. Anglic. ed. Caley, t. ii. p. 223. - -The seemliness, not to say comfort, of private life, was improved by -the use, after several ways, of textiles. Let the historian contrast -the manners, even in a royal palace during the twelfth century, with -those that are now followed in every tradesman’s home. Then, rich -barons and titled courtiers would sprawl amid the straw and rushes, -strewed in the houses even of the king, upon the floor in every room, -which, as Wendover says: “junco solent domorum areæ operiri;”[377] -and, platting knots with the litter, fling them with a gibe at the man -who had been slighted by the prince.[378] Not quite a hundred years -later, when Eleanor of Castile came to London for her marriage with our -first Edward, she found her lodgings furnished, under the directions -of the Spanish courtiers who had arrived before her, with hangings and -curtains of silk around the walls, and carpets spread upon the ground. -This sorrowed some of our people; more of them giggled at the thought -that some of these costly things were laid down to be walked upon, -as we learn from Matthew Paris: “Cum venisset illa nurus nobilissima -(Alienora) ad hospitium sibi assignatum invenit illud ... holosericis -palliis et tapetiis, ad similitudinem templi appensis; etiam pavimentum -aulæis redimitum, Hispanis, secundum patriæ suæ forte consuetudinem -hoc procurantibus.”[379] Now, our houses have a carpet for every room -as well as on its stair-case, and not a few of our shops are carpeted -throughout. - - [377] T. iii. p. 109. - - [378] Vita S. Thomæ, auct. Eduardo Grim. ed. Giles, p. 47. - - [379] Hist. Ang. in A.D. 1255, p. 612, col. b. - -The Emperor Aurelian’s wife once tried to coax out of her imperial -husband a silk cloak--only one silk cloak. “No,” was the answer; “I -could never think,” said that lord of the earth, “of buying such a -thing; it sells for its weight in gold;” as we showed before, p. -xix. Now, however, little does the woman of the nineteenth century -suspect, when she goes forth pranked out in all her bravery of dress, -that an Egyptian Cleopatra equally with a Roman empress would have -looked with a grudging eye upon her gay silk gown and satin ribbons; -or that, as late as three hundred years ago, even her silken hose -would have been an offering worthy of an English queen’s (Elizabeth’s) -acceptance. Little, too, does that tall young man who, as he stands -behind the lady’s chariot going to a Drawing-room, ever and anon lets -drop a stealthy but complaisant look upon his own legs shining in soft -blushing silk--ah! little does he dream that in that old palace before -him there once dwelt a king (James I.) of Great Britain, who would -have envied him his bright new stockings; and who, before he came to -the throne of England, was fain to wear some borrowed ones, when in -Scotland he had to receive an English ambassador. If we take this loan, -for the nonce, from the Earl of Mar to his royal master, to have been -as shapeless and befrilled as are the yellow pair (Blue Coat School -boys’ as yet) once Queen Elizabeth’s, now among the curiosities at -Hatfield; then were those stockings--the first woven in England, and -presented by Lord Hunsdon--funny things, indeed. - -Though so small a thing, there is in this collection a little cushion, -No. 9047, p. 273, which bears in it much more than what shows itself -at first, and is likely to awaken the curiosity of some who may have -hereafter to write about the doings of our Court in the early part of -the seventeenth century. This cushion is needle-wrought and figured -all over with animals, armorial bearings, flowers, and love-knots, -together with the letters I and R royally crowned with a strawberry -leaf, and the strawberry fruit close by each of those capitals, as well -as plentifully sprinkled all over the work. - -In Scotland, several noble families, whether they spell their name -FRASER or FRAZER, use as a canting charge--“arme che cantano”--of -the Italians; the French “frasier,” or strawberry, leafed, flowered, -fructed proper; the buck too, figured here, comes in or about their -armorial shields. Hence then we are fairly warranted in thinking that -it was a Fraser’s lady hand which wrought this small, but elaborate -cushion, most likely as a gift, and with a strong meaning about it, -to our King James I., whose unicorn is not forgotten here; and, in -all probability, whilst she also wished to indicate that an S was the -first letter in her own baptismal name. Siren too is another term for -mermaid--that emblem so conspicuously figured by the lady’s side. All -this, with the love-knot so plentifully broadcast and interwoven after -many ways, and sprinkled everywhere as such a favourite device, perhaps -may help some future biographer of James to throw a light over a few -hidden passages in the life of that sovereign. - -Human hair, or something very like it, was put into the embroidery on -parts of this small cushion. On the under side, to the left, stands a -lady with her hair lying in rolls about her forehead. After looking -well into them, through a glass, these rolls seem to be real human -hair--may be the lady’s own--it is yellow. Peering narrowly into those -red roses close by, seeded and barbed, the seeded part or middle is -found to be worked with two distinct sorts of human hair--one the very -same as the golden hair on the lady’s brow, the other of a light sandy -shade: could this have been king James’s? His son, Charles I., used, -as it would seem, to send from his prison locks of his own hair to some -few of the gentry favourable to his cause, so that the ladies of that -house, while working his royal portraiture in coloured silks, might -be able to do the head of hair on it, in the very hair itself of that -sovereign. One or two of such wrought likenesses of king Charles were, -not long ago, shown in the exhibition of miniatures which took place in -this Museum. - -For verifying passages in early as well as mediæval times, little does -the historian think of finding in these specimens such a help for the -purpose. - -Quintus Curtius tells us, that, reaching India, the Greeks under -Alexander found there a famous breed of dogs for lion-hunting more -especially. On beholding a wild beast they hush their yelpings, and -hold their prey by the teeth with so much stubbornness that sooner than -let go their bite they would suffer one of their own limbs to be cut -off: “Nobiles ad venandum canes in ea regione sunt: latratu abstinere -dicuntur, quum viderunt feram, leonibus maxime, infesti,” &c.[380] -Such is the animal now known as the cheetah, which, as of old so all -through the middle ages, up to the present time, has been trained -everywhere in Persia and over India for hunting purposes; and called by -our countryman, Sir John Mandeville, a “papyonn,” as we have noticed in -this catalogue, p. 178. This far-famed hunting-dog of Quintus Curtius, -now known as the cheetah or hunting-lion, may be often met with on -silken textiles here from Asiatic looms, especially in Nos. 7083, p. -136; 7086, p. 137; 8233, p. 154; 8288, p. 178. - - [380] Lib. ix. cap. i. sect. 6. - - - - -SECTION V.--LITURGY. - - -For a sight of some liturgical appliances which, though once so common -and everywhere employed have become rare from having one by one dropped -into disuse, ritualists, foreign ones among the rest, will have to come -hither. A few more of such articles, though still in common use, are -remarkable for the antiquity or the costliness of those stuffs out of -which they happen to be made. - -For its age, and the beauty of its needlework, the Syon cope is in -itself a remarkable treasure, while its emblazoned orphreys, like the -vestments on the person of a Percy in Beverley minster, make it, at -least according to present custom, singular. Several chasubles here -so noteworthy for their gorgeousness, have their fellows equal in -splendour, elsewhere; but in this museum are a few articles which till -now we might have sought for in vain throughout Christendom in any -other private or public collection. - -Such liturgical boxes as those two--No. 5958, p. 112, and No. 8327, p. -193--are of the kind known of old as the “capsella cum serico decenter -ornata”--a little box beseemingly fitted up with silk--of the mediæval -writers; or the “capsula corporalium”--the box in which are kept the -corporals or square pieces of fine linen, a fine mediæval specimen of -which is here, No. 8329, p. 195, of the rubrics which, to this day, -require its employment for a particular service, during holy week. Like -its use the name of this appliance is very old, and both are spoken -of in those ancient “Ordines Romani,” in the first of which, drawn up -now more than a thousand years ago, it is directed: “tunc duo acolythi -tenentes capsas cum Sanctis apertas, &c.;”[381] and again, in another -“Ordo,” written out some little time before A.D. 1143, a part of the -rubric for Good Friday requires the Pope to go barefoot during the -procession in which a cardinal carries the Host consecrated the day -before, and preserved in the corporals’ chest or box: “discalceatus -(papa) pergit cum processione.... Quidam cardinalis honorifice portat -corpus Domini præteriti diei conservatum, in capsula corporalium.”[382] -About the mass of the presanctified, before the beginning of which this -procession took as it yet takes place, we have said a few words at pp. -112, 113. What is meant by the word “corporal,” we have explained, p. -194. Here in England, such small wooden boxes covered with silks and -velvets richly embroidered, were once employed for the same liturgical -uses. The Exeter inventories specify them thus: “unum repositorium -ligneum pro corporalibus co-opertum cum saccis de serico;”[383] “tria -corporalia in casa lignea co-operta cum panno serico, operata cum -diversis armis.”[384] - - [381] Ed. Mabillon, Museum Italicum, t. ii. p. 8. - - [382] Ib. p. 137. - - [383] Oliver’s Exeter Cathedral, p. 314. - - [384] Ib. p. 327. - -Good Friday brings to mind a religious practice followed wherever the -Greek ritual is observed, and the appliance for which, No. 8278, p. -170, we have there spoken of at such length as to save us here any -further notice of this interesting kind of frontal, upon which is shown -our dead Lord lying stretched out upon the sindon or winding-sheet. -Of the Cyrillian character in which the Greek sentences upon it are -written, we shall have a more fitting opportunity for speaking a -little further on. At Rome, in the Pope’s chapel, the frontal set -before the altar for the function of Maundy Thursday, is of gold cloth -figured, amid other subjects suitable to the time, with our Lord lying -dead between two angels who are upholding His head, as we learn from -the industrious Cancellieri’s description, in his “Settimana Santa -nella cappella pontificia.”[385] - -In Greece may be still found several churches built with a dome, all -around which is figured, in painting or in mosaics, what is there known -as and called the “Divine Liturgy,” after this manner. On the eastern -side, and before an altar, but facing the west, stands our Lord, robed -as a patriarch, about to offer up the mass. The rest of the round in -the cupola is filled with a crowd of angels,--some arrayed in chasubles -like priests, some as deacons, but each bearing in his hands either one -of the several vestments or some liturgical vessel or appliance needed -at the celebration of the sacred mysteries,--all walking, as it were, -to the spot where stands the divine pontiff. But amid this angel-throng -may be seen six of these winged ministers who are carrying between them -a sindon exactly figured as is the one of which we are now speaking. -How, according to the Greek ritual, this subject ought to be done, is -given in the Painter’s Guide, edited by Didron.[386] Though of yore as -now a somewhat similar ceremonial was always observed according to the -Latin rite, in carrying his vestments to a bishop when he pontificated, -never in such a procession here, in the west, was any frontal or sindon -borne, as in the east. - -With regard to “red” as the mourning colour, in the sindon, our own -old English use joined it with “black” upon vestments especially -intended to be worn in services for the dead. For especial use on Good -Friday Bishop Grandison gave to his cathedral (Exeter) a black silk -chasuble, the red orphrey at the back of which had embroidered on it -our Lord hanging upon a green cross: “j casula de nigro serico, pro Die -Paraschive, cum j orfrey quasi rubii coloris, cum crucifixo pendente -in viridi cruce, ex dono Johannis Grandissono;”[387] and in the same -document, among the black copes and chasubles, we find that they had -their orphreys made of red: “cape nigre cum casulis--j casula de nigro -velvete cum rubeo velvete in le orfrey. ij tuniculi ejusdem panni et -secte. iij cape ejusdem panni et secte.”[388] - - [385] P. 58. - - [386] Manuel d’Iconographie Chretienne, pp. xxxvi. 229. - - [387] Oliver, p. 344. - - [388] Ib. p. 349. - -At Lincoln cathedral there were “a chesable of black cloth of gold of -bawdkin with a red orphrey, &c.; a black cope of cloth of silver with -an orphrey of red velvet broidered with flowers, &c.; a black cope of -camlet broidered with flowers of woodbine with an orphrey of red cloth -of gold,” &c.; two copes of black satin with orphreys of red damask, -broidered with flowers of gold, having, in the back, souls rising to -their doom, &c., besides other vestments of the same kind.[389] Green, -sometimes along with red, sometimes taking the latter’s place in the -orphreys, may be seen on some of our old vestments. - -Those two pyx-cloths at No. 8342, p. 202, and No. 8691, p. 260, will -have an interest for the student of mediæval liturgy as we have already -pointed out, p. 202. While in Italy the custom, during the middle -ages at least, never prevailed, here in England as well as all over -France, and several countries on the Continent, it did, of keeping -the Eucharist under one form, hung up over the high altar beneath a -beautiful canopy within a pyx of gold, silver, ivory, or enamel, and -mantled with a fine linen embroidered cloth or veil. At present this -“velum pyidis” overspreading the ciborium or pyx in the tabernacle, is -of silk. - -In olden days the veil for the pyx was, here in England, beautifully -embroidered with golden thread and coloured silks, and usually carried -three crowns of gold or silver, as is shown in the woodcut, “Church -of our Fathers,”[390] and often mentioned in many of our national -documents which, without some such notice as this, could not be rightly -understood. Among the things once belonging to Richard II. in Haverford -castle and sent by the sheriff of Hereford to the exchequer, at the -beginning of Henry IV.’s reign, are three crowns of gold, a gold cup, -and one of the pyx-veils like these: “iij corones d’or pour le Corps -Ihu Cryst. i coupe d’or pour le Corps Ihu Cryst. i towayll ove (avec) i -longe parure de mesure la suyte.”[391] - - [389] Monasticon Anglicanum, t. viii. p. 1285, ed. Caley. - - [390] T. iv. p. 206. - - [391] The Ancient Kalendars and Inventories of His Majesty’s Exchequer, - t. iii. p. 361. ed. Palgrave. - -By different people, and at various periods, a variety of names was -given to this fine linen covering. Describing in his will, one made in -this country and so valuable for its English needlework, a bishop of -Tournay (see before p. xcix) calls it a corporal: in the inventory of -things taken from Dr. Caius, and in the college of his own founding -at Cambridge, are: “corporas clothes, with the pix and ‘sindon’ and -canopie,” &c.[392] This variety in nomenclature doubtless led writers -unacquainted with ritual matters to state that before Mary Queen of -Scots bent her head upon the block, she had a “corporal,” properly so -called, bound over her eyes. What to our seeming this bandage really -was, must have been a large piece of fine linen embroidered by her own -hands--Mary wrought much with her needle, as specimens of her doing yet -remain at Chatsworth, and at Greystock show--meant for, perhaps too -once used as a pyx-cloth, and not an altar corporal. - - [392] Munk’s Roll of the Royal College of Physicians, t. i. p. 37. - -Whilst these pages were going through the press, one of these old -English pyx, or Corpus Christi cloths, was found at the bottom of a -chest in Hessett church, Suffolk. As it is a remarkable and unique -specimen of the ingenious handicraft done by our mediæval countrywomen, -we notice it. To make this pyx-cloth, a piece of thick linen, about two -feet square, was chosen, and being marked off into small equal widths -on all its four edges, the threads at every other space were, both in -the warp and woof, pulled out. The checquers or squares so produced -all over it were then drawn in by threads tied on the under side, so -as to have the shape of stars, so well and nicely given that, till -this piece had been narrowly looked into, it was thought to be guipure -lace. Of a textile so admirably wrought, it is to be regretted that -there is, as yet, no sample in this collection. This curious liturgical -appliance is figured in the April number, for the year 1868, of the -“Ecclesiologist,” page 86. - -For the several very curious sorts of ornamental needlework about it, -and the somewhat intricate manner after which it is cut out, the old -alb, No. 8710, p. 268, as well as the amice, No. 8307, p. 185, having -both of them the apparels yet remaining sewed on to these church -garments, must draw the attention of every inquirer after such rare -existing samples of the kind. - -Some very fine threaden cloths--now become rare--for liturgical -purposes, deserve attention. In the old inventories of church furniture -in England, they are known under the name of “filatoria,” about which -we have spoken just now, p. cix. At No. 4457, p. 99, is a towel which, -it is likely, was spread under the tapers for Candlemass-day, and the -twigs of the sallow, or willow (our so-called palm), and slips of -the box-tree, for Palm-Sunday, while they were being hallowed before -distribution. For several lectern veils, we shall have to go to No. -7029, p. 120; No. 8358, p. 210; and No. 8693, p. 261. - -Those two linen napkins, formerly kept hanging down from just below the -crook on a pastoral staff or crozier are become so excessively rare, -that we unhesitatingly believe that none of our countrymen have ever -been able to find, either in England or abroad, a single other sample; -they are to be seen, No. 8279A, p. 174, and No. 8662, p. 250. - -Those who have ever witnessed on a Sunday morning in any of the great -churches at Paris, the blessing of the French “pain beni”--our old -English “holy loaf”--the “eulogia” of antiquity--will call to mind -how a fair white linen cloth, like the one here, No. 8698, p. 263, -overspread, and fell in graceful folds down from two sides of the board -upon which, borne on the shoulders of four youthful acolytes, a large -round cake garnished with flowers and wax-tapers was carried through -the chancel, and halting at the altar’s foot got its blessing from the -celebrant. - -The rich crimson velvet cope, No. 79, p. 2, has a fine hood figured -with the coming down, after the usual manner, of the Holy Ghost upon -the infant church. No. 8595, p. 226, presents us with a shred merely -of what must have been once a large hanging for the chancel walls, -or perhaps one of the two curtains at the altar’s sides, having such -fragments of some Latin sentences as these:--“et tui amoris in eis -... tus. Re ... le tuoru.” The subject on the cope’s hood tells of -Pentecost Sunday; so too does the second article, for those broken -sentences are parts of particular words: “Veni Sancte Spiritus, reple -tuorum corda fidelium: et tui amoris in eis ignem accende,” to be found -both in our own old English Salisbury missal, and breviary, but in -every like service-book in use during the mediæval period throughout -western Christendom. Be it kept in mind that both these liturgical -appliances are red or crimson; and as now, so heretofore, as well -in old England, as elsewhere this very colour has been employed for -the church’s vestments, thus to remind us of those parted tongues, -as it were, of fire that sat upon every one of the Apostles.[393] We -mention all this with a view to correct an error in lexicography. -In our dictionaries we are told that “Whitsuntide” is a contracted -form of White Sunday tide, so called from the white vestments worn on -that day by the candidates for baptism. Nothing of the sort; but the -word “wits,” our intellect or understanding, is the root of the term, -for a curious and valuable old English book of sermons called “The -Festival,” tells us:--“This day is called Wytsonday by cause the Holy -Ghoost brought wytte and wysdom in to Cristis dyscyples; and so by her -preachyng after in to all Cristendom.”[394] - - [393] Acts ii. 1-11. - - [394] In die Penthecostes, fol. xlvi. verso. - -Somewhat akin to this subject, are those several christening cloaks -here, pp. 8, 9, 10, 11. Not long ago the custom was to carry to church -for baptism the baby wrapped up in some such a silken covering which -was called a bearing-cloth. Of old, that used to be a conspicuous -article in all royal christenings; and amongst our gentry was looked -upon as worthy enough of being made a testamentary bequest. At the -christening of Arthur Prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII. “my -Lady Cecill, the Queen’s eldest sister, bare the prince wrapped in a -Mantell of Cremesyn Clothe of Golde furred with Ermyn,” &c.[395] Such -ceremonial garments varied, according to the owner’s position of life, -in costliness; hence Shakespeare makes the shepherd, in the “Winter’s -Tale,” cry out, “Here’s a sight for thee; look thee, a bearing cloth -for a squire’s child!”[396] A well-to-do tradesman bequeathed, A.D. -1648, to his daughter Rose his “beareing cloath such ... linnen as is -belonginge to infants at their tyme of baptisme.”[397] - -Very often in our old country houses are found, thrown aside in some -antique chest, certain small square pieces of nice embroidery, the -former use for which nobody now knows, and about which one is asked. If -their owners would look at those several cradle-quilts here--pp. 4, 13, -66, 67, 100, 103, 104, 110--they might find out such ancient household -stuff was wrought for their forefathers’ comfort and adornment, when -mere babies. The evangelists’ emblems figured on several among these -coverlets: such as No. 1344, p. 67, No. 4459, p. 100, No. 4644, p. 103, -will call to mind those old nursery-rhymes we referred to at p. 103. Of -yore, not only little children, but grown-up, ay, aged men too loved to -think about those verses, when they went to sleep, for the inventory -of furniture taken, A.D. 1446, in the Priory of Durham, tells us that -in the upper chamber there was a bed-quilt embroidered with the four -Evangelists--one in each corner: “j culcitrum cum iiij or Evangelistis -in corneriis.”[398] - -The bag or purse, No. 8313, p. 188, is of a kind which not only were -used for those liturgical purposes which we have already enumerated, -but served for private devotional practices. In that very interesting -will made by Henry, Lord de Scrope, A.D. 1415, among other pious -bequests, is the following one, of the little bag having in it a piece -of our Lord’s cross, which he always wore about his neck;--“j bursa -parva quæ semper pendet circa collum meum cum cruce Domini.”[399] - - [395] Leland’s Collectanea, t. iv. pp. 205, 180, 181, 183. - - [396] Act iii. scene iii. - - [397] Bury Wills, &c. p. 186. - - [398] Hist. Dunelm. Scriptores Tres, ed. Surtees Society, p. cclxxxvii. - - [399] Rymer’s Fœdera, t. ix. p. 278. - -The crimson velvet mitre,--No. 4015, p. 85,--for the boy-bishop, -bairn-bishop, or Nicholas-tide bishop, as the little boy was severally -called in England, is a liturgical curiosity, as the ceremonies in -which it was formerly worn are everywhere laid aside. Among the things -given for the use of the chapel in the college--All Souls--of his -founding at Oxford by Archbishop Chicheley, are a cope and mitre for -this boy, there named the Nicholas-tide bishope:--“i cap. et mitre pro -episcopo Nicholao.”[400] To make good his election to such a dignity, -at Eton College, a boy had to study hard and show at the examination -for it, that he was the ablest there at his books: his success almost -ennobled him among his schoolfellows:--“In die Sti Hugonis pontificis” -(17 Nov.) “solebat Ætonæ fieri electio Episcopi Nihilensis, sed -consuetudo obsolevit. Olim episcopus ille puerorum habebatur nobilis, -in cujus electione, et literata et laudatissima exercitatio, ad -ingeniorum vires et motos exercendos, Ætonæ celebris erat.”[401] The -colour, crimson, in this boy’s mitre, was to distinguish it from that -of bishops. - -Of the episcopal bairn-cloth--the Gremiale of foreign liturgists--we -have two specimens here,--Nos. 1031, 1032, pp. 19, 20. The rich one of -crimson cloth of gold, once belonging to Bowet, Archbishop of York, who -died A.D. 1423, brought more money than even a chasuble of the same -stuff:--“Et de xxvj_s._ viij_d._ receptis pro j. bairnecloth de rubeo -panno auri. Et de xx_s._ receptis pro j casula de rubeo beaudkyn, &c. -Inventorium,” &c.[402] - -Old episcopal shoes are now become great liturgical rarities, but there -is one here,--No. 1290, p. 46. At one time they were called “sandals;” -and among the episcopal ornaments that went by usage to Durham -cathedral at the death of any of its bishops, were “mitra et baculum -et sandalia et cætera episcopalia,” of Hugh Pudsey, A.D. 1195.[403] -Later was given them the name of “sabatines;” and Archbishop Bowet’s -inventory mentions two pairs:--“pro j pare de sabbatones, brouddird, -et couch’ cum perell’; pro j pare de sabbatones de albo panno auri,” -&c.[404] - - [400] Collectanea Curiosa, ed. Gutch, t. ii. p 265. - - [401] King’s College, Cambridge, and Eton College Statutes, ed. Wright, - p. 632. - - [402] Test. Ebor. t. iii. p. 76, ed. Surtees Society. - - [403] Wills of the Northern Counties, ed. Surtees Society, t. i. p. 3. - - [404] Ib. p. 76. - - - - -SECTION VI.--ARTISTS AND MANUFACTURERS - - -Will, on many occasions, heartily rejoice to have, within easy reach, -such an extensive, varied, and curious collection of textiles gathered -from many lands, and wrought in different ages. - -For the painter and the decorator it must have a peculiar value. - -Until this collection of silken and other kinds of woven stuffs had -been brought to England, and opened for the world’s inspection and -study, an artist had not, either in this country or abroad, any -available means of being correctly true in the patterns of those silks -and velvets with which he wished to array his personages, or of the -hangings for garnishing the walls of the hall in which he laid the -scene of his subject. In such a need, right glad was he if he might go -to any small collection of scanty odds and ends belonging to a friend, -or kept in private hands. So keenly was this want felt, that, but a -few years ago, works of beautiful execution, but of costly price, were -undertaken upon the dress of olden times, and mediæval furniture; yet -those who got up such books could do nothing better than set out in -drawings, as their authorities for both the branches of their subject, -such few specimens as they could pick up figured in illuminated MSS. -and the works of the early masters. Here, however, our own and foreign -artists see before them, not copies, but those very self-same stuffs. - -If we go to our National Gallery and look at the mediæval pictures -there, taking note of the stuffs in which those old men who did them -clothed their personages; if, then, we step hither, we shall be struck -by the fact of seeing in these very textiles, duplicates, as far as -pattern is sought, of those same painted garments. For example, in -Orcagna’s Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the blue silk diapered -in gold, with flowers and birds, hung as a back ground; our Lord’s -white tunic diapered in gold with foliage; the mantle of His mother -made of the same stuff; St. Stephen’s dalmatic of green samit, diapered -with golden foliage, are all quite Sicilian in design, and copied from -those rich silks which came, at the middle of the fourteenth century, -from the looms of Palermo. While standing before Jacopo di Casentino’s -St. John, our eye is drawn, on the instant, to the orphrey on that -evangelist’s chasuble, embroidered, after the Tuscan style, with barbed -quatrefoils, shutting in the busts of Apostles. Isotta da Rimini, in -her portrait by Pietro della Francesca, wears a gown made of velvet and -gold, much like some cut velvets here. - -In the patterns followed by the Sicilian looms, and those of Italy in -general, may almost always be found the same especial elements. Of -these, one is the artichoke in flower; and in F. Francia’s painting of -the Blessed Virgin Mary with our Lord in her arms, and saints standing -about them,--No. 179,--St. Laurence’s rich cloth of gold is diapered -all over with the artichoke marked out in thin red lines. So, too, in -the picture of V. Cappaccio, No. 750, the cloth-of-gold mantle worn by -our Lord’s mother, as well as the dress of the Doge, are both diapered -with this favourite Italian vegetable. Often is this artichoke shut in -by an oval, made sometimes of ogee arches, with their finials shooting -forwards outside: thus is diapered the cloak of the Madonna, in -Crivelli’s Inthronement--No. 724. Much more frequently, however, this -oval is put together out of architectural cusps--six or eight--turned -inside, and their featherings sprouting out into a trefoil, as in our -own Early English style. Such ovals round an artichoke are well shown -in each of the four pictures by Melozzo da Forli, on the pede-cloth -with which the steps in each of them are covered. Of such a patterned -stuff here we select from several such, for the reader, Nos. 1352, p. -70; 1352A, p. 70. - -Stained and patterned papers for wall-hanging are even yet unknown -but in a very few places on the Continent. The employment of them as -furniture among ourselves is comparatively very modern, and came to -England, it is likely, through our trade with China. Though in Italy -the state apartment and the reception rooms of a palace are hung -always with rich damasks, and often with fine tapestry, while some -old examples of gilt and beautifully-wrought leather trailed all over -with coloured flowers and leaves are still to be found, the rooms -for domestic use have their whitewashed walls adorned at best with -a coloured ornamentation, bestowed upon them by the cheap and ready -process of stencilling. - -From early times up to the middle of the sixteenth century, our -cathedrals and parish churches, our castles, manorial houses, and -granges, the dwellings of the wealthy everywhere, used to be ornamented -with wall-painting done, not in “fresco,” but in “secco;” that -is, distemper. Upon high festivals the walls of the churches were -overspread with tapestry and needlework; so, too, those in the halls of -the gentry, for some solemn ceremonial. - -Our high-born ladies used to spend their leisure hours in working these -“hallings,” as they were called; and while Bradshaw, a monk of St. -Werburgh’s monastery at Chester, sings the praises of the patron-saint -of his church, he gives us a charming picture of how a large hall was -arrayed here in England with needlework, for a solemn feast some time -about the latter end of the fifteenth century. - -First of all, according to the then wont, when great folks were bidden -to a feast:-- - - All herbes and flowers, fragraunt, fayre and swete - Were strawed in halles, and layd under theyr fete. - Clothes of gold and arras were hanged in the hall - Depaynted with pyctures and hystoryes manyfolde, - Well wroughte and craftely. - -The story of Adam, Noe, and his shyppe; the twelve sones of Jacob; the -ten plages of Egypt, and-- - - Duke Josue was joyned after them in pycture, - - * * * * * - - Theyr noble actes and tryumphes marcyall - Fresshly were browdred in these clothes royall. - - * * * * * - - But over the hye desse in pryncypall place - Where the sayd thre Kynges sat crowned all - The best hallynge hanged as reason was, - Whereon were wrought the ix orders angelicall, - Dyvyded in thre ierarchyses, not cessynge to call, - _Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus_, blessed be the Trynite, - _Dominus Deus Sabaoth_, thre persons in one deyte.[405] - -The tapestries here will afford much help to the artist if he have to -paint a dining room with festive doings going on, any time during the -latter portion of the mediæval period; but such “hallings” are by no -means scarce. Not so, however, such pieces of room hangings as he may -find here at No. 1370, p. 76; No. 1297, p. 296; No. 1465 p. 298. Their -fellows are nowhere else to be met with. - -At a certain period, gloves were a much more ornamented and decorative -article of dress than now; and, when meant for ladies’ wear, a somewhat -lasting perfume was bestowed upon them. Among the new year’s day -presents to Tudor Queen Mary, some years before she came to the throne, -was “a payr of gloves embrawret with gold.”[406] A year afterwards, “x -payr of Spanyneshe gloves from a Duches in Spayne,” came to her;[407] -and but a month before, Mrs. Whellers had sent to her highness “a pair -of swete gloves.” Shakespeare, true to manners of his days, after -making the pretended pedler, Autolycus, thus chant the praises of his-- - - Laura, as white as driven snow; - Cyprus, black as e’er was crow; - Gloves, as sweet as damask roses; - -puts this into Mopsa, the shepherdess’, mouth, as she speaks to her -swain:--“Come, you promised me a tawdry lace, and a pair of sweet -gloves.”[408] Here, in this collection, we may find a pair of such -gloves, No. 4665, p. 105. What, though the fragrance that once, no -doubt, hung about them, be all gone, yet their shape and embroideries -will render them a valuable item to the artist for some painting. - - [405] Warton’s History of English Poetry, ed. 1840, t. ii. p. 375, &c. - - [406] Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary, ed. Madden, p. 144. - - [407] Ib. p. 164. - - [408] “A Winter’s Tale,” act iv. scene iii. - -Manufacturers and master-weavers of every kind of textile, as well as -their workmen, may gather some useful hints for their trade, by a look -at the various specimens set out here before them. - -They will, no doubt, congratulate themselves, as they fairly may, that -their better knowledge of chemistry enables them to give to silk, wool, -and cotton, tints and tones of tints, and shades, nay, entire colours -quite unknown to the olden times, even to their elders of a few years -ago: our new-found chemicals are carrying the dyeing art to a high -point of beauty and perfection. - -Among the several boasts of the present age one is, that of making -machinery, as a working power in delicate operations, so true, as if -it had been quickened with a life and will and power all its own: -mechanism applied to weaving is, at least for the speed of plain work, -most marvellous; and the improvements of the morrow over those of -yesterday make the wonder grow. But, though having such appliances at -hand, let an able well-taught designer for silken stuffs come hither, -along with a skilled weaver, from Coventry, Glasgow, or Manchester, and -the two will say, that for truthfulness and beauty in the drawing of -the patterns, and their good renderings in the weaving, nothing of the -present day is better, while much is often not so good. Yet these old -stuffs before our eyes were wrought in looms so clumsy, and awkward, -and helpless, that a weaver of the present day laughs at them in scorn. -The man, however, who should happen to be asked to make the working -drawings for several of such textiles, would fain acknowledge that he -had been taught much by their study, and must strive hard before he -might surpass many of them in the often crowded, yet generally clear -combination of parts borrowed from beasts, birds, and flowers, all -rendered with beauty and fittingness. - -What has been, may be done again. We know better how to dye; we have -more handy mechanism. Let, then, all those who belong any-wise to the -weaving trade and come hither, go home resolved to stand for the future -behind no nation, either of past or present time, in the ability of -weaving not only useful, but beautiful and artistic textiles. - -Before leaving the South Kensington Museum the master weaver may, if -he wishes, convince himself that the so-called tricks of the trade are -not evils of this age’s growth, but, it is likely, older than history -herself. For mediæval instances of fraud in his own line of business, -he will find not a few among the silks from Syria, Palermo, and the -South of Spain. - -What we said just now about Lettered Silks, p. lix. should be borne -here in mind. With the Saracens, wherever they spread themselves, the -usage was to weave upon their textiles, very often, either the title -of the prince who was to wear them or give them away, or some short -form of prayer or benediction. By Christian eyes, such Arabic words -were looked upon as the true unerring sign that the stuffs that showed -them came from Saracenic looms--the best of those times--or, in other -terms, were the trade-mark of the Moslem. The Christian and Jewish -weavers in many parts of the East, to make their own webs pass as -Saracenic goods, wrought the Paynim trade-mark, as then understood, -upon them. The forgery is clumsy: the letters are poor imitations of -the Arabic character, and the pretended word runs, as it should, first -correctly, or from right to left, then wrong or backward from left to -right, just as if this part of the pattern--and it is nothing more--had -been intended, like every other element in it, to confront itself -by immediate repetition on the self-same line. Our young folks who -sometimes amuse themselves by writing a name on paper, and while the -ink is wet fold the sheet so that the word is shown again as if written -backwards, get such a kind of scroll. - -In many Oriental silk textiles the warp is either of hemp, flax, or -cotton; but this is so easily discoverable that it could hardly have -been done for fraud’ sake. There is however a Saracenic trick, learned -from that people, and afterwards practised by the Spaniards of the -South, for imitating a woof of gold. It is rather ingenious, and we -presume unknown among collectors and writers until now. - -For the purpose, the finer sort of parchment was sought out, sometimes -as thin as that now rare kind of vellum called, among manuscript -collectors, “uterine.” Such skins were well gilt and then cut into very -narrow shreds, which were afterwards, instead of gold, woven, as the -woof to the silken warp, to show those portions of the pattern which -should be wrought in golden thread. But as these strips of gilded -parchment were flat, they necessarily gave the stuffs in which they -came all the look of being that costly and much used web called by us -in the fifteenth century “tyssewys,” as we have before noticed, p. -xxxi. Specimens of such a fraudulent textile are to be seen here, Nos. -7067, p. 132; 7095, p. 140; 8590, p. 224; 8601, p. 229; 8639, p. 243, -&c. - - - - -SECTION VII.--SYMBOLISM. - - -A metaphor or figurative speech is the utterance to the understanding -through the ear of words which have other and further meanings in -them than their first one. Symbolism is the bringing to our thoughts, -through the eye, some natural object, some human personage, some -art-wrought figure, which is meant to set forth a some one, or a -something else besides itself. - -The use of both arose among men when they first began to dwell on earth -and live together. Through symbolism, and the phonetic system, Egypt -struck out for herself her three alphabets--the hieroglyphic or picture -writing; the hieratic or priestly characters, or shortened form of -the hieroglyphics; and the enchorial or people’s alphabet, a further -abridgment still. The Hebrew letters are the conventional symbols of -things in nature or art; and even yet, each keeps the name of the -object which at first it represented; as “aleph” or “ox,” “beth” or -“house,” “gimel” or “camel,” &c. - -Holy Writ is full of symbolism; and from the moment that we begin to -read those words--“I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be -the sign of a covenant,”[409] till we reach the last chapter in the -New Testament, we shall, all throughout, come upon many most beautiful -and appropriate examples. The blood sprinkled upon the door-posts of -the Israelites; the brazen serpent in the wilderness; that sign--that -mystic and saving sign (Tau) of Ezekiel, were, each and every one of -them symbols. - - [409] Gen. ix. 13. - -Being given to understand that things which happened to the Jews were -so many symbols for us, the early Christian Church figured on the -walls of the catacombs many passages from ancient Jewish history as -applicable to itself, while its writers bestowed much attention on the -study of symbolism. S. Melito, bishop of Sardes, A.D. 170, drew out of -scripture a great many texts which would bear a symbolical meaning, and -gave to his work the name of “The Key.” Almost quite forgotten, and -well nigh lost, this valuable book, after long and unwearied labour, -was at last found and printed by Dom (now Cardinal) Pitra in his -Spicilegium Solesmense, t. ii. Among other works from the pen of St. -Epiphanius, born A.D. 310, we have his annotations on a book, then old, -and called “The Physiologist,” and a work of his own--a treatise on the -twelve stones worn by Aaron,[410] in both of which, the Saint speaks -much about symbolism. But the fourth century witnessed the production -of the two great works on Scriptural Symbolism; that of St. Basil in -his homilies on the six days’ creation;[411] which sermons in Greek -were styled by their writer “Hexæmeron;” and the other by St. Ambrose, -in Latin, longer and more elaborated, on the same subject and bearing -the same title. A love for such a study grew up with the church’s -growth everywhere, from the far east to the utmost west, amid Greeks -as well as Latins, all of whom beheld, in their several liturgies, -many illustrations of the system. It was not confined to clerics, but -laymen warmly followed it. The artist, whether he had to set forth -his work in painting or mosaic; the architects, whether they were -entrusted with the raising of a church, or building a royal palace, nay -a dwelling-house, were, each of them, but too glad to avail themselves, -under clerical guidance, of such a powerful help for beautiful variety -and happy illustration as was afforded them by Christian Symbolism. -So systematized at last became this subject that by the eleventh -century we find it separated into three branches--beasts, birds, and -stones--and works were written upon each. Those upon beasts were, as -they still are, known by the title of “Bestiaria,” or books on beasts; -“Volucraria,” on birds, and “Lapideria,” on stones. About the same -period, as an offset from symbolism, heraldry sprang up; whether the -crusaders were the first to bethink themselves of such a method for -personal recognition and distinction; or whether they borrowed the -idea from the peoples in the east, and while adopting, much improved -upon it, matters not; heraldry grew out of symbolism. Very soon it was -made to tell about secular as well as sacred things; and poets, nay -political partizans were quick in their learning of its language. The -weaver too of silken webs was often bade, while gearing his loom, to be -directed by its teaching, as several specimens in this collection will -testify. That some of the patterns, made up of beasts and birds, upon -silken stuffs from Sicilian, or Italian looms and here before us, were -sketched by a partizan pencil and advisedly meant to carry about them -an historic, if not political signification, we do not for a moment -doubt. Several instances of sacred symbolism here, have been specified, -and some explanation of it given. - - [410] Exod. xxviii. - - [411] Gen. i. - -The “gammadion,” or the cross made thus 卐 a figure which, as we said -before, is to be seen traced upon the earliest heathenish art-works, as -well as the latest mediæval ones for Christian use, may be often found -wrought on textiles here. - -Knowing, as we do, that the first time this symbol shows itself to our -eyes, is in the pattern figured on a web of the Pharaonic period, it is -to the early history of Egypt we ought to go, if we wish to learn its -origin and meaning. - -The most astounding event of the world’s annals was the going out of -Israel from Egypt. The blood of the lamb slain and sacrificed the -evening before, and put upon both the door-posts, as well as sprinkled -at the threshold of the house wherein any Hebrew dwelt--a sign of -safety from all harm and death to man and beast, within its walls, on -that awful night when throughout all Egypt the first-born of everything -else was killed--must have caught the sight of every wonder-stricken -Egyptian father and mother who, while weeping over their loss, heard -that death had not gone in to do the work of slaughter where the blood -had signed the gates of every Israelite. - -Among the Hebrew traditions, handed down to us by the Rabbins, one is -that the mark made by the Israelites upon their door-posts with the -blood of the sacrificed lamb, the night before starting out of Egypt, -was fashioned like the letter Tau made after its olden form, that is, -in the shape of a cross, thus +. - -What is still more curious, we are told that the lamb itself was -spitted as if it had been meant to bear about its body, an unmistakable -likeness to a kind of crucifixion. Treating of the passover, the Talmud -says:--The ram or kid was roasted in an oven whole, with two spits made -of pomegranate wood thrust through it, the one lengthwise, the other -transversely (crossing the longitudinal one near the fore-legs) thus -forming a cross.[412] Precisely the same thing is said by St. Justin, -martyr, born A.D. 103, in his Dialogue with Tryphon the Jew. This very -mode of roasting is expressed in Arabic by the verb “to crucify;” -according to Jahn, in his “Biblical Antiquities,” § 142, as quoted by -Kitto, under the word Passover.[413] - - [412] Pesachim, c. 3. - - [413] T. ii. p. 477 of the “Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature.” - -From the words of St. Jerome, it would seem that that learned hebraist, -well knowing, as he did, the traditions of the rabbins of his day, had -understood from them that the mark of the lamb’s blood sprinkled on the -doors of the Israelites going out of Egypt, had been so made as to take -the shape of a cross. - -Deeply smitten as the whole of Egypt must have been at the woe that -befel them and theirs, the night before the great exode of the -Israelites from among them, those Egyptians could not help seeing -how all the Hebrews, their children, and their flocks had gone forth -scatheless out of that death-stricken land. At peep of dawn, the blood -upon the door-posts of every house where an Israelite had lately -dwelt, told the secret; for the destroyer had not been there. From -that hour, a Tau was thought by them to be the symbol of health and -safety, of happiness, and future life. St. Epiphanius, born A.D. 310, -in Palestine, for many years Archbishop of Salamis in Cyprus, and a -great traveller in Egypt, tells us, that being mindful of that day on -which the Israelites who had besmeared the door-posts of their houses -with the blood of the lamb, had been spared the angel’s death-stroke, -the Egyptian people were accustomed, at every vernal equinox--their new -year--to daub, with red paint, their doors, their trees, and animals, -the while they cried out that, “once at this time fire blighted every -thing;” against such a plague, they think that the remedy is a spell in -the colour of blood: “Egyptios memores illius diei quo a cæde angeli -liberati sunt Israelitæ qui agni sanguine postes domorum illinierant, -solitos esse, intrante æquinoctio vernanti, accipere rubricam et -illinere omnes arbores domosque clamantes ‘quia in tempore hoc ignis -vastavit omnia’ contra quam luem remedium putant ignis colorem -sanguineum rubricæ.”[414] - - [414] Hæreses, xviii. - -While they found blood upon the departed and unharmed Israelites’ -door-posts, the sorrowing Egyptians must have seen that it had been -sprinkled there, not at hazard, but with the studied purpose of making -therewith the Egyptian letter Tau, as it used to be fashioned at the -time. But what was then its common shape? That the old Tau was a cross, -we are told by written authority, and learn from monumental evidence. -Learned as he was in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, Moses, no doubt, -wrote with the letters of their alphabet. Now, the oldest shape of the -Tau in the Hebrew alphabet, and still kept up among the Samaritans in -St. Jerome’s days, was in the form of a cross: “Antiquis Hebræorum -literis, quibus usque hodie Samaritæ utuntur, extrema Tau crucis habet -similitudinem, quæ in Christianorum frontibus pingitur et frequentius -manus inscriptione signatur.”[415] For monumental testimony we refer -the reader to the proofs we have given, at large, in “Hierurgia,” -pp. 352-355, second edition. Strengthening our idea that the lamb’s -blood had been put on the door-post in the shape of a cross, and that -hence the old Egyptians had borrowed it as a spell against evil hap, -and a symbol of a life hereafter, is a passage set forth, first by -Rufinus, A.D. 397, and then by Socrates, A.D. 440:--“On demolishing -at Alexandria a temple dedicated to Serapis, were observed several -stones sculptured with letters called hieroglyphics, which showed the -figure of a cross. Certain Gentile inhabitants of the city who had -lately been converted to the Christian faith, initiated in the method -of interpreting these enigmatic characters, declared that the figure of -the cross was considered as the symbol of future life.”[416] We know -that, while the old Tau kept the shape of a cross, it took at least -three modifications of that form on those monuments which, up to this -time, have been brought to light: others may turn up with that letter -traced exactly like the so-called “gammadion” found upon an Egyptian -stuff of such an early date. Most probably this was the very shape, but -with shorter arms, of the letter found traced upon the door-posts. - - [415] Hier. in cap. ix. Ezech. - - [416] Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 17. - -The recurrence of the gammadion upon Christian monuments is curious. -We find it shown upon the tunic of a gravedigger in the catacombs; it -comes in among the ornamentation wrought upon the gold and parcel-gilt -altar-frontal dome by our Anglo-Saxon countryman Walwin for the -Ambrosian basilican church at Milan; it is seen upon the narrow border -round some embroidery of the twelfth century, lately found within -a shrine in Belgium, and figured by that untiring archæologist the -Canon Voisin of Tournay; and upon a piece of English needlework of the -latter half of the same twelfth century--the mitre of our St. Thomas, -figured by Shaw, and still kept at Sens cathedral. As a favourite -element in the pattern worked upon our ecclesiastical embroideries, -this “gammadion” is as conspicuously shown upon the apparel round the -shoulders, and on the one in front of his alb, in the effigy of Bishop -Edington, at Winchester cathedral, as upon the vestments of a priest -in a grave-brass at Shottesbrook church, Berks, given by Waller in his -fine work. - -Always keeping up its heathenish signification of a “future life,” -Christianity widened the meaning of this symbol, and made it teach -the doctrine of the Atonement through the death of our Lord upon a -cross. Furthermore, it set forth that He is our corner-stone. About -the thirteenth century, it was taken to be an apt memorial of His -five wounds; and remembering the stigmata or five impressions in the -hands, feet, and side of St. Francis of Assisi, this gammadion became -the favourite device of such as bore that famous saint’s name, and was -called in England, after its partial likeness to the ensigne of the -Isle of Man--three feet--a fylfot.[417] - - [417] M. S. Harley, 874, p. 190. - -To the symbolic meaning affixed unto some animals, we have pointed in -the catalogue, wherein, at p. 156, the reader will find that Christ, -as God, is typified under the figure of a lion, under that again of -the unicorn, as God-man. Man’s soul, at pp. 237, 311, is figured as -the hare; mischief and lubricity are, at p. 311, shadowed forth in the -likeness of the monkey. - -Birds often come in here as symbols; and of course we behold the lordly -eagle very frequently. Bearing in mind how struggled the two great -factions of the Guelphs whose armorial arms were “un’ Aquila con un -Drago sotto i piedi”--an eagle with a dragon under its feet--and the -Ghibellini, we do not wonder at finding the noble bird, sometimes -single, sometimes double-headed, so frequently figured on silks woven -in Sicily, or on the Italian peninsula, triumphing over his enemy, the -dragon or Ghibelline stretched down before him. About the emblematic -eagle of classic times we have already spoken. - -If the Roman Quintus Curtius, like the Greeks before him, was in -amazement at certain birds in India, so quick in mimicking the human -voice: “aves ad imitandum humanæ vocis sonum dociles,”[418] we -naturally expect to find the parrot figured, as we do here, upon stuffs -from Asia, or imitations of such webs. - -Famous, in eastern story, are those knowing birds--and they were -parrots--that, on coming home at evening, used to whisper unto -Æthiopia’s queen (whom Englishmen not till the sixteenth century began -to call Sheba, but all the world besides called and yet calls Saba) -each word and doing, that day, of the far-off Solomon, or brought -round their necks letters from him. Out of this Talmudic fable grew -the method with artists during the fifteenth century of figuring -one of the wise men as very swarthy--an Æthiopian--under the name -of Balthasar, taking as their warrant, a work called “Collectaneæ,” -erroneously assigned to our own Beda; and because our Salisbury books -for the liturgy, sang, as all the old liturgies yet sing, on the feast -of the Epiphany:--“All shall come from Saba”--the name of the country -as well as of that queen who once governed it--“bringing gold and -frankincense,” &c. those mediæval artists deemed it proper to show -somewhere about the wise men, parrots, as sure to have been brought -among the other gifts, especially from the land of Saba. Upon a cope, -belonging now to Mount St. Mary’s, Chesterfield, made of very rich -crimson velvet, there is beautifully embroidered by English hands, -the arrival at Bethlehem of the three wise men. In the orphrey, on -that part just above the hood, are figured in their proper colours two -parrots, as those may remember who saw it in the Exhibition here of -1862; on textiles before us this bird is often shown. The appearance of -the parrot on the vestments at old St. Paul’s is very frequent.[419] - - [418] Lib. viii. cap. 9. - - [419] Dugdale, p. 317. - -But of the feathered tribe which we meet with figured on these -textiles, there are three that merit an especial mention through the -important part they were made to take, whilom in England at many a -high festival and regal celebration--we mean the so-called “_Vow of -the Swan, the Peacock and the Pheasant_.” From the graceful ease--the -almost royal dignity with which it walks the waters, the swan with its -plumage spotless and white as driven snow, has everywhere been looked -upon with admiring eyes; and its flesh while yet a cygnet used to be -esteemed a dainty for a royal board, on some extraordinary occasions. -To make it the symbol of majestic beauty in a woman, it had sometimes -given it a female’s head. Among the gifts bestowed on his son, Richard -II. by the Black Prince, in his will were bed-hangings embroidered with -white swans having women’s heads. To raise this bird still higher, in -ecclesiastical symbolism, it is put forth to indicate a stainless, more -than royal purity; and as such, is often linked with and figured under -the Blessed Virgin Mary, as is shown upon an enamelled morse given in -the “Church of our Fathers.”[420] - -Besides all this, the swan owns a curious legend of its own, set -forth by some raving troubadour in the wildest dream that minstrel -ever dreamed. “The life and myraculous hystory of the most noble -and illustryous Helyas, knight of the swanne, and the birth of y^e -excellent knight Godfrey of Boulyon,” &c., was once a book in great -favour throughout Europe; and was “newly translated and printed by -Robert Copland, out of Frensshe in to Englisshe at thinstigacion of y^e -Puyssaunt and Illustryous Prynce Lorde Edwarde Duke of Buckyngham--of -whom lynyally is dyscended my sayde lorde.”[421] - - [420] T. ii. p. 41. - - [421] Typographical Antiquities of Great Britain, ed. Dibdin, t. iii. - pp. 152-3. - -While our noble countryman boasted of an offspring from this fabled -swan, so did the greatest houses abroad. In private hands in England -is a precious ivory casket wrought on its five panels, before us in -photography, with this history of the swan. Helyas’s shield and flag -are ensigned with St. George’s cross; the armour tells of England and -its military appliances, about the end of the fourteenth century; and -the whole seems the work of English hands. At the great exhibition -of loans in this museum, A.D. 1862, one of the many fine textiles -then shown was a fine but cut-down chasuble of blue Sicilian silk, -upon which was, curiously enough for what we have said about the -birds before which the “Vow” was made, figured, amid other fowls the -pheasant. The handsome orphreys upon this vestment were wrought in this -country, and good specimens they are of English needlework during the -fourteenth century. These orphreys, before and behind, are embroidered -on a bright red silk ground, with golden flower and leaf-bearing -branches, so trailed as, in their twinings, to form Stafford knots in -places, and to embower shields of arms each supported by gold swans -all once ducally gorged. From these and other bearings on it, this -chasuble would seem to have been worked for the Staffords, Dukes of -Buckingham. At Corby Castle there is an altar frontal of crimson velvet -made for and figured with the great Buckingham and his Duchess both -on their knees at the foot of a crucifix. Amid a sprinkling of the -Stafford knot, for the Duke (Henry VIII. beheaded him) was Earl of -Stafford, the swan is shown, and the Lord Stafford of Cossey, in whose -veins the blood of the old Buckingham still runs, gives a silver swan -as one of his armorial supporters. At Lincoln cathedral there were:--A -cope of red cloth of gold with swans of gold;[422] and a cope of purple -velvet having a good orphrey set with swans.[423] - -In mediæval symbolism, as read by Englishmen, the swan was deemed -not only a royal bird, but, more than that, one of the tokens of -royal prowess. Hence we may easily understand why our great warrior -king, Edward I., as he sat feasting in Westminster Hall, amid all the -chivalry, old and young of the kingdom, on such a memorable day, should -have had brought before him the two swans in their golden cages:--“tunc -allati sunt in pompatica gloria duo cygni vel olores, ante regem, -phalerati retibus aureis, vel fistulis deauratis, desiderabile -spectaculum, intuentibus. Quibus visis, rex votum vovit Deo cœli et -cygnis, se proficisci in Scotiam,” &c.[424] And then solemnly made the -“Vow of the Swan,” as we described, p. 287 of the Catalogue. - - [422] Mon. Anglic. t. viii. p. 1282. - - [423] Ibid. - - [424] Flores Historiarum, per Matt. Westmonast. Collectæ, p. 454. - -In the pride of place, on such occasions, abreast with the swan stood -the peacock, “with his angel fethers bright;” and was at all times and -everywhere looked upon as the emblem of beauty. Not a formal banquet -was ever given, at one period, without this bird being among the -dishes; in fact, the principal one. To prepare it for the table, it -had been killed and skinned with studious care. When roasted, it was -sewed up in its skin after such an artistic way that its crested head -and azure neck were kept, as in nature, quite upright; and its fan-like -tail outspread; and then, put in a sitting position on a large broad -silver dish parcel gilt, used to be brought into the hall with much -solemnity. - -On the last day of a tournament, its gay festivities ended in a more -than usual sumptuous banqueting. The large baronial hall was hung all -over with hangings, sometimes figured with a romance, sometimes with -scenes such as we read of in “The Flower and the Leaf;” and because -trees abounded on them, were known as tapestry of “verd.” At top of and -all along the travers ran the minstrel-gallery, and thither-- - - Come first all in their clokes white, - A company, that ware for their delite, - Chapelets fresh of okes seriall, - Newly sprong, and trumpets they were all. - On every trumpe hanging a broad banere - Of fine tartarium were full richely bete, - Every trumpet his lordes arms bare, - About their neckes with great pearles sete - Collers brode, for cost they would not lete, &c.[425] - -From among those high-born damosels who had crowded thither, one was -chosen as the queen of beauty. When all the guests had gathered in that -dining-hall, and been marshalled in their places by the herald, and the -almoner had said grace, and set the “grete almes disshe of silver and -overgilt, made in manner of a shippe full of men of armes feyghtyng -upon the shippe syde weyng in all lxvii lb ix un[=c] of troye,”[426] at -the high board under the dais, a bold fanfar was flourished upon silver -trumpets, from which drooped silken flags embroidered with the blazon -of that castle’s lord, or-- - - Of gold ful riche, in which ther was ybete - -some quaint device. Then a burst of music from the minstrel-gallery -arose as came in the queen of beauty. Her kirtle was of ciclatoun, -cloth of pall, or sparkling tissue:-- - - To don honour (to that day) - Yclothed was she fresshe for to devise. - Hire yelwe here was broided in a tresse, - Behind hire back a yerde long I gesse; - And in the gardin at the sonne uprist, - She walketh up and doun wher as her list. - She gathereth floures, partie white and red, - To make a sotel gerlond for hire hed.[427] - -One at each side of her, walked two of the youngest bachelors in -chivalry. These youths did not wear their harness, but came arrayed in -gay attire, having on white hoods, perhaps embroidered with dancing men -in blue habits, like the one given by Edward III. to the Lord Grey of -Rotherfield, to be worn at a tournament; or looking,[428] each of them, -like the “yonge Squier,” of whom Chaucer said:-- - - Embrouded was he, as it were a mede, - Alle ful of fresshe floures, white and red.[429] - - [425] Chaucer, The Flower and the Leaf, v. 207, &c. - - [426] Antient Kalendars of the Exchequers, ed. Palgrave, ii. p. 184. - - [427] Chaucer, The Knightes Tale, v. 1050. - - [428] Dugdale’s Baronage, i. 723. - - [429] The Prologue, v. 79. - -Treading out sweetness from the bay leaves strewed among the rushes on -the floor, and with step as stately as the peacock’s own, the queen of -beauty for the nonce, bearing in both her hands the splendid charger -with the bird--the symbol of herself--slowly paced the hall. Halting on -a sudden, she set it down before the knight who, by general accord, had -borne him best throughout that tournament; such was the ladies’ token -of their praises. To carve well at table was one of the accomplishments -of ancient chivalry; and our own King Arthur was so able in that gentle -craft, that on one occasion he is said to have cut up a peacock so -cleverly that every one among the one hundred and fifty guests had a -morsel of the fowl. To show himself as good a knight at a feast as at -a passage of arms, the lady bade him carve the bird. What the lances -of his antagonists could not do, this meed of praise from the ladies -did--it overcame him. With deference, he humbly pleaded that many a -doughty knight there present was more worthy of the honour: all his -words were wasted. The queen of beauty would brook no gainsaying to her -behest. He therefore bowed obedience, and she went away. Ere applying -himself to his devoir, outstretching his right hand on high above the -dish before him, amid the deepest silence, and in a ringing voice, so -as to be well heard by all that noble presence, the knight vowed his -vow of the peacock. Almost always this vow was half religious, half -military; and he who took it bound himself to go on pilgrimage to the -Holy Land, and, on his road thither or homeward, to join, as he might, -any crusade against the Paynim. - -Hardly had the words of such a plight been uttered, when other knights -started up at every table, and bound themselves by his or some like vow. - -The dinner done, the feast was not quite over. Plucking from its tail -the best and brightest of the peacock’s feathers, the beauty-queen wove -them into a diadem; the minstrel who had long distinguished himself, -was summoned by a pursuivant and brought before her; and she crowned -him as he knelt lowly down. Ever afterwards, at festival or tournament, -this music king wore this crown about his hat as blithely as did the -knight his lady’s glove or favour on his helmet, at a joust. Such was-- - - Vowis of Pecok, with all ther proude chere. - -Sometimes a pheasant, on account of its next beautiful plumage, used to -be employed, instead of the larger, grander peacock. - -With these facts set before him, any visitor to this collection will -take a much more lively interest in so precious a piece of English -embroidery as is the Syon cope, for while looking at it in admiration -of the art-work shown in such a splendid church vestment, he finds, -where he never thought of coming on, a curious record of our ancient -national manners. - -Besides all that has been said in reference to this cope, at pp. 289-90 -of the Catalogue, we would remind our reader that at easy distances -from Coventry might be found such lordly castles as those of Warwick, -Kenilworth, Chartley, Minster Lovel, Tamworth. The holding of a -tournament within their spacious walls, or in the fields beside them, -was, we may be certain, of frequent occurrence at some one or other of -them. The tilting was followed by the banquet and the “vow;” and the -vow by its fulfilment from those barons bold, who bore in their own -day the stirring names of Beauchamp, Warwick, Ferrers, Geneville, or -Mortimer. Of one or other of them might be said:-- - - At Alisandre he was whan it was wonne. - Ful often time he hadde the bord begonne - No cristen man so ofte of his degre. - In Gernade at the siege eke hadde he be - Of Algesir, and ridden in Belmarie. - At mortal batailles hadde he ben fiftene, - And foughten for our faith at Tramissene - In listes thries, and ay slain his fo.[430] - - [430] Chaucer, The Prologue, vv. 51, &c. - -At Warwick itself, and again at Temple Balsall, not far off, the -Knights Templars held a preceptory, and, as it is likely, aggregated -to the Coventry gild, had their badge--the Holy Lamb--figured on its -vestment. Proud of all its brotherhood, proud of those high lords -who had gone on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, figured by the Star of -Bethlehem, and had done battle with the Moslem, according to the vow -signified by the swan and peacock, the Coventry gild caused to be -embroidered on the orphrey of their fine old cope, the several armorial -bearings of those among their brotherhood who had swelled the fame of -England abroad; and by putting those symbols--the swan and the peacock, -the star and crescent--close by their blazons, meant to remind the -world of those festive doings which led each of them to work such deeds -of hardihood. - -In the fourteenth century a fashion grew up here in England of figuring -symbolism--heraldic and religious--upon the articles of dress, as we -gather from specimens here, as well as from other sources. The ostrich -feather, first assumed by our Black Prince, was a favourite device -with his son Richard II. for his flags and personal garments. This -is well shown in the illumination given, p. 31, of the “Deposition -of Richard II.,” published by the Antiquarian Society. That king’s -mother had bequeathed to him a new bed of red velvet, embroidered with -ostrich feathers of silver, and heads of leopards of gold, with boughs -and leaves issuing out of their mouths.[431] Through family feeling, -not merely the white swan, but this cognizance of the Yorkists--the -ostrich feather--was sometimes figured on orphreys for church copes and -chasubles, since in the Exeter, A.D. 1506, we find mentioned a cope, -“le orfrey de rubeo damasco operato de opere acuali cum rosis aureis -ac ostryge fethers insertis in rosis,” &c.;[432] and again, “le orfrey -de blodio serico operata de opere acuali cum cignis albis et ostryge -fethers--i casula de blodio serico operata opere acuali cum ostryge -fethers sericis, le orfrey de rubeo serico operato cum ostryge fethers -aureis.”[433] Lincoln Cathedral, too, had a cope of red damask, with -ostriges feathers of silver.[434] This somewhat odd element of design -for a textile is to be found on one here, No. 7058, p. 129. - - [431] Testamenta Vetusta, i. 14. - - [432] Ed. Oliver, p. 347. - - [433] Ibid. p. 365. - - [434] Mon. Anglic. t. viii. p. 1282, ed. Caley. - -To eyes like our own, accustomed to see nowhere but in English -heraldry, and English devices, harts figured as lodged beneath green -trees in a park as in Nos. 1283-4, p. 43, or stags couchant, with a -chain about the neck, as at pp. 53, 239, and in both samples gazing -upward to the sun behind a cloud, it would appear that they were but -varieties of the pattern sketched for the silken stuffs worn by Richard -II., and admirably shown on that valuable, yet hitherto overlooked -specimen of English mediæval workmanship in copper and engraving still -to be found in Westminster Abbey, as we before observed,[435] and the -symbolism of which we now explain. The pattern of the silken textile -worn by the king consists of but three elements--the broom-pod, the -sun’s rays darting upwards from behind a cloud, and a stag lying down -on the grass, looking right forward, with about its neck a royal crown, -down from which falls a long chain. The broom tells, of course, that -Richard was a Plantagenet. His grandfather’s favourite cognizance was -that of sunbeams issuing from clouds; his mother’s--Joan, the fair maid -of Kent--the white hart. The latter two were evidently meant to bring -to mind the words of the Psalmist, who says:--“The heavens show forth -the glory of God. He hath set His tabernacle in the sun. The Lord is -my light, and His throne as the sun.” The white hind brings to our -thoughts how the hart panting for the water-fountains, is likened to -the soul that pants after God. This symbolism is unfolded into a wider -breadth upon the design for the stuffs here, No. 1310, p. 53; No. -8624, p. 239. Here, instead of the sunbeams shooting upwards, as if to -light the whole heavens, they dart downward, as if for the individual -stag with upturned gaze, amid a gentle shower of rain; as if to say -that if man look heavenward by prayer, light will be sent down to him, -and helping grace, like rain, like the shower upon the grass to slake -his ghostly thirst. - - [435] P. cxx. - -About the time of Richard II. the white hart seems to have been a -favourite element in ornamental needlework here in England, for Lincoln -cathedral had “a red velvet cope set with white harts lying, colours -(with collars?) full of these letters S S ... the harts having crowns -upon their necks with chains, silver and gilt,” &c.[436] So thoroughly -national at the time was this emblem that we believe every piece of -silken textile to be found here or elsewhere had its design sketched -in this country and sent to Palermo to be woven there in stuffs for -the use of the English court. When his order had been done, the weaver -having his loom geared at our king’s expense, threw off a certain -quantity of the same pattern for home use or his trade with Germany; -and hence we see such a beautiful variation figured on the apparels -upon the old alb, No. 8710, p. 268 of the catalogue. The eagle shown -all in gold, with a crown not on but above its head, may refer to one -of Richard’s ancestors, the King of the Romans, who never reigned as -such. The hart, collared and lodged in its park, is Richard’s own -emblem. That dog, collared and courant, has a story of its own in -Richard’s eventful life. Dogs when petted and great favourites, were -always arrayed in ornamented collars; hence we must not be surprised -to find put down among the things of value kept in the Treasury of the -Exchequer:--“ii grehondes colers of silk enbrouded with lettres of gold -and garnyssed with silver and overgilt.”[437] Telling of Richard’s -capture in Flint castle by the Earl of Derby, soon afterwards Henry -IV., Froissart says:--“King Richard had a greyhound called Math, -beautiful beyond measure who would not notice nor follow any one but -the king. Whenever the king rode abroad the greyhound was loosed by -the person who had him in charge, and ran instantly to caress him, by -placing his two fore feet on his shoulders. It fell out that as the -king and the Duke of Lancaster were conversing in the court of the -castle, their horses being ready for them to mount, the greyhound was -untied, but instead of running as usual to the king, he left him, and -leaped to the Duke of Lancaster’s shoulders, paying him every court, -and caressing him as he was formerly used to caress the king. The duke -asked the king, ‘What does this mean?’ ‘Cousin,’ replied the king, ‘it -means a great deal for you, and very little for me. This greyhound -fondles and pays his court to you this day as King of England.’”[438] -That such a pet as Math once so given to fawn upon his royal master -should, with other emblematic animals, have been figured in the pattern -on a textile meant for its master’s wear, or that of his court, seems -very likely: and thus the piece before us possesses a more than -ordinary interest. - - [436] Mon. Anglic. t. viii. p. 1281, ed. Caley. - - [437] Antient Kalendars and Inventories, ed. Palgrave, t. ii. p. 252. - - [438] Froissart’s Chronicles, by Johnes, t. ii. chap. cxiii. p. 692. - -Respecting ecclesiastical symbolism, we have to observe that with -regard to the subjects figured upon these liturgical embroideries, we -may see at a glance, that the one untiring wish, both of the designer -and of those who had to wear those vestments, was to set before the -people’s eyes and to bring as often as possible to their mind the -divinity of Christ, strongly and unmistakably, along with the grand -doctrine of the Atonement. Whether it be cope, or chasuble, or reredos, -or altar-frontal such a teaching is put forth upon it. Beginning with -the divinity of our Saviour’s manhood, sometimes we have shown us how, -with such lowly reverence, Gabriel spoke his message to the Blessed -Virgin Mary with the mystic three-flowered lily standing up between -them; or the Nativity with the shepherds or the wise men kneeling in -adoration to acknowledge the divinity of our Lord even as a child -just born; then some event in His life, His passion, His scourging at -the pillar, the bearing of His cross, His being crowned with thorns, -always His crucifixion, often above that, His upraised person like -a king enthroned and crowning her of whom He had taken flesh; while -everywhere about the vestment are represented apostles, martyrs, -and saints all nimbed with glory, and among them, winged seraphim -standing upon wheels, signifying that heaven is now thrown open to -fallen but redeemed man, who, by the atonement wrought for him by our -Divine Redeemer, is made to become the fellow-companion of angels and -cherubim. To this same end, the black vestments worn at the services -for the dead were, according to the old English rite, marked; the -chasubles on the back with a green cross upon a red ground, the copes -with a red orphrey at their sides, to remind those present that while -they mourned their departed friend, they must believe that his soul -could never enter heaven unless made clean and regenerated by the -atoning blood shed for it on the cross. - -At his dubbing, “unto a knight is given a sword, which is made in the -semblance of the cross, for to signify how our Lord God vanquished in -the cross the death of human lineage, to the which he was judged for -the sin of our first father Adam.” This we are told in the “Order of -Chivalry,” translated by Caxton.[439] While stretched wounded and dying -on the battle-field, some friendly hand would stick a sword into the -ground before the expiring knight, that as in its handle he beheld this -symbol of the cross, he might forgive him who had struck him down, as -he hoped forgiveness for himself, through the atonement paid for him on -the cross at Calvary. - - [439] Typographical Antiquities, ed. Dibdin, t. i. p. 234. - -The ages of chivalry were times of poetry, and we therefore feel no -surprise on finding that each young knight was taught to learn that -belonging to every article of his armour, to every colour of his -silken array, there was a symbolism which he ought to know. All these -emblematic significations are set forth in the “Order of Chivalry,” -which we just now quoted. The work is very rare, but the chapter on -this subject is given by Ames in his “Typographical Antiquities of -Great Britain;”[440] as well as in “Lancelot du Lac” modernized and -printed in the “Bibliothèque Bleu,” pp. 11, 12. In that black silk -chasuble with a red orphrey upon which our Lord is figured hanging upon -a green cross--“cum crucifixo pendente in viridi cruce,”[441] it was -for a particular reason that the colour of this wood for the cross is -specified: as green is the tint of dress put on by the new-born budding -year, which thus foretells of flowers and fruits in after months, so -was this same colour the symbol of regeneration for mankind, and the -promise of paradise hereafter. For such a symbolic reason is it that, -upon the wall painting lately brought again to light in West Somerton -Church, Norfolk, our uprisen Lord is shown stepping out of the grave, -mantled in green, with the banner of the resurrection in His left hand, -and giving a blessing with His upraised right. At all times, and in -every land, the “Language of Flowers” has been cultivated, and those -who now make it their study will find much to their purpose in Chaucer, -especially in his “Flower and the Leaf.” There speaking of “Diane, -goddesse of chastite,” the poet says:-- - - And for because that she a maiden is, - In her hond the braunch she beareth this, - That agnus castus men call properly; - - * * * * * - - And tho that weare chapelets on their hede - Of fresh woodbind, be such as never were - Of love untrue in word, thought ne dede, - But aye stedfast, &c.[442] - - [440] Ibid. - - [441] Oliver, p. 134. - - [442] Works, ed. Nicolas, t. vi. p. 259. - -Were it not for this symbolism for the woodbine, we had been quite -unable to understand why in our old testamentary bequests, the flower -should have been so especially mentioned as we find in the will of Joan -Lady Bergavenny who, A.D. 1434, leaves to one of her friends, a “bed -of silk, black and red, embroidered with woodbined flowers of silver,” -&c.[443] Besides its symbolism of those colours--black and red--for -which we have but this moment given the reasons, p. cxlix., the funeral -cope which we noticed before, p. cxxvi., showed a symbolism of flowers -in the woodbine wrought upon it. Sure may we be that the donor’s -wish--perhaps the fingers of a weeping widow had worked it for Lincoln -Cathedral--was to tell for her in after days the unfaltering love she -ever bore towards her husband, and to say so every time this vestment -happened to be worn at the services sounded for him. May be that quaint -old likeness of Anne Vavasour, exhibited here A.D. 1868 among the -“National Portraits,” and numbered 680, p. 138 of the Catalogue, had -its background trailed all over with branches of the woodbine in leaf, -at the particular behest of a fond spouse Sir H. Lee, and so managed -that the plant’s only cyme of flower should hang just below her bosom. -By Shakespeare floral symbolism was well understood; and he often shows -his knowledge of it in “A Winter’s Tale,” act iv. scene iii. He gives -us several meanings of flower-speech, and when he makes (Henry VIII. -act iv. scene ii.) Queen Katherine say to Griffith “Farewell--when I am -dead--strew me over with maiden flowers, that all the world may know I -was a chaste wife to my grave,” he tells of an olden custom still kept -up among us, and more fully carried out in Wales and the Western parts -of England, where the grave of a dear departed one is weekly dressed by -loving hands with the prettiest flowers that may be had. The symbolism -of colours is learnedly treated by Portal in his “Couleurs Symboliques.” - -The readers of those valuable inventories of the chasubles, copes, -and other liturgical silk garments which belonged to Exeter cathedral -and that of London, about the middle of the thirteenth century, will -not fail to observe that some of them bore, amongst other animals, -the horse, and fish of different sorts, nay, porpoises figured on -them: “una capa de palla cum porphesiis et leonibus deauratis,”[444] -“due cape de palla cum equis et avibus,”[445] “unum pulvinar -breudatum avibus, piscibus et bestiis,”[446] “capa de quodam panno -Tarsico, viridis coloris cum pluribus piscibus et rosis aurifilo -contextis.”[447] Even here, under No. 8229, p. 151, we have from the -East a small shred of crimson silk, which shows on it a flat-shaped -fish. If to some minds it be a subject of wonderment that, amid flowers -and fruits, not only birds and beasts--elephants included--but such odd -things as fish, even the porpoise, are to be found represented upon -textiles chosen for the service of the altar, they should learn that -all such stuffs were gladly put to this very use for the symbolism they -carried, by accident, about them. Then, as now, the clergy had to say, -and the people to listen daily to that canticle: “O all ye works of -the Lord, bless ye the Lord; O ye angels of the Lord, O ye whales, and -all that move in the waters, O ye fowls of the air, O all ye beasts -and cattle, bless ye the Lord and magnify Him for ever!” Not merely -churchmen, but the lay folks, deemed it but fitting that while the -prayer above was being offered up, an emphasis should be given to its -words by the very garment worn by the celebrant as he uttered them. - - [443] Test. Vet. i. 228. - - [444] Oliver’s Exeter, p. 299. - - [445] Ibid. - - [446] St. Paul’s, p. 316. - - [447] Ibid. p. 318. - - - - -SECTION VIII.--LITERATURE AND LANGUAGES. - - -For those who bestow their attention upon Literature and Languages, -this collection must have, at times, an especial value, whichever way -their choice may lead them, whether towards subjects of biblical, -classic or mediæval study: proofs of this, we think, may be gathered, -up and down the whole of this “Introduction.” With regard to our own -country, we deem it quite impossible for any one among us to properly -know the doings, in private and in public, throughout this land in -by-gone days, or to take in all the beauty of many a passage in our -prose writers, much less understand several particulars in the poetry -of the middle ages, without an acquaintance, such as may be made here, -with the textiles and needlework of that period. - -To the student of languages, it may seem, at first sight, that he will -have nothing to learn by coming hither. When he looks at those two -very curious and interesting pieces, Nos. 1297, p. 296; 1465, p. 298, -and has read the scrolls traced upon them, he may perhaps, if he be in -search of the older forms of German speech, have to change his mind: of -the words, so often to be met with here, in real or pretended Arabic, -we say nothing. To almost every one among our English students of -languages there is one inscription done in needlework quite unreadable. -At No. 8278, p. 170, going round the four sides of this liturgical -appliance, are sentences in Greek, borrowed from the ritual, but hidden -to the Greek scholar’s eye, under the so-called Cyrillian character. - -Toward the second half of the ninth century, a monk, known in his -cloister under the name of Constantine, but afterwards, when a bishop, -as Cyrillus, became earnestly wishful of bringing all the many tribes -of the Sclavonic race to a knowledge of Christianity; and warming in -the heart of his brother Methodius a like hope, they both bethought -themselves, the sooner to succeed, of inventing an alphabet which -should be better adapted for that purpose than either the Greek or the -Latin one; and because its invention is owing, for the greater part, -to St. Cyril, it immediately took, and still keeps, its name from him, -and is now denominated Cyrillian. Of this invention we are told by Pope -John VIII. to whom the two brothers had gone together, to ask authority -and crave his blessing for their undertaking: “Letteras Sclavonicas, -a Constantino quodam philosopho repertas, quibus Deo laudes debitæ -resonant. Ep. ad Svaplukum, apud Dobrowsky, Institutiones Linguæ -Slavicæ.” This great and successful missionary took not any Gothic, -but a Greek model for his letters, as is shown by Dobrowsky. The -Sclaves who follow the Greek rite, use the Cyrillian letters in their -liturgical books, while those of the same people who use the Latin rite -employ, in their service, the Glagolitic alphabet, which was drawn -up in the thirteenth century. The probability is that this latter--a -modification of the Cyrillian, is no older than that period, and is not -from the hand, as supposed by some, of St. Jerom. - -A short time ago, the Sclaves celebrated with great splendour -the thousandth anniversary of St. Cyril, to whom they owe their -Christianity and their alphabet; and among the beautiful wall paintings -lately brought to light in the lower church of St. Clement at Rome, -by the zealous labours of Father Malooly, an Irish Dominican, the -translation of St. Cyril’s body from the Vatican, to that church, is -figured. - - - - -SECTION IX.--HERALDRY, - - -And how the appearance of it, real or imagined, under any shape, and -upon vestments, was made available, after different ways, in our -law-courts, ask for and shall have a passing notice. - -At the end of the fourteenth century, there arose, between the noble -houses of Scrope and Grosvenor, a difference about the legal right -of bearing on their respective shields the bend _or_ on a field -_azure_; and the suit was carried to the Court of Honour which sat at -Westminster, and commissioners were sent about the country for the -purpose of gathering evidence. - -Besides a numerous body of the nobility, several distinguished -churchmen were examined; and their depositions are curious. John, -Abbot of St. Agatha, in Richmondshire, said the arms (_Azure_, a -bend _or_, the bearing of the Scrope family who contended against -its assumption by the Grosvenors) were on a corporas case belonging -to the church of his monastery, of which the Scropes were deemed the -second founders.[448] John de Cloworthe, sub-prior of Wartre, exhibited -before the commissioners an amice embroidered on red velvet with -leopards and griffons _or_, between which are sewn in silk, in three -pieces, three escochens with the entire arms of Sir Richard Scrope -therein, viz.--_azure_ a bend _or_.[449] William, Prior of Lanercost, -said they had in their church the same arms embroidered on the morse -of a cope.[450] Sir Simon, parson of Wenslay (whose fine grave brass -may be seen in the “Church of Our Fathers,”[451]) placed before the -commissioners an albe with flaps, upon which were embroidered the arms -of the Scropes entire, &c.[452] The Scropes were the patrons of that -living. Thomas de Cotyngham, prior of the Abbey of St. Mary, York, said -that they had vestments with the Scrope arms upon them.[453] Sir John -de Manfeld, parson of the Church of St. Mary sur Rychille, in York, -said that in the church were diverse vestments on which were sewn, in -silk, the entire arms of Scrope.[454] Sir Bertram Mountboucher said -that these arms of the Scropes were to be seen on vestments, &c., in -the abbey and churches where Sir R. Scrope was born.[455] Not the least -remarkable individual who bore evidence on the subject was the poet -Chaucer, who was produced on behalf of Sir Richard Scrope. When asked -whether the arms _azure_, a bend _or_, belonged, or ought to belong -to the said Sir Richard? said yes, for he saw him so armed in France, -&c., and that all his time he had seen the said arms in banners, glass, -paintings and vestments, and commonly called the Arms of Scrope.[456] -For the better understanding of all these evidences the reader should -look at No. 8307, p. 185, an amice with its old apparel still on it. -The “flaps” of an alb are now called apparels; and an old one, with -these ornaments upon it, both at the cuffs as well as before and -behind, is in this collection, No. 8710, p. 268 of the Catalogue. The -two fine old English apparels here, No. 8128, p. 146, show how shields -with heraldry could be put along with Scriptural subjects in these -embroideries. The monumental effigy of a priest --a Percy by birth--in -Beverley Minster, exhibits how these apparels, on an amice, were -sometimes wrought with armorial bearings. Of “corporas cases,” there -are several here, and pointed out at pp. 112, 144, 145, and 194 of the -Catalogue. - - [448] Scrope and Grosvenor Rolls, ed. Sir H. Nicolas, t. ii. p. 275. - - [449] Ibid. p. 278. - - [450] Ibid. p. 279. - - [451] T. i. p. 325. - - [452] Scrope and Grosvenor Rolls, ed. Sir H. Nicolas, t. ii. p 330. - - [453] Ibid. p. 344. - - [454] Ibid. p. 346. - - [455] Ibid. p. 384. - - [456] Ibid. p. 411. - -Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, the last of the Plantagenets, and -mother of Lord Montague and Cardinal Pole, was, like her son the peer, -beheaded, and at the age of seventy, by their kinsman Henry VIII. This -fact is recorded by Collier;[457] but Miss A. Strickland mentions -it more at length in these words:--Cromwell produced in the House -of Lords, May 10th, by way of evidence against the aged Countess of -Salisbury, a vestment (a chasuble no doubt) of white silk that had -been found in her wardrobe, embroidered in front with the arms of -England, surrounded with a wreath of pansies and marigolds, and on the -back the representation of the host with the five wounds of our Lord, -and the name of Jesus written in the midst. The peers permitted the -unprincipled minister to persuade them that this was a treasonable -ensign, and as the Countess had corresponded with her absent son -(Cardinal Pole) she was for no other crime attainted of high treason, -and condemned to death without the privilege of being heard in her own -defence.[458] The arms of England, amid the quarterings of some great -families, are even now to be found upon vestments; a beautiful one -was exhibited here, A.D. 1862, and described in the Loan Catalogue, -p. 266; another fine one is at present at Abergavenny. With regard to -the representation of the “Host with the five wounds of our Lord,” &c. -this is of very common occurrence in ecclesiastical embroidery; and in -this very collection, on the back orphrey to the splendid chasuble, No. -8704, p. 264 of this Catalogue, we find embroidered the crucifixion, -and a shield _gules_, with a chalice _or_ and a host _argent_ at top, -done in Flanders full half a century before the “Pilgrimage of Grace” -in our northern counties had adopted such a common device upon their -banner when the people there arose up against Henry VIII. - - [457] Eccles. Hist. t. v. p. 51, ed. Lathbury. - - [458] Queens of England, iii. p. 68. - -To a Surrey, for winning the day at Flodden Field, King Henry VIII. -gave the tressured lion of the royal arms of Scotland to be borne upon -the Howard bend as arms of augmentation. In after years, the same -Henry VIII. cut off a Surrey’s head because he bore, as his House had -borne from the time of one of their forefathers, Thomas de Brotherton, -Edward I.’s son, the arms of the Confessor, the use of which had been -confirmed to it by Richard II. If, like Scrope, Surrey had bethought -himself of vestments, even of the few we have with the royal arms upon -them, and assumed by other English noblemen, perhaps those liturgic -embroideries might have stood him in some good stead to save his life. -Had the poor aged Countess of Salisbury been heard, she might have -shamed her kinsman the king not to take her life for using upon her -church furniture emblems, then as now, employed upon such appliances -throughout all Christendom. - -For the genealogist, the lawyer, the herald, the historian, such of -these old liturgical garments as, like the Syon cope, bear armorial -shields embroidered upon them, will have a peculiar value, and a more -than ordinary interest. Those emblazonries not only recall the names of -men bound up for ever with this land’s history, but may again serve, -as they once before have served, to furnish the lost link in a broken -pedigree, or unravel an entangled point before a law tribunal. - - - - -SECTION X.--BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. - - -By all those for whom, among other allurements drawing them on in their -studies of Botany and Zoology, one is the gratification they feel in -learning how many of the subjects belonging to these two sections of -the natural sciences were known, and how they used to be depicted -during the middle ages, this large collection of textiles figured so -often with birds, beasts and flowers, will be heartily welcomed. - -Our Zoological Society prides itself, and in justice, with treating -the Londoners with the first sight of a live giraffe; but here its -members themselves may behold, Nos. 8591-91A, p. 224; 8599, p. 228, -the earliest known portrait of that curious quadruped sketched upon -Sicilian silks of the fourteenth century. - -We once listened to a discussion between English sportsmen about the -travels of the pheasant from its native home by the banks of the river -Phasis at Colchis, and the time when it reached this island. Both -parties agreed in believing its coming hither to have been somewhat -late. Be that as it may, our country gentlemen will see their favourite -bird figured here, No. 1325, p. 60. - -About the far-famed hunting cheetahs of India, we have heard, and -still hear much; and on pieces of silk from eastern looms, in this -collection, they are often to be seen figured. - -With regard to the way in which all kinds of fowl, as well as animals -are represented on these stuffs, there is one thing which we think will -strike most observers who compare the drawing of them here with that -of the same objects among the illuminations in old MSS. The birds and -beasts on the textiles are always very much better rendered than in the -wood-cuts to be found in our old black-letter books, from Caxton’s days -upwards, especially in such works as that of Æsop and the rest. Figures -of animals and of birds in manuscripts are hardly better, as we may see -in the prints of our own Sir John Maundevile’s Travels, and the French -“Bestiaire d’Amour,” par R. de Fournival, lately edited by C. Hippeau. -Scarcely better does their design fare in illuminated MSS. Belonging to -the Duke of Northumberland, and now in the library at Alnwick castle is -the finest Salisbury missal we have ever beheld. This tall thick folio -volume was, some time during the end of the fourteenth century, begun -to be written and illuminated by a Benedictine monk--one John Whas--who -carried on this gorgeous book as far as page 661. From the two Leonine -verses which we read there, it would seem that this labour of love -carried on for years at early morn in the scriptorium belonging to -Sherbourne Abbey, Dorsetshire, had broken, as well it might, the health -of the monk artist, of whom it is said:-- - - “Librum scribendo Ion Whas monachus laborabat; - Et mane surgendo multum corpus macerabat.” - -Among his other tastes, this Benedictine had that for Natural History, -and in the beautifully illuminated Kalendar at the beginning of this -full missal, almost every month is pointed out by the presence of -some bird, or fish, or flower, peculiar to that season, with its name -beneath it,--for instance, “Ys is a throstle,” &c. However much the -thrush’s song may have cheered him at his work at Spring-tide peep -of day, Whas did not draw his bird with half the individuality and -truthfulness which we find in birds of all sorts that are figured upon -Sicilian stuffs woven at the very period when the English Benedictine -was at work within the cloisters of his house in Dorsetshire--a fact -which may lead the ornithologist to look with more complacency upon -those textiles here patterned with Italian birds. - -For Botany, it has not gone so well; yet, notwithstanding this -drawback, there are to be seen figured upon these textiles plants and -trees which, though strangers to this land and to Europe, and their -forms no doubt, oddly and clumsily represented, yet, as they keep about -them the same character, we may safely believe to have a true type in -nature, which at last by their help we shall be able to find out. Such -is the famous “homa,” or “hom,”--the sacred tree--among the ancient -followers of Zoroaster, as well as the later Persians. It is to be seen -figured on many silks in this collection of real or imitated Persian -textiles, woven at various periods during the middle ages. - -From the earliest antiquity a tradition came down throughout middle -Asia, of some holy tree--perhaps the tree of life spoken of as growing -in Paradise.--Gen. ii. 9. Some such a tree is very often to be seen -sculptured on Assyrian monuments; and, by the place which it holds -there, must have been held in peculiar, nay religious veneration. Upon -those important remains from Nineveh, now in the British Museum, and -figured in Mr. Layard’s fine work, it appears as the object of homage -for the two men symbolized as sacerdotal or as kingly personages, -between whom it invariably stands. It is to be found equally figured -upon the small bucket meant for religious rites,[459] as embroidered -upon the upper sleeve of the monarch’s tunic.[460] From Fergusson’s -“Palaces of Nineveh, and Persepolis restored,” we learn that it was -frequently to be found sculptured as an architectural ornament. When -seen done in needlework upon dresses, the two animals--sometimes -winged bulls, sometimes gazelles--which its umbel of seven flowers -is separating, are shown with bended knees, as if in worship of it. -Always this plant is represented as a shrub, sometimes bearing a series -of umbels with seven flowers sprouting, each at the end of a tangled -bough; sometimes as a stunted tree with branches growing all the way -up right out of a thick trunk with ovated leaves; but the height never -looks beyond that of a good sized man. Never for one moment can it be -taken as any conventionalism for a tree, since it is as distinct an -imitation of a particular plant, as is the figure of the palm which -occurs along with it. To us, it has every look of belonging to the -family of Asclepiadeæ, or one of its near kindred. - -The few Parsees still to be found in East India, are the only followers -of Persia’s olden religious practices; and in his “Essays on the sacred -writings, language, and religion of the Parsees,” Haug tells us,[461] -that those people yet hold a certain plant--the Homa, or hom?--to -be sacred, and from it squeeze a juice to be used by them in their -religious services. To our seeming, those buckets in the left hand of -many an Assyrian figure were for holding this same liquor. - -Can the “hom” of the old Persians be the same as the famous Sidral -Almuntaha which bears as many leaves inscribed with names as there are -men living on the earth? At each birth a fresh leaf bearing the name of -the newly born bursts out, and, when any one has reached the end of his -life, the leaf withers and falls off.[462] - -Though unable to identify among the plants of Asia, which was the “hom” -or tree of life, held so sacred by the Assyrians and later Persians, we -know enough about that king of fruits--the “pine-apple”--as to correct -a great mistake into which those have fallen who hitherto have had to -write about the patterns figured on ancient or mediæval textiles. In -their descriptions, we are perpetually told of the pine-apple appearing -there; and at a period when the Ananas, so far from having been even -once beheld in the old world, had never been dreamed of. Among the -Peruvians our pine-apple, the “Nanas,” was first found and seen by -Europeans. Hardly more than two hundred years ago was a single fruit -of it brought to any place in the old world. A little over a century -has it been cultivated here in England; and, as far as our memory goes, -a pine-apple, fifty years ago, had never been planted in any part of -Italy or Sicily, nor so much as seen. Writing, October 17, 1716, from -Blankenburg, and telling her friend all about a royal dinner at which -she had just been, Lady Mary Wortley Montague says:--“What I thought -worth all the rest (were) two ripe Ananasses, which, to my taste, are -a fruit perfectly delicious. You know they are naturally the growth of -Brazil, and I could not imagine how they came here, but by enchantment. -Upon enquiry, I learned that they have brought their stoves to such -perfection, &c. I am surprised we do not practise in England so useful -an invention.”[463] As turnips grow in England, so do artichokes all -over middle and south Italy, as well as Sicily, large fields are full -of them. Put side by side with the pine-apple, and its narrow stiff -leaves, the artichoke in bloom amid its graceful foliage, shows well; -and every artistic eye will see that the Sicilian weaver, so fond of -flowers and nice foliage for his patterns, must have chosen his own -vegetable, unfolding its beauties to him at every step he took, and not -a fruit of which he had never heard, and which he had never looked upon. - -In his description of fruits or flowers woven on a textile, let not the -youthful or unwary writer be led astray by older men with a reputation -howsoever high for learning other than botanical. Some years ago we -were reading with great delight a tale about some things that happened -in the third century, and near Carthage. Though avowedly a fiction, -most of its incidents were facts, so admirably put together that they -seemed to have been drawn by the pen of one who had lived upon the -spot. But taking one of his personages to a walk amid the hills running -down to the shores of North Africa, the writer leads him through a -narrow glen tangled over head, and shaded with sweet smelling creepers -and climbers, among which he sees the passion-flower in full bloom. -Now, as every species--save one from China of late introduction--that -we have of this genus of plants, came to the old world from the new -one, to speak of them as growing wild in Africa, quite fourteen hundred -years before they could have been seen there, and America was known, is -spoiling a picture otherwise beautifully sketched. - - [459] Layard’s Discoveries at Nineveh, abridged, p. 46. - - [460] Ibid. p. 245. - - [461] Pp. 132, 239. - - [462] The Bible, the Koran, and the Talmud, or Biblical Legends of - Mussulmans compiled, &c., by Dr. G. Weil, pp. 183, 184. - - [463] Letters, t. i. p. 105, London, 1763. - - * * * * * - -With some, there perhaps may be a wish to know what was the origin of -this collection. - -As is set forth, in the “Church of Our Fathers,”[464] some thirty years -ago there began to grow up, amid a few, a strong desire to behold a -better taste in the building of churches, and the design of every -ecclesiastical accessory. Our common sympathies on all these points -brought together the late Mr. A. Welby Pugin, and him who writes these -lines, and they became warm friends. What were the results to Pugin -through our intercourse he himself has acknowledged in his “Principles -of Pointed or Christian Architecture,” p. 67. To think of anything and -do it, were, with Pugin, two consecutive actions which followed one -another speedily. While at Birmingham Hardman was working in metal, -after drawings by Pugin, and putting together a stained-glass window -from one of his cartoons, a loom at Manchester, which had been geared -after his idea, was throwing off textiles for church use, and orphreys, -broad and narrow, were being wove in London: the mediæval court at Hyde -Park, in the year 1851, was the gem of our first Exhibition. Going -back, a German lady took from England a cope made of the textiles that -had been designed by Pugin. This vestment got into the hands of Dr. -Bock, whose feelings were, as they still are, akin to our own in a -love for all the beauties of the mediæval period. While so glad of his -new gift, it set this worthy canon of Aix-la-Chapelle thinking that -other and better patterns were to be seen upon stuffs of an old and -good period, could they be but found. He gave himself to the search, -and took along with him, over the length and breadth of Europe, that -energy and speed for which he is so conspicuous; and the gatherings -from his many journeys, put together, made up the bulk of a most -curious and valuable collection--the only one of its kind--which has -found an abiding home in England, at the South Kensington Museum. Thus -have these beautiful art-works of the loom become, after a manner, a -recompense most gratefully received, to the native land of those men -whose action, some thirty years ago, indirectly originated their being -brought together. - -Before laying down his pen, the writer of this Catalogue must put on -record his grateful remembrances of the kindness shown so readily -by M. Octave Delepierre, Secretary of Legation and Consul-General -for Belgium, in rendering those inscriptions of old German upon that -curious piece of hanging, No. 1297, p. 296, as well as upon another -piece of the same kind, No. 1465, p. 298. For the like help afforded -about the same, together with those several long inscriptions upon No. -4456, p. 92, the writer is equally indebted to Dr. Appell; and, without -the ready courtesy of the Rev. Eugene Popoff, the writer could not have -been able to have given the Greek readings, hidden under Cyrillian -characters, worked by the needle all around the Ruthenic Sindon, No. -8278, p. 170. - - 17, Essex Villas, - Kensington. - - [464] T. i. pp. 348, &c. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE - -OF THE COLLECTION OF CHURCH VESTMENTS, DRESSES, - -SILK STUFFS, NEEDLEWORK, AND TAPESTRIES - -IN THE SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -CONTENTS OF THE BOOK. - - -_Part the First._ - - Page - -CHURCH-VESTMENTS, SILK-STUFFS, NEEDLEWORK AND DRESSES 1 - - -_Part the Second._ - - TAPESTRY 294 - - -_The Brooke Collection._ - - NEEDLEWORK AND DRESSES 312 - - -_Lent by Her Majesty, and by the Board of Works._ - - TAPESTRY 324 - - INDEX I. Alphabetical 339 - INDEX II. Geography of Textiles 355 - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - No. Page - - 84. HOOD OF A COPE. Embroidered (Coloured plate). - _Flemish, 16th century_ _Frontispiece_ 3 - - 1269. SILK AND GOLD DAMASK. - _Sicilian, 14th century_ 37 - - 1362. SILK DAMASK. (Coloured plate.) - _North Italian, 16th century_ 74 - - 1376. PART OF THE ORPHREY OF A CHASUBLE. - _German, 15th century_ 82 - - 1376. PART OF THE ORPHREY OF THE SAME CHASUBLE. - _German, 15th century_ 82 - - 4068. STRIP OF RAISED VELVET. (Coloured plate.) - _North Italian, 16th century_ 90 - - 7004. SILK DAMASK. _Italian, late 16th century_ 113 - - 7039. SILK DAMASK. _Byzantine, 14th century_ 123 - - 7043. SILK DAMASK. _Sicilian, 15th century_ 125 - - 7795. SILK DAMASK (BACK OF A BURSE). _Italian, 16th century_ 145 - - 8264. SILK AND GOLD TISSUE. _Sicilian, early 14th century_ 166 - - 8265. LINEN AND SILK TEXTILE. _Spanish, late 14th century_ 166 - - 8331. LACE EMBROIDERY. _Milanese, late 16th century_ 197 - - 8605. SILK DAMASK. _Italian, 14th century_ 230 - - 8607. SILK DAMASK. _Sicilian, 14th century_ 231 - - 8626. SILK DAMASK. _Italian, end of 14th century_ 239 - - 8667. SILK AND GOLD EMBROIDERY. PORTION OF AN ORPHREY. - (Coloured plate.) _German, 15th century_ 252 - - 8702. SILK AND LINEN DAMASK. _Florentine, 16th century_ 264 - - 8704. PART OF THE ORPHREY OF A CHASUBLE. _Flemish, - very late 15th century_ 264 - - 9182. PART OF THE ORPHREY OF THE SYON MONASTERY COPE. - _English, 13th century_ 275 - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -PART THE FIRST. - - -_Church-vestments, Silk-stuffs, Needlework, and Dresses._ - - -64. - -Chinese Mandarin’s Tunic of Ceremony embroidered in various coloured -flos-silks and gold upon an orange-red satin. Chinese. 4 feet high by 6 -feet round, modern. - - Sprawling all in gold and lively colours, both before and behind, upon - this rich garment of state, is figured, with all its hideousness, the - imperial five-clawed dragon, before which, according to the royal - fancies of that land, the lion turns pale and the tiger is struck with - dumbness. In the ornamentation the light blue quantity of silk is very - conspicuous, more especially upon the broad lower hem of this robe. - - -78. - -Chasuble of crimson velvet, with both orphreys embroidered; the velvet, -pile upon pile, and figured with large and small flowers in gold and -colour, and other smaller flowers in green and white; the orphreys -figured with the Apostles and the Annunciation. Florentine, late 15th -century. 4 feet 3½ inches by 2 feet 5½ inches. - - Like most other chasubles, this has been narrowed, at no late period, - across the shoulders. The velvet is very soft and rich, and of that - peculiar kind that shows a double pile or the pattern in velvet upon - velvet, now so seldom to be found. On the back orphrey, which is quite - straight, is shown St. Peter with his keys; St. Paul with a sword; St. - John blessing with one hand, and holding a chalice, out of which comes - a serpent, in the other; St. James with a pilgrim’s hat and staff: - on the front orphrey the Annunciation, and St. Simon holding a club, - but his person so placed, that, by separating the archangel Gabriel - from the Blessed Virgin Mary, a tau-cross is made upon the breast; St. - Bartholomew with a knife, and St. James the Less with the fuller’s - bat. For their greater part, the Gothic niches in which these figures - stand, are loom-wrought; but these personages themselves are done - on separate pieces of fine canvas and are applied over spaces left - uncovered for them. Another curious thing is that in these applied - figures the golden parts of the draperies are woven, and the spaces - for the heads and hands left bare to be filled in by hand; and most - exquisitely are they wrought, for some of them are truly beautiful as - works of art. - - -79. - -Cope, crimson velvet, with hood and orphrey embroidered, &c. -Florentine, late 15th century. 9 feet 5½ inches by 4 feet 6 inches. - - This fine cope is of the same set a part of which was the beautiful - chasuble No. 78, and, while made of precisely the same costly - materials, is wrought with equal care and art. Its large fine hood is - figured with the coming down of the Holy Ghost upon the infant Church, - represented by the Blessed Virgin Mary amid the Apostles, and not - merely this subject itself, but the crimson colour of the velvet would - lead us to think that the whole set of vestments was intended for use - on Witsunday. On the orphrey, on the right hand, the first saint is - St. John the Baptist, with the Holy Lamb; then, Pope St. Gregory the - Great; afterwards, an archbishop, may be St. Antoninus; after him a - layman-saint with an arrow, and seemingly clad in armour, perhaps - St. Sebastian; on the left side, St. George with banner and shield; - under him St. Jerome, below whom, a bishop; and lowermost of all St. - Onuphrius, hermit, holding in one hand a cross on a staff, in the - other a walkingstick, and quite naked, saving his loins, round which - he wears a wreath of leaves. All these subjects are admirably treated, - and the heads done with the delicacy and truth of miniatures. - - -84. - -Hood of a Cope, figured with the Adoration of the Wise Men. Flemish, -16th century. 1 foot 8½ inches wide, 1 foot 4½ inches deep. - - This is one of the best preserved and the most beautiful works of the - period in the collection, and is remarkable for the goodness of the - gold, which is so plentifully bestowed upon it. It is somewhat large, - and the three long hooks by which it used to hang are still attached, - while its fine green and yellow silk fringe is a pleasing specimen of - such a kind of decoration. - - -540. - -Purse in crimson velvet, embroidered with comic masks, and mounted in -chased steel damascened in gold. Attached is a crimson Band with a -Buckle of cut and gilt steel. Milanese, 16th century. 11½ inches by -11 inches. - - The rich crimson velvet is Genoese; the frame, an art-work of the - Milan school, is figured with two monsters’ heads, and two medallions, - one containing a naked youth seated, the other a nude female figure - standing. On the front of the bag are applied two embroideries in gold - and coloured silk, one an owl’s head, the other that of a full-faced - grotesque satyr; on the back is another satyr’s side-face. At one - time, such bags or ornamental purses, under the name of “gibecières” - in France and England, but known in Italy as “borsa,” were articles - of dress worn by most people; and “the varlet with the velvet pouch” - will not be forgotten by those who have read Walter Scott’s novel of - “Quentin Durward.” The expressions, in English of “cut-purse,” in - Italian “taglia borse,” for a pickpocket, are well illustrated by this - gay personal appendage. - - -623. - -Piece of Edging; ground, purple thread-net; pattern, bunches of -flowers, of two sorts alternated, in various coloured flos-silks. -Italian, 18th century. 5 feet 5 inches by 5 inches. - - Intended for a border to a dress or to a bed-quilt, and no attention - shown to the botanical exactness of the flowers, most of which are - seemingly tulips. A large coverlet is edged with a broad piece of - needlework, after this manner, in the collection. - - -624. - -Piece of Edging; ground, purple thread-net; pattern, large flowers, -mostly the same, embroidered in various coloured flos-silks, within -scrolls and foliage. Italian, 18th century. 8 feet 3 inches by 11 -inches. - - Probably by the same hand as the foregoing piece, and equally - care-less of botanical exactness in the flowers. - - -625. - -Cushion-cover, oblong, centre in striped cherry-coloured silk, the -border of open work embroidered in various coloured flos-silks upon a -net of purple thread. Italian, 18th century. 2 feet 6 inches by 2 feet. - - The only difference in the way of the stitchery is that the - geometrical pattern shows the same on both sides. - - -626. - -Quilt for a Bed; ground, an amber-coloured cotton, figured with a -net-work of ovals and squares in diapered raised crimson velvet, the -ovals filled in with a floriation of crimson and green raised velvet; -the squares, with a small vase having a flower-bearing tree, crimson -raised velvet. This is the centre, which is bordered by a like kind -of stuff 11 inches deep; the ground, primrose yellow; the pattern, -ovals, enclosing a foliage bearing crimson and amber-tinted flowers, -and placed amid boughs bearing the same coloured flowers; on both edges -this border has three stripes--two crimson raised velvet, the third -and broader one a pattern in shades of purple--all on a light yellow -ground; at the ends of the quilt hangs a long party-coloured fringe -of linen thread; the lining of it is fine Chinese silk of a bright -amber, figured with sprigs of crimson flowers, shaded yellow and white. -Genoese, 17th century. 5 feet 11 inches by 3 feet 10½ inches. - - -627. - -Quilt for a Bed; ground, brown canvas; pattern, all embroidered scales -or scollops jagged like a saw, and overlapping each other in lines, -some blue and green shaded white or yellow, some amber. The border -is a broad scroll of large flowers, among which one at each corner, -the fleur-de-lis, is conspicuous. This again has a scollop edging of -flowers separated by what seem two Cs interlaced. French, 17th century. -7 feet 8 inches by 5 feet 8 inches. - - -673. - -Chasuble of green silk, figured with animals and scrolls in gold, with -an embroidered orphrey at back, and a plain orphrey in front. Sicilian, -early 13th century. 3 feet 9¾ inches by 2 feet 2 inches. - - This very valuable chasuble is very important for the beauty of its - stuff; but by no means to be taken as a sample in width of the fine - old majestic garment of that name, as it has been sadly cut down from - its former large shape, and that, too, at no very distant period. - Though now almost blue, its original colour was green. The warp is - cotton, the woof silk, and that somewhat sparingly put in; the design - showing heraldic animals, amid gracefully twining branches all in gold - and woven, is remarkably good and free. The front piece is closely - resembling the back, but, on a near and keen examination, may be - found to differ in its design from the part behind; on this we see - that it must have consisted of a lioncel passant gardant, langued, - and a griffin; on that on the part in front, a lioncel passant, and - a lioncel passant regardant. When the chasuble was in its first old - fulness, the design on both parts came out in all its minuteness; - now, it is so broken as not to be discernible at first. In front the - orphrey is very narrow, and of a sort of open lace-work in green and - gold; on the back the orphrey is very broad, 1 foot 1½ inches, and - figured with the Crucifixion, the Blessed Virgin Mary standing on our - Lord’s right hand, St. John the Evangelist on His left; below, the - Blessed Virgin Mary crowned as a queen and seated on a royal throne, - with our Lord as a child sitting on her lap; lower still, St. Peter - with two keys--one silver, the other gold--in his left hand, and a - book in the right; and St. Paul holding a drawn sword in his right, - and a book in his left; and, last of all, the stoning of St. Stephen. - All the subjects are large, and within quatrefoils; as much of the - body of our Lord as is uncovered on the Cross, and the heads, hands, - and feet in the other figures, as well as those parts of the draperies - not gold, are wrought by needle, while the golden garments of the - personages are woven in the loom. - - This very interesting chasuble has a history belonging to it, given - in “The Gentleman’s Magazine,” t. lvi. pp. 298, 473, 584, by which we - are taught to believe that it has always been in England; belonging - once to it were a stole and maniple, upon which latter appliance - were four armorial shields, which would lead to the idea that it had - been expressly made for the chapel of Margaret de Clare, Countess of - Cornwall, who is known to have been alive A.D. 1294. That time quite - tallies with the style of the stuff of which this chasuble is made; - and though now so worn and cut away, it is one of the most curious in - this or any other country, and particularly valuable to an English - collection. - - -675. - -Piece of the Bayeux Tapestry; ground, white linen; design, two narrow -bands in green edged with crimson (now much faded) with a very thin -undulating scroll in faded crimson, and green between them. English, -11th century. 3¼ inches by 2½ inches. - - Though done in worsted, and such a tiny fragment of that great but - debated historical work, it is so far a valuable specimen as it shows - the sort of material as well as style and form of stitch in which - the whole was wrought. In the “Vetusta Monimenta,” published by the - Society of Antiquaries, plate 17, shows, in large, a portion of this - embroidery where the piece before us is figured; and, from the writing - under it, we learn that it was brought away from Bayeux by Mrs. - Stothard, when her husband was occupied in making drawings of that - interesting record. There is not the slightest reason for believing - that this embroidery was the work of Matilda, or any of her ladies of - honour, or waiting maids; but all the probabilities are that it was - done by English hands, may be in London by order, and at the cost, of - one or other of three knights from Bayeux, who came over with William, - on whom he bestowed much land in England, as we have already shown in - the Introduction to this Catalogue, § 4. - - -698. - -Door-curtain, ground, yellow and gold; pattern, in rich raised green -velvet, two small eagles with wings displayed, and between them a -large vase, out of which issues a conventional flower showing the -pomegranate, surmounted by a modification of the same fruit amid -wide-spreading foliations. Milanese, 16th century. 8 feet 8 inches by 6 -feet 6 inches. - - Though the golden threads of the ground in this magnificent stuff - are much tarnished, still this piece is very fine, and may have been - part of some household furniture wrought at the order of the Emperor - Charles V, whose German eagle is so conspicuous in the design, while - the pomegranate brings to mind Spain and Granada. - - -699. - -Piece of Embroidery; ground, a brown fine linen, backed with strong -canvas; pattern, female figures, monkeys, flowers, shells, &c. in -coloured worsteds. French, late 17th century. 8 feet 9 inches by 8 feet -3 inches. - - This large work is admirably done, and a fine specimen both of the - taste with which the colours are matched, and the stitchery executed; - and it may have been intended as the hanging for the wall of a small - room. - - -700. - -Lady’s dress, white silk; embroidered with flowers in coloured silks -and gold and silver threads. Chinese, 18th century. 4 feet 2½ inches. - - Worked by order, very probably of some European dame, at Macao or - Canton, and exactly like No. 713 in design and execution. The gold and - silver, as in that, so in this specimen, are much tarnished. - - -701. - -Lady’s Dress, sky-blue satin; brocaded with white flowers, in small -bunches. French, late 18th century. 4 feet 7 inches. - - -702. - -Christening Cloak of green satin, lined with rose-coloured satin. -Chinese. 5 feet 8½ inches by 3 feet 6¾ inches. - - A fine specimen, in every respect, of Chinese manufacture; the satin - itself is of the finest, softest kind; whether we look at the green or - the light rose-colour, nothing can surpass either of them in tone and - clearness. Few European dyers could give those tints. - - In its present form this piece constituted an article to be found, - and even yet seen, in very many families in Italy, Germany, and - France, and was employed for christening occasions, when the nurse or - midwife wore it over her shoulders, like a mantle, for muffling up the - new-born babe, as she carried it, in state, to church for baptism. - In this, as in other specimens of the Museum, there was a running - string at top by which it might be drawn tight to the neck. Those who - have lived abroad for even a short time must have observed how the - nurse took care to let a little of this sort of scarf hang out of the - carriage-window as she rode with baby to church. The christening cloth - or cloak was, not long since, in use among ourselves. - - -703. - -Christening Cloak of bright red satin. Italian, 18th century. 5 feet by -5 feet 11 inches. - - The material is rich, and of a colour rather affected for the purpose - in Italy. - - -704. - -Christening Cloth or Cloak of murrey-coloured velvet. Italian, 17th -century. 8 feet by 5 feet 5 inches. - - The pile is soft and rich, and its colour, once such a favourite in - the by-gone days of England, of a delicious mellow tone. Like Nos. 702 - and 703, it robed the nurse as she went to the baptismal font with the - new-born child, and has the string round the neck by which it could be - drawn, like a mantle, about her shoulders. - - -705. - -Lady’s Dress of brocaded satin; ground, dull red; pattern, slips of -yellow flowers and green leaves. Italian, late 18th century. 4 feet -10½ inches. - - The satin is rich, but the tinsel, in white silver, tawdry. - - -706. - -Skirt of a Lady’s Dress of brocaded silk; ground, white; pattern, -bunches of flowers in pink, blue, yellow, and purple, amid a diapering -of interlaced strap-design in white flos-silk. French, 18th century. 3 -feet 3 inches. - - Good in material, but in pattern like many of the stuffs which came - from the looms of the period at Lyons. - - -707. - -Christening Scarf of white brocaded silk. Lucca, 17th century. 5 feet -square. - - Of a fine material and pleasing design. - - -708. - -Piece of green Silk Brocade; pattern, lyres, flowers, ribbons with -tassels. French, 18th century. 5 feet 6 inches by 1 foot 8 inches. - - -709. - -Skirt of a Lady’s Dress; ground, bright yellow, barred white; pattern, -a brocade in small flowers in gold, green, and red sparingly sprinkled -about. Italian, 18th century. 7 feet 8 inches by 3 feet 4 inches. - - A pleasing specimen of the time. - - -710. - -Piece of White Silk, brocaded with flowers in white flos-silk, and -in silver, between bands consisting of three narrow slips in white. -French, 17th century. 5 feet by 4 feet 6 inches. - - When the silver was bright and untarnished, the pattern, so quiet in - itself, must have had a pleasing effect. - - -711. - -Christening Scarf of silk damask; ground, light blue; pattern, flowers -in pink, white, and yellow. Levant, 18th century. 5 feet 5 inches by 5 -feet. - - Garish in look, still it has a value as a specimen of the loom in the - eastern parts of the Mediterranean; the blue diapering on the blue - ground shows, in the architectural design, a Saracenic influence. - - -712. - -Piece of Damask Silk; ground, crimson; pattern, flowers and vases in -white and green. Italian, 17th century. 8 feet 9 inches by 1 foot 9 -inches. - - Rich in substance, and intended for hangings in state rooms. - - -713. - -Skirt of a Lady’s Dress; white silk embroidered with flowers in -coloured silks, and gold and silver. Chinese, 18th century. 3 feet. - - Though well done, and by a Chinese hand, very likely at Canton or - Macao, for some European lady, it is far behind, in beauty, the - Chinese piece No. 792. - - -714. - -Christening Cloak of yellow silk damask; pattern, bunches of flowers. -Lucca, 17th century. 7 feet 10 inches by 5 feet. - - Like other such cloaks, or scarves, it has its running string, and is - of a fine rich texture. - - -715. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, dove-coloured white; pattern, large -foliage in pale green. Italian, 18th century. 4 feet 8 inches by 3 feet -8 inches. - - A fine material, and the bold design well brought out. - - -716. - -Christening Cloak of pink satin damask. Italian, 18th century. 4 feet 8 -inches by 4 feet 6 inches. - - The little sprigs of fruits and flowers are well arranged; and the - pomegranate is discernible among them. - - -717. - -Piece of Silk Brocade; ground, stone-white chequered silk; pattern, -deep blue garlands and bunches of flowers, both dotted with smaller -flowers in silver. Italian, 17th century. 3 feet 8 inches by 3 feet. - - -718. - -Piece of Embroidered Silk; ground, sky-blue; pattern, leaves, flowers, -and fruit, in white silk. Italian, 18th century. 3 feet 8 inches by 3 -feet. - - The embroidery is admirably done, and the pomegranate is there among - the fruit. - - -719. - -Door-curtain, crimson worsted velvet; pattern, flowers and foliage. -Italian, 17th century. 10 feet 3 inches by 4 feet 3 inches. - - A very fine and rich specimen of its kind, and most likely wrought at - Genoa. - - -720. - -Piece of Silk; ground, white; pattern, flowers and foliage, embroidered -in gold thread and coloured silks. Chinese, 18th century. 3 feet 2½ -inches by 1 foot 6½ inches. - - Another specimen of Chinese work done for Europeans, and most likely - after an European design; in character resembling other examples in - this collection from the same part of the world. - - -721. - -Piece of Silk; ground, white; pattern, flowers and pomegranates -embroidered in gold and coloured silks. Neapolitan, 17th century. 3 -feet 3 inches by 1 foot 5 inches. - - The design is rich, the flowers well-raised, and the gold unsparingly - employed. - - -722. - -Cradle-coverlet; white satin quilted, after a design of fruits, and -branches of leaves upon a chequer pattern. French, 18th century. 3 feet -2½ inches by 3 feet. - - Among the fruits the symbolic pomegranate is not forgotten, perhaps as - expressive of the wish that the young mother to whom this quilt may - have been given by a lady friend, might have a numerous offspring, - hinted at by the many pips in the fruit. - - -723. - -Door-curtain of silk damask; ground, crimson; pattern, scrolls in gold -foliage, and flowers in coloured silks. Italian, early 17th century. 6 -feet 7 inches by 3 feet 5 inches. - - This is a fine rich stuff; it is lined with purple satin, and must - have been very effective when in use. - - -724. - -Chasuble of woven silk; ground, white; pattern, floral scrolls in -green, and lined pink; the cross at the back and the two stripes in -front in gold lace of an open design. French, 18th century. 4 feet 2 -inches by 2 feet 5 inches. - - The open-worked lace is good of its kind. - - -725. - -Altar-frontal of crimson velvet, ornamented on three sides with a -scroll ornamentation in gold, and applied; and with seven armorial -bearings all the same. French, 17th century. 6 feet 1 inch by 2 feet -6½ inches. - - The armorial shield, as it stands at present, is--_azure_ a cross - ankred _sable_ between two fleur-de-lis _argent_. On looking narrowly - at the azure velvet on which these charges are worked, it is evident - that something has been picked out, and, in its place, the sable-cross - has been afterwards wrought in, thus explaining the anomaly of colour - upon colour not in the original bearing. The applied ornaments in - gold are in flowers and narrow gold lace, and of a rich and effective - manner. - - -726. - -Cradle-coverlet of white satin; embroidered in white, with a roving -border of flowers, and fringed. French, 18th century. 3 feet 5½ -inches by 2 feet 8 inches. - - Rich in its material, and nicely wrought. - - -727. - -Skirt of a Lady’s Dress; sky-blue satin, quilted round the lower border -with a scroll of large palmate leaves, and bunches of flowers, with an -edging of fruits, in which the pomegranate may be seen. Italian, 18th -century. 8 feet 9 inches by 3 feet. - - The pattern in which the quilting comes out is very tasteful; and the - body of this skirt has an ornamentation in quilting of a cinquefoil - shape, and made to lap one over the other in the manner of tiles. - - -728. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, bright yellow silk ribbed; pattern, white -plumes twined with brown ribbons, and bunches of white flowers. Lucca, -17th century. 8 feet 10 inches by 7 feet. - - Of rich material and wrought for household use. - - -729. - -Door-curtain of yellow silk damask; pattern, strap-work and -conventional foliage. Italian, 17th century. 7 feet 2 inches by 5 feet. - - A bold design, and wrought in a good material. - - -730. - -Cope of brocaded silk; ground, orange-red; pattern, foliage, and -bunches of flowers amid white garlands, in coloured silks. French, 18th -century. 10 feet 10 inches by 5 feet 6 inches. - - The hood and morse are of the same stuff, which was evidently meant to - be for secular, not liturgical, use. - - -731. - -Door-curtain of crimson damask silk; pattern, a large broad -conventional floriation. Italian, 17th century. 10 feet by 8 feet 10 -inches. - - -732. - -Curtain of pale sea-green damask; pattern, large leaves and flowers. -Italian. 17 feet 8 inches by 13 feet 7 inches. - - The satiny ground throws up the design in its dull tone extremely - well; and the whole is edged with a border of narrow pale yellow lace, - figured with small green sprigs. - - -750. - -Table-cover; ground, fine ribbed cream-coloured linen; pattern, -flowers, butterflies, and birds, embroidered in various-coloured -flos-silks. Indian, 17th century. 7 feet by 5 feet 6 inches; fringe 3 -inches deep. - - The curiosity of this piece is that, like many such works of the - needle from India, the embroidery shows the same on both sides; and - there is evidently a Gothic feeling in the edgings on the borders of - the inner square. - - -786. - -Scull-cap of white satin; quilted after an elaborate running design. -English, 17th century, 10½ inches diameter. - - Tradition tells us that this scull-cap belonged to our King Charles - the First, and says, moreover, that, at his beheading, it was worn - by that unfortunate King. The style of design would not, as far - as art-worth can speak, invalidate such a history of this royal - ownership. Its lining is now quite gone. - - -792. - -Piece of Chinese Embroidery; ground, greyish white satin; pattern, -girls, flowers, birds, fruits, and insects in various-coloured flos and -thread silks, and gold. 11 feet by 1 foot 7 inches. - - Justly may we look upon this specimen as one among the best and most - beautiful embroideries wrought by the Chinese needle known, not merely - in this country, but in any part of Europe. Putting aside the utter - want of perspective, and other Chinese defective notions of art, it - is impossible not to admire the skilful way in which the whole of the - piece before us is executed. In the female figures there seems to - be much truthfulness with regard to the costume and manners of that - country; and the sharp talon-like length of finger-nails affected - by the ladies there is conspicuously shown in almost every hand. - The birds, the insects, the flowers are all admirably done; and the - tones of colour are so soft and well assorted, and there is such a - thorough Chinese taste displayed in the choice of tints--tints almost - unknown to European dyers--that the eye is instantly pleased with the - production. The embroidery itself is almost entirely well raised. - - -839. - -Piece of Velvet Hanging; ground, crimson velvet; pattern, large -conventional flowers and branches in yellow applied silk. Italian, 17th -century. 6 feet 4 inches by 1 foot 8 inches. - - This piece is rather a curiosity for the way in which its design is - done. On the plain length of velvet a pattern was cut, and the void - spaces were filled in with yellow silk, and the edges covered with - a rather broad and flat cording, and the whole--that is, velvet and - silk--gummed on to a lining of strong canvas, having the cord only - stitched to it. - - -840. - -Piece of Applied Work; ground, crimson velvet; pattern, large -conventional flowers in yellow satin. Italian, 17th century. 2 feet 6 -inches by 2 feet 3 inches. - - Here the same system is followed, but the ground is yellow satin - uncut, the crimson velvet being cut out so as to make it look the - ground, and the real ground the design, both are, as above, gummed on - coarse canvas. - - -841. - -Piece of Velvet Hanging; ground, yellow silk; pattern, scrolls and -flowers in applied crimson velvet. Italian, 17th century. 6 feet 4 -inches by 1 foot 9 inches. - - Executed exactly as No. 840. In all likelihood these three pieces - served as hangings to be put at open windows on festival days--a - custom yet followed in Italy. - - -842. - -Piece of Raised Velvet; ground, pale yellow silk; pattern, in raised -velvet, a fan-like floriation in crimson and green. Florentine, 16th -century. 3 feet 2 inches by 2 feet 1 inch. - - A specimen of rich household decoration. - - -843. - -Raised Velvet; ground, creamy white satin; pattern, the artichoke amid -wide-spreading ramifications in crimson raised velvet. Genoese, 17th -century. 2 feet 1 inch by 1 foot 8½ inches. - - Intended for household furniture. When hung upon the walls of a large - room this stuff must have had a fine effect. - - -882. - -Skirt of Female Attire; ground, coarse white linen; pattern, a broad -band of blue worsted, figured with flowers and animals in white thread, -and the broad edging of crochet work. German, 17th century. 3 feet -8½ inches by 2 feet 8 inches deep. - - This piece of embroidery must have been for secular personal use, and - not for any ecclesiastical employment, and very likely was part of the - holyday dress of some country girl in Germany or Switzerland. The blue - embroidery, though of a bold well-raised character, is coarse; so, - too, is the lace below it. - - -1029. - -An Algerine Embroidered Scarf; ground, very thin canvas; pattern, -a modification of the artichoke form, and ramifications in -various-coloured flos-silks, and parted by short bands of brace-like -work in white flos-silk. 2 feet 3¾ inches by 1 foot 3¾ inches. - - Neither old, nor remarkable as an art-work. - - -1030. - -Table-cover of linen, embroidered in white thread, with flowers, vases, -trophies, and monograms. French, 18th century. 4 feet 4 inches by 3 -feet 10 inches. - - This beautifully-executed piece of needlework is richly deserving a - notice from those who admire well-finished stitchery, which is here - seen to advantage. In the centre is a basket with wide-spreading - flowers, upon each side of which is a military trophy consisting of - cannon-balls, kettle-drums, other drums, knights’ tilting-lances, - halberts, swords, cannon, trumpets, all gracefully heaped together - and upholding a herald’s tabard blazoned with a leopard rampant, by - the side of which, and drooping above, are two flags, one showing - the three fleurs-de-lis of France, and the other with a charge that - is indistinct; and the whole is surmounted by a full-faced barred - helmet wreathed with a ducal coronet, out of which arises a plume of - ostrich feathers; on the other sides are two elegantly-shaped vases - full of flowers. At each of the four corners of this inner square is - the monogram A. M. V. P. T. between boughs, and surmounted by a ducal - coronet; and at every corner of the border below is a flaming heart - pierced by two arrows, while all about are eagles with wings displayed - and heads regardant, seemingly heraldic. - - -1031. - -Piece of Silk Brocade; ground, white; pattern, large red flowers seeded -yellow, and foliage mostly light green. Lyons, 18th century. 2 feet 10 -inches by 1 foot 9 inches. - - A specimen of one of those large showy flowered tissues in such favour - all over Europe during the last century, as well as in the earlier - portion of the present one, for church use. The example before us, in - all probability, served as a bishop’s lap-cloth at solemn high mass; - for which rite, see “The Church of our Fathers,” i. 409. - - -1032. - -Piece of Silk and Silver Brocade; ground, a brown olive; pattern, large -flowers, some lilac, but mostly bright crimson, intermixed with much -silver ornamentation. Lyons, 18th century. 2 feet 8½ inches, by 1 -foot 8½ inches. - - Another specimen of the same taste as No. 1031, but even more - garish. Like it, it seems to have served the purpose of a liturgical - lap-cloth, or, as it used to be called, a barm-cloth. - - -1033. - -Lectern-veil; ground, yellow satin; pattern, conventional flowers -in applied velvet in blue, green, and crimson. Italian, early 17th -century. 6 feet 6 inches by 1 foot 8 inches. - - In fact the whole of this liturgical veil for the deacon’s book-stand - is of the so-called “applied style;” that is, of pieces of satin and - of velvet cut out to the required shape, and sewed on the canvas - ground, and the edges bordered with a cord of silk, mostly white; and - altogether it has a rich appearance. - - -1035. - -Bed-coverlet; ground, white thread net; pattern, flowers in white -thread. Spanish, 17th century. 6 feet 5 inches by 5 feet 3½ inches. - - This specimen of netting and crochet needlework displays much taste in - its design of flowers, among which the rose and the pomegranate are - very conspicuous. It was wrought in four strips joined together by - narrow linen bands, and the whole edged with a shallow fringe. - - -1037, 1037A. - -Pieces of Stuff for Silk Sashes; pattern, perpendicular bars, -some whity-brown figured with gold and silver flowers, some plain -olive green, and bordered on both edges of the stuff with bands of -whity-brown ornamented with sprigs of gold flowers. Oriental, 16th -century. 2 feet 4½ inches, by 11 inches. - - The trimming and cross, done in tinsel, show that its last European - use was for the church; in the East, such silken stuffs, in long - lengths, are worn about the waist by men and women as a sash or girdle. - - -1038. - -Chasuble-back; ground, green satin; design, scrolls in raised red silk -thread. 18th century. Satin, French. 3 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 2 inches. - - Very likely the satin formed some part of a lady’s gown, and for its - richness was given to the church for making vestments. As a ritual - garment it could not have looked well, nor is its gaudy red embroidery - in good taste for any ecclesiastical purpose. - - -1039. - -Waistcoat-pattern, embroidered and spangled. Second half of the 18th -century. French. 10 inches by 7½ inches. - - Of such stuffs were gentlemen’s vests made in Paris under Louis XV., - and in London at the beginning of George III.’s reign. - - -1194, 1195. - -Orphreys for a Chasuble; ground, crimson silk; design, an angel-choir -in two rows amid wreaths, of which the flowers are silver and the -leaves gold, some shaded green; on the back orphrey are two heraldic -bearings. German, very late 15th century. - - This beautifully-wrought specimen of Rhenish needlework, most likely - done at Cologne, consists of twenty-six small figures of winged angels - robed in various liturgical vestments, and playing musical instruments - of all sorts--some wind, some stringed. Of these celestial beings - several wear copes over their white albs; others have over their albs - narrow stoles, in some instances crossed upon the breast as priests, - but mostly belt-wise as deacons: other some are arrayed in the - sub-deacon’s tunicle, and the deacon’s dalmatic: thus vested they hold - the instrument which each is playing; and no one but a German would - have thought of putting into angels’ hands such a thing as the long - coarse aurochs’ horn wherewith to breathe out heavenly music. On the - front orphrey are ten of such angels; on the one made in the shape of - a cross, for the back of the chasuble, there are sixteen. At both ends - of the short beam or transom of this cross we find admirably-executed - armorial bearings. The first blazon--that to the left--shows a shield - _gules_ an inescutcheon _argent_, over all an escarbuncle of eight - rays _or_, for CLEVES; dimidiated by, _or_ a fess checky _argent_ - and _gules_, for MARCK; surmounted by a helmet _argent_ crested with - a buffalo’s head cabosed _gules_, having the shut-down bars of the - helmet’s vizor thrust out through the mouth of the animal, which is - crowned ducally _or_ the attire _argent_ passing up within the crown; - and the mantlings _gules_. As if for supporters, this shield has - holding it two angels, one in a tunicle, the other in a cope. The - second shield--that on the right hand,--shows _gules_ an inescutcheon - _argent_, over all, an escarbuncle of eight rays _or_, crested and - supported as the one to the left, thus giving, undimidiated, the - blazon of the then sovereign ducal house of CLEVES. - - All these ornaments, armorial bearings, angels, flowers, and foliage, - are not worked into, but wrought each piece separately, and afterwards - sewed on the crimson silk ground, which is the original one; they - are “cut work.” The angels’ figures are beautifully done, and their - liturgic garments richly formed in gold, as are the leaves and stems - of the wreaths bearing large silver flowers. From its heraldry we may - fairly assume that the chasuble, from which these handsome orphreys - were stripped, belonged to the domestic chapel in the palace of the - Dukes of Cleves, and had been made for one of those sovereigns whose - wife was of the then princely stirring house of De la Marck. - - As was observed, while describing the beautiful Syon Cope, No. - 9182, the nine choirs of angels separated into three hierarchies is - indicated here also; and the distinction marked by the garments which - they are made to wear in these embroideries; some are clothed in - copes, others in tunicles, the remainder, besides their narrow stoles, - in long-flowing white albs only--that emblem of spotless holiness - in which all of them are garmented, as with a robe of light. The - bushiness of the auburn hair on all of them is remarkable, and done in - little locks of silk. - - For a student of mediæval music, this angel-choir will have an - especial interest; but, to our thinking, neither this, nor any other - production of the subject, whether wrought in sculpture, painting, or - needlework, hitherto found out on the Continent, at all comes up in - beauty, gracefulness, or value, to our own lovely minstrel-gallery in - Exeter Cathedral, or the far more splendid and truly noble angel-choir - sculptured in the spandrils of the triforium arches in the matchless - presbytery at Lincoln Minster. A cast of the Exeter minstrel-gallery - is put up here on the western wall of the north court, and among the - casts lent by the Architectural Society are those of the angels in - Lincoln. - - Of the musical instruments themselves, we see several in these two - pieces of cut-work. Beginning with the back orphrey, marked No. 1194 - at top, the first of the two angels is playing with the fingers of - both hands an instrument now indiscernible; the second, the lute; - below them one is beating a tabour with a stick; the other is turning - the handle of the gita, our hurdy-gurdy. After these we have an angel - blowing a short horn, while his fellow angel strikes the psaltery. - Then an angel robed as a deacon in alb, and stole worn like a belt - falling from his right shoulder to under his left arm, sounding the - sistrum or Jew’s harp, and his companion fingers with his right hand a - one-stringed instrument or ancient monochord. In the last couple, one - with a large bow is playing the viol, a long narrow instrument with - several silver strings. - - On the orphrey,--made in the shape of a cross and worn on the back - of the chasuble, No. 1195,--the first angel plays the pan-pipes; the - second, a gittern, or the modern guitar; the next two show one angel, - as a deacon in dalmatic, jingling an instrument which he holds by two - straps, hung all round with little round ball-like bells; and his - companion, robed in alb and stole crossed at the breast like a priest, - ringing two large hand-bells; lower down, of the two angels both - vested as deacons, one blowing a large, long curved-horn, like that - of the aurochs, the other, the shalmes or double-reeded pipe. Below - these, one in alb and stole, belt-wise as a deacon, blows a cornamuse - or bag-pipe; the other, as deacon, the aurochs’ horn. Then a deacon - angel has a trumpet; his fellow, a priest in alb and crossed stole, - is playing a triangle; last of all, one plays a tabour, the other the - monochord. So noteworthy are these admirable embroideries, that they - merit particular attention. - - -1233. - -A stole; ground, very pale yellow silk; design, an interlacing -strap-work in the greater part; for the expanding ends, a diamond in -gold thread, with a fringe of silk knots alternately crimson and green; -the lining, thin crimson silk. English or French, 13th century. 9 feet -9 inches by 1¾ inches in the narrow parts, and 2½ inches in the -expanded ends. - - Another of those specimens of weaving in small looms worked by young - women in London and Paris, during the 13th century, which we have met - in this collection. As the expanded ends are formed of small pieces - of gold web they were wrought apart, and afterwards sewed on to the - crimson silk ground. The design of the narrow part has all along its - length, at its two edges, a pair of very small lines, now brown, - enclosing a dented ornament. As a liturgical appliance, this stole, - for its perfect state of preservation, is valuable; Dr. Bock says - that a stole called St. Bernhard’s, now in the church of our Lady at - Treves, as well as another curious one in the former cathedral at - Aschaffenburg, are in length and breadth, just like this. - - -1234. - -Tissue of Silk and Cotton; the warp, cotton; the woof, silk; ground, -green; design, so imperfect that it can hardly be made out, but -apparently a monster bird in yellow, lined and dotted in crimson; -standing on a border of a yellow ground marked with crosses and mullets -of four points. Syrian, late 12th century. 6¾ inches by 4½ inches. - - When perfect this stuff must have been somewhat garish, from its - colours being so bright and not well contrasted. - - -1235. - -Tissue of Silk and Cotton; the warp, silks of different colours; the -woof, fawn-coloured fine cotton; design, stripes, the broader ones -charged with wild beasts, eagles, and a monster animal having a human -head; the narrow bands showing a pretended Arabic inscription. Syrian, -13th century. 13 inches by 2 inches. - - So very torn and worn away is this piece that the whole of its - elaborate design cannot be made out; but enough is discernible to - prove an Asiatic influence. The monster, with the human face staring - at us, calls to mind the Nineveh sculptures in the British Museum. - - -1236. - -Silk Damask; ground, crimson silk; pattern, in gold thread, two very -large lions, and two pairs, one of very small birds, the other of -equally small dragons, and an ornament not unlike a hand looking-glass. -Oriental, 14th century. 2 feet 5½ inches by 2 feet ½ inch. - - A piece of this same stuff is described under No. 7034 in this - catalogue; and Dr. Bock, in his useful work, “Geschichte der - Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” t. i. plate iv. has figured - it. - - -1237. - -Tissue of Silk; ground, dull reddish deep purple; design, a lozenged -diapering. South Italian, 13th century. 6½ inches by 5½ inches. - - So thin is this web that we may presume it was meant as a stuff for - lining garments of a richer texture. - - -1238. - -Piece of Linen, or the finest byssus of antiquity. Egyptian. 5½ -inches by 3 inches. - - Whether this very curious example of that rare and fine tissue known - in classic times, and later, as byssus, was of mediæval production in - Egypt, or found in one of the ancient tombs of that land, would be - hard to determine. Another equally fine and no less valuable specimen - may be seen in this collection, No. 8230. - - From Dr. Bock we learn that the sudary of our Lord, given to the Abbey - of Cornelimünster, near Aix-la-Chapelle, by the Emperor Louis the - Pious, circa A.D. 820, was much like the present example. - - -1239. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, creamy white; design, broad-banded -lozenges, enclosing a two-headed displayed eagle, and a pair of birds -addorsed, each within an oval. Greek, 11th century. 10¾ inches by -7½ inches. - - It is said to have been a fragment of the imperial tunic belonging - to Henry II, Emperor of Germany; and not unlikely. If wrought for - the occasion, and a gift from his imperial brother-Emperors of - Constantinople, Basil and Constantine, worthy was it for their sending - and of his acceptance, since the silk is rich, the texture thick, - and the design in accordance with the ensigns of German royalty. In - shreds, and ragged as it is, we may prize it as a valuable piece. - - -1240. - -Piece of Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, a yellowish green; design, -large elliptical spaces filled in with Saracenic figurations. The warp -is of green cotton, the woof, of pale yellow silk. South of Spain, 14th -century. 16½ inches by 4¾ inches. - - This strong stuff most likely came from the looms of Granada. - - -1240A. - -Piece of Silk and Cotton. - - Another piece of the same texture. - - -1241. - -Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, blue; design, circles filled in with -conventional ornamentation in crimson (now faded). Greek, 13th century. -15¼ inches by 7½ inches. - - In some very small parts of the pattern, at first sight, indications - appear of four-footed animals, but the outlines are a fortuitous - combination. This stuff is poor in material, and the design not very - artistic. - - -1242. - -Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, light green; design, a Saracenic -pattern formed by lines in long lozenges. South of Spain, 14th century. -9¾ inches by 7 inches. - - Much like in tint and style of pattern the fine specimen at No. 1240. - In both the Moslem’s sacred colour of green may be noticed, and the - two pieces may have been woven at Granada. - - -1243. - -Damask, silk and linen; ground, crimson and yellow stripes; design, on -the crimson stripes, circles enclosing a lion rampant, and six-petaled -flowers, in yellow; on the yellow, one stripe with flowers in white -silk, the other with flowers in gold, now faded black. Syrian, 14th -century. 7½ inches by 6¾ inches. - - The quality of this damask is coarse, from the great quantity of - thread of a thick size wrought up in it. The design has no particular - merit. - - -1244-1244C. - -Pieces of Damask; ground, gold; design, in crimson silk, broad round -hoops, marked with a golden floriation, and enclosing a lion passant, -the spaces between the hoops filled in with a floriated square topped -by fleur-de-lis. Sicilian, 14th century. Each piece about 4½ inches -square. - - When whole the design of this rich stuff must have been effective, and - the fragments we here have prove it to have been sketched in a bold - free style. Unfortunately, so bad was the gold that, in places, it - has turned green. The warp is of a thick linen thread, but, though it - gives a strength to the texture, is not to be perceived upon its face. - - -1245. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Damask; ground, crimson silk; design, a net-work -formed by cords twined into circles enclosing four V’s, put so as to -form a cross, and the meshes filled in alternately with a flower and a -leaf, each surrounded by a line like an eight-petaled floriation, all -in gold thick thread. Sicilian, 14th century. 5 inches by 4¾ inches. - - The way in which the pattern affects the form of a cross in its design - is remarkable. - - -1246. - -Silk Damask; ground, brick-red; design, within broad-banded squares, -ornamented with stars and flowers, a large double-headed eagle with -wings displayed. Greek, 13th century. 12½ inches by 8 inches. - - Being so very thin in texture, it is not surprising that this stuff - is in such a tattered condition. When new, it must have been meant, - not for personal wear, but rather for church purposes, or household - use, as the hanging of walls. Its design is not happy, and the - ornamentation about the eagle thick and heavy. - - -1247. - -Narrow Web for Orphreys; ground, a broad stripe of crimson silk between -two narrow ones of green; design, a succession of oblong six-sided -spaces in gold, filled in with a sort of floriated cross having -sprouting from both ends of the upright beam, stalks bending inwards -and ending in a fleur-de-lis, all in red silk. French, 13th century. -3¾ inches by 1-⅞ inches. - - Of this kind of textile, wrought by women in a small loom, we have - before us in this collection several specimens; and what was done - by poor females at the time in England and France, it is likely was - performed by industrious women elsewhere. The fleur-de-lis upon this - fragment leads us to think of France; but Dr. Bock informs us that - laces much like this in pattern were observed upon the royal robes in - which two princes of the imperial house of the Hohenstaufen were clad - for their burial, when their graves were opened in the cathedral of - Palermo. - - -1248. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Brocade; ground, blue silk; design, a broad -border with large pretended Arabic letters, and a griffin(?) segreant, -both in gold. Sicilian, early 13th century. 8¼ inches by 4-⅞ -inches. - - The heraldic monster-bird here, supposed to be a griffin, is drawn and - executed in a very spirited manner. - - -1249. - -Linen, embroidered, in gold and silk, with the figure of a king. -German, late 12th century. Diameter 6¾ inches. - - The figure of this grim-bearded personage is carefully worked, and the - gold employed is good though thin. Upon his head he wears a crown, - such as are figured upon the monuments of the time; the face is badly - drawn, but the ermine lining of his mantle is carefully represented. - - -1250. - -An Orphrey; ground, gold; design, various subjects from Holy Writ, with -borders; the whole length figured with monsters, floriations, and an -inscription. French, 13th century. 4 feet 2 inches by 7 inches. - - In all probability this orphrey belonged to the back of a chasuble, - and, as such, the subjects figured in it would find an appropriate - place there; but it ought to be observed that, in reality, it is - made up of four portions, the two narrow bands, besides the long and - the short lengths of the middle or broad parts which they border. - At top we have the Crucifixion, wherein each of our Lord’s feet is - fastened by its own separate nail. On one side of His head is the - sun, on the other the moon; St. Mary and St. John are standing on the - ground beside Him; and, at the cross’s foot, looks out a head, that - of Adam, which, whether from accident or design, has very much the - shape of a lion’s with a shaggy mane; one of the symbols belonging - to our Lord is a lion, in token of the resurrection. Some way down - a female, crowned and wimpled, bears in both her hands, which are - muffled in a veil, a golden-covered cup,--very likely Mary Magdalen, - with her vessel full of costly spikenard for anointing our Saviour’s - feet against the day of His burying. Opposite to her is St. Michael, - spearing Satan, an emblem of the great atonement, as is shown under - No. 9182, while describing the Syon Cope. Lower down we have the - three women or, as they are sometimes called, Maries, with their - sweet spices, and the angel telling them of the uprising of our - Redeemer. Lower yet, our Lord’s Ascension is represented by showing - Him seated in majesty with both His arms outstretched, within an - almond-shaped glory. On the second or shorter length, and, as far as - the Gospel history is concerned, out of its due place, we behold the - Annunciation, and a little under that subject a row of four nimbed and - seemingly winged heads, like those of the cherubim, may be symbols of - the four evangelists. At each side of these subjects runs a border of - gold wrought with lions crowned, and imaginary winged monster-animals - separated by graceful floriations; and on one of these borders, at the - lower end, is worked this inscription--“Odilia me fecit,” in nicely - shaped letters. This female name was common in Auvergne, where St. - Odilo, the sixth abbot of Cluni, was born, a son of the noble house - of Mercœur, and, to our thinking, it is very likely this Odilia was a - daughter of one of the lords of that once great family in the South of - France. - - So worn away is this curious orphrey that often the several subjects - figured on in the loom, and not by the needle, can be hardly made out - till held in various lights. - - -1251. - -Printed Silk Taffeta; ground, very light purple; design, a scroll, -block-printed in deeper purple, and edged black. Sicilian, 13th -century. 8¾ inches by 6 inches. - - The boughs, sprouting into a sort of trefoil, are gracefully twined - with a bold free hand; and the scroll reminds us of much of the like - sort of ornament found, in this country, on various art-works of its - time. As an early specimen of block-printing upon silk, it is valuable - and rare. - - -1252. - -Part of an Altar-Frontal, embroidered, in coloured threads, upon coarse -canvas; design, within a medallion, the ground, light blue and broad -border, fawn-colour, a figure, seated, holding in his left-hand a -staff, and having on his knee an open book inscribed,--“Ego sum Liber -Vite.” The figure is clothed in a girded white tunic, and a mantle now -fawn-coloured; but the head is so damaged that the personage cannot be -recognized; the probability is that it represents our Lord in majesty, -having the staff of a cross in one hand and giving His blessing with -the other. German, early 12th century, 12¾ inches by 10 inches. - - -1252A. - -Part of an Altar-Frontal; design, the busts of two winged and nimbed -angels, within round arches, bearing between them a white scroll -with these words--“Deus Sabaoth.” This was a portion of the frontal -mentioned above. German, early 12th century. 17 inches by 7¼ inches. -In both pieces the parts now fawn-coloured have faded into such from -crimson. - - -1253. - -Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; design, in light green, a sprinkling -of fleur-de-lis amid griffins, in pairs, rampant, regardant. Sicilian, -14th century. 10 inches by 8 inches. - - The pattern is not of that spirited character found on many of the - earlier specimens of the Sicilian loom; the griffins, especially, are - weakly drawn. The fleur-de-lis would signify that it was wrought for - some French family or follower of the house of Anjou. - - -1254. - -Silk Damask; ground, crimson; design, a diapering of birds pecking at a -cone-like ornament ending in a fleur-de-lis, all in yellow. Sicilian, -14th century. 5 inches by 4 inches. - - A very thin stuff with a pattern of a small but pretty design. What - the birds are with their long square tails is hard to guess; so, too, - with respect to the ornament between them, like a fir-cone purfled at - its sides with crockets, and made to end in a flower, which may have - some reference to the French family of Anjou, once reigning in Sicily. - The stuff itself is poor and may have been woven for linings to richer - silks. - - -1255. - -Shred of Silk Damask; ground crimson; design, seemingly horsemen -separated by a large circular ornament in one row, and the gable of -a building in the other, in yellow and blue. Greek, 12th century. 8 -inches by 6¼ inches. - - Though this stuff be thin and poor, the design, could it be well seen, - would be curious. The circle seems a leafless but branchy tree, with a - low wall round it; and the gable is full of low pillared arches with - voids for windows in them. - - -1256. - -Fragments of Narrow Orphrey Web; ground, crimson; design, in gold -ramified scrolls, with beasts and birds. English or French, 13th -century, 10½ inches by 3 inches. - - This very handsome piece is another specimen of the small loom - worked by young women, as before noticed; and may have served either - for sacred or secular use. The band is parted into spaces by a - thin chevron, and each division so made is filled in with tiny but - gracefully-twined boughs, among which some times we have a pair of - birds, at others a pair of collared dogs; at top another arrangement - took place, but no more of it remains than the body of a lion. - - -1257. - -Silk and Thread Tissue; ground, stripes of red, green, and yellow; -design, rows of circles, large and small, with a conventional flower -between, the large circles red, the small ones merely outlined in -white. Greek, 13th century. 8¼ inches by 6 inches. - - Even when new it must have been flimsy, and could have served but - for a lining. Of exactly the same design, but done in other and - fewer colours, a specimen now at Paris is figured in the “Mélanges - d’Archéologie,” tome iii. plate 15. - - -1258. - -Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, yellow; design, a net-work with -six-sided meshes, each filled in with flowers and foliage in deep dull -purple. Italian, late 13th century. 14 inches by 10 inches. - - The well-turned and graceful foliation to be seen in architectural - scroll-work, on monuments raised at the period, enters largely into - the design; and for its pattern, though poor for the quantity of its - silk, this specimen is very good. - - -1259. - -Piece of a Napkin; ground, nicely diapered in lozenges, all white; -design, horizontal dark brown stripes, with a lined pattern in white -upon them. Flemish, 16th century. 24 inches by 13 inches. - - Most likely Yprès sent forth this pleasing example of fine towel linen. - - -1260. - -Embroidery for liturgical use; ground, dark blue silk; design, our -Lord, as the “Man of Sorrows,” within a quatrefoil flowered at the -barbs in gold thread sewed on with crimson silk. Italian, 15th century. -6 inches square. - - The figure of our Redeemer, wrought upon linen with white silk, much - of which is worn away, is holding His wounded hands cross-wise, and - a scourge under each arm. From His brows, wreathed with thorns, - trickle long drops of blood; and the whole, with the large bleeding - gaping wound in His side, strikingly reminds us of the wood-cut to be - found at the beginning of our Salisbury Grails, or choir-books, with - those anthems sung at high mass, called graduals. In England such - representations were usually known under the name of “S. Gregory’s - Pity,” as may be seen in “The Church of our Fathers,” t. i. p. 53. - This embroidery is figured by Dr. Bock, in his “Geschichte der - Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” I. Band, 11. Lieferung, pl. - 14. - - -1261. - -The Embroidered Apparel for an Amice; ground, crimson flos-silk, now -faded; design, large and small squares, green, blue, and purple, filled -in with gold, and modifications of the gammadion, in white or crimson -silks. German, 14th century. 14 inches by 5¼ inches. - - This apparel is made out of three pieces, and stiffened with - parchment; and is bordered by a narrow but effective lace of a green - ground, bearing circles of white and red, parted by yellow. The brown - canvas upon which it is worked is very fine of its kind; and the gold, - which is of a good quality, is of narrow tinsel strips. From age, or - use, the design is worn away from a great portion of the ground, and - the pattern was a favourite one for liturgical appliances up to the - 16th century. - - -1262. - -Maniple; embroidered, in various-coloured silk, upon brown canvas; -design, a net-work in bright crimson, the lozenge-shaped meshes -of which, braced together by a fret, are filled in with a ground -alternately yellow charged with modifications of the gammadion in -blue, and green, with the same figure in white voided crimson. The -extremities are cloth of gold, both edged with a parti-coloured fringe, -and one figured with a lion in gold on a crimson field. German, 14th -century. 3 feet 11 inches by 3 inches. - - -1263. - -Napkin of linen embroidered in white thread; ground, plain white linen; -design, a conventional rectangular floriation, filled in with other -floriations, and in the middle an eight-petaled flower, and in the -square intervening spaces outside a fleur-de-lis shooting out of each -corner, all in white broad thread. German, late 14th century. 23 inches -by 13¼ inches. - - Like many other examples of the kind, the present one can show its - elaborate and beautifully-executed design only by being held up to the - light, when it comes forth in perfection. - - -1264. - -Silk Damask; ground, crimson; design, a net-work in broad bands of -yellow silk and gold wrought like twisted cords, and the meshes, which -are wreathed inside with a green garland bearing green and white -flowers, filled in with a conventional artichoke in yellow silk mixed -with gold thread, and edged with a green and white border. Spanish, -early 16th century. 17 inches by 15½ inches. - - As a furniture-stuff, this must have been very effective; and from the - under side being thickly plastered with strong glue, the last service - of the present piece would seem to have been for the decoration of the - wall of some room. - - -1265. - -Silk Damask; ground, deep blue, or violet; design, a sprinkling of -small stars and rows of large angels, some issuing from clouds and -swinging thuribles in the left hand, others kneeling in worship with -uplifted hands, bearing crowns of thorns, and the last row kneeling and -holding up before them a cross of the Latin shape. Florentine, late -14th century. 21½ inches by 13 inches. - - From its form this piece seems to have been cut off from a chasuble; - and the stuff itself, it is likely, was woven expressly for the purple - vestments worn in Lent, and more particularly during Passion time. At - No. 7072 another portion of the same damask is described. - - -1266. - -Triangular Piece of Yellow Silk; ground, light yellow; design, a -netting filled in with eight-petaled roses and circles enclosing other -flowers, all in white. Greek, 14th century. 9½ inches. - - Lined as it is with stout blue canvas, this piece may have been in - liturgical use, and, in all likelihood, served as the hood to some - boy-bishop’s cope. - - About the boy-bishop himself and his functions, according to our old - Salisbury Rite, see “Church of Our Fathers,” t. iv. p. 215. - - -1267. - -Tissue, silk upon linen; ground, white; design, broad circles filled -in with floriated ornamentation, bearing in the middle a five-petaled -purple flower. Italian, early 14th century. 7 inches by 3 inches. - - -1267A. - -Another Piece of the same Tissue. 12¼ inches by 2¼ inches. - - The thread in the warp of this stuff is more than usually thick; and - so sparingly is the silk employed on its pattern, that in its best - days it could have looked but poor. - - -1268. - -Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, yellow silk mixed with cotton; design, -a sprinkling of eight-rayed voided stars, in dusky purple. Italian, -14th century. 5 inches by 2½ inches. - - A thin stuff for linings. - - -1269. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, light fawn-colour in silk; design, -a large conventional flower enclosing another flower of the same -character, which is filled in with a double-headed eagle displayed, and -the spaces between the large flowers diapered with foliage shooting -from a sort of fir-cone, at the top of which are birds in pairs -hovering over the plant and having a long feather drooping from the -head, all in gold thread. Sicilian, early 14th century. 10¾ inches -by 9¾ inches. - -[Illustration: 1269. - -SILK AND GOLD DAMASK. Sicilian, 14th century. - - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith. - -] - - Though not so spirited in the drawing of its pattern, and the gold so - poor and bad that it has become almost lost to the eye, this stuff - is a valuable item in the collection. The eagle, with its double - head, and wings displayed, would lead to the belief that it had been - wrought to the order of some emperor of Germany, or for some Sicilian - nobleman who cherished a love for the house of Hohenstaufen. - - -1270. - -Part of a Maniple; ground, cloth of gold; design, in needlework, St. -Blase and St. Stephen. English or French, 13th century. 12 inches by -6½ inches. - - Both with regard to its golden cloth, and the figures upon it, - this piece is very valuable. The stuff is of that kind which our - countryman, John Garland, tells us was wrought by young women at his - time, and shows, in its grounding, a pretty zig-zag pattern. The - two kneeling figures, though done in mere outline of the scantiest - sort, display an ease and gracefulness peculiar to the sculpture and - illuminations in England and France of that period. St. Blase is - shown us vested in his chasuble and mitre--low in form--with a very - long grey beard, and holding a comb in one hand--the instrument of - his martyrdom; St. Stephen is robed as a deacon, and kneeling amid a - shower of large round stones, pelted at him on all sides. - - -1271. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, light green silk; design, griffins -passant and fleur-de-lis in one row, fleur-de-lis and slipped -vine-leaves arising from two tendrils formed like the letter C, and put -back to back, all in gold. Sicilian, 14th century. 12 inches by 7½ -inches. - - The whole of this pattern is thrown off with great freedom, and an - heraldic eye will see the boldness of the griffins. The vine-leaves - are as crispy as any ever seen upon such stuffs, and the whole does - credit to the royal looms of Palermo, where it was probably wrought at - the command of the prince, for himself, or as a gift to some French - royalty. An exactly similar stuff to this may be found at No. 7061; - and it is said that the robes now shown at Neuburg, near Vienna, are - traditionally believed to have been worn, at his marriage, by Leopold - the Holy. - - -1272. - -Silk and Cotton Stuff; ground, light purple cotton; design, small but -thick foliage, interspersed with birds of various kinds, in pairs and -face to face, in amber-coloured silk. Sicilian, 14th century. 9½ -inches by 7 inches. - - Though so small in its elements, this is a pleasing design, and - extremely well drawn, like all those from Palermo. - - -1273. - -Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, of cotton, a light orange; design, -within a ten-cusped circle, and divided by the thin trunk of a tree, -two cocks, face to face, all in gold thread, upon a purplish crimson -ground, and between the circles an ornamentation in which a small crown -tipped with fleur-de-lis, over a lion passant gardant, is very frequent -in gold. Sicilian, late 14th century, 10¼ inches by 3 inches. - - Though such a mere rag, this piece is so far valuable, as it shows - that France then got her silken stuffs from Sicily, and, in this - instance, perhaps sent her own design with her Gallic cock, and her - fleur-de-lis mingled so plentifully in it. How or why the lion is - there cannot be explained. - - -1274. - -Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; design, parrots, and giraffes in -pairs, amid floriated ornamentation, all, excepting the parts done in -gold, of the tint of the ground. Sicilian, 13th century. 20½ inches -by 10½ inches. - - Upon an egg-shaped figure, nicely filled in with graceful floriated - ornaments, stand two parrots, breast to breast, but with heads - averted, which (as well as their pinion-joints, marked by a broad - circle crowded with little rings on their wings, and legs and claws) - are wrought in threads of gold, all now so tarnished as to look as if - first worked in some dull purple silk. Their long broad perpendicular - tails have the feathers shown by U shaped lines, looking much like - the kind of ornamentation noticed under Nos. 8591, 8596, 8599. Below, - and back to back, or--as some may choose to see them--affronted, - and biting the stems of the foliage, are two giraffes, with one leg - raised--may be better described as tripping. They are specked all - over with quatrefoil spots, and have head and hoofs done in gold, now - faded to black. This stuff is as beautiful in design as substantial in - its material, being all of good fine silk; though so poor and sparing - was the gold upon the thread, that it has quite faded. From the curve - at the upper end, this piece seems to have been cut out of an old - chasuble. - - -1275. - -Silk Damask (made up of four pieces); ground, brown, once purple; -design, in gold thread and coloured silks, griffins, eagles, and -flowers. Sicilian, early 13th century. 19½ inches by 19¼ inches. - - At top we have a row of griffins looking to the east, mostly - wrought in gold, but relieved on coloured silks, and having at the - pinion-joints of the wing that singular circle, filled in with a small - design; then a row of conventional flowers in red, crimson, green, and - white, and, last of all, a row of eagles at rest, done mostly in gold, - slightly shaded with green, and looking west. The beasts and birds are - admirably drawn, and when the stuff was new it must have been very - fine and effective, though now the gold looks shabby. - - -1276. - -Stole, of silk and gold damask; ground, purple silk; design, mostly -in gold, pricked out with green silk, a floriated oval, filled in -with a pair of young parded leopards, addorsed regardant, and wyverns -regardant in couples. Sicilian, late 13th century. 8 feet 4 inches by 3 -inches, not including the expanded ends. - - This is a magnificent stuff; but the stole itself could have been made - out of it only in the middle of the 17th century. - - -1277. - -The Hood of a Cope; silk and gold; ground, fawn-coloured silk; design, -bands, in gold thread, alternately broad, figured with harts couchant, -and flowers with an oblique pencil of rays darting down; and narrow, -marked with rayless flowers. Underlying the latter gold band is a very -broad one of silk, figured in green, with collared dogs running at -speed towards a small swan, with sprigs of flowers, green and white, -between them. Sicilian, late 13th century. 14½ inches by 13½ -inches. - - The very pointed shape of this hood is somewhat unusual in the form - of this part of a cope, as made during mediæval times, in England. - The stuff is of a spirited design, and shows a curious element in its - pattern, in those golden flowers with their pencils of rays. - - -1278. - -Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, black; design, a lion rampant amid -trees, all in light green. Sicilian, 14th century. 15 inches by 7¾ -inches. - - Very few examples occur with ground coloured black, yet the bright - green of the design goes well upon its sombre grounding. The animal - and also the leaves and trees around him are all admirably and - spiritedly drawn, and one regrets that a pattern of such merit should - have been lost upon such poor materials. - - -1279. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, bright green silk; design, in gold, -conventional artichokes, large and small, and harts, and demi-dogs with -very large wings, both animals having remarkably long manes streaming -far behind them. Sicilian, 14th century. 27 inches by 14 inches. - - This beautifully and richly wrought stuff, with its fantastic design - drawn with such spirit, must have been, when seen in a large piece, - very pleasing. Its last use was in a chasuble of rather modern cut, to - judge from its present shape. - - -1280. - -Small Bag to hold relics; ground, gold; design, all embroidered by -needle, white rabbits(?) segreant, peacocks in couples, face to face, -with the rabbits between them, two hearts and rows of black or purple -spots, like women’s heads, one in the middle surrounded by a wreath of -eight crimson stars, with small green flower-bearing trees, and the -whole field sprinkled with letters, now, from the ill condition of the -embroidery, not to be read. German, 16th century. 4½ inches square. - - -1281. - -Part of a Liturgical Ornament; silk upon linen; ground, crimson, faded; -design, in yellow flos-silk, beasts and birds. Syrian, late 13th -century. 2 feet 6 inches by 7½ inches. - - It does not seem to have last served as either stole or maniple, but, - apparently, was part of an altar curtain of which two were hung, one - at each side of the sacred table. Lions and dogs seated and eagles - perched amid flowers and foliage form the pattern, which is not as - well figured as those usually are which came from the eastern shores - of the Mediterranean. - - -1282. - -Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, green; design, large ovals filled in -with foliation, enclosed with a net-work of garlands, the fruits of -which might be mistaken for half-moons. North Italy, 14th century. -13½ inches by 7½ inches. - - On better material, for the quantity of its silk is small, and in - happier colours, this stuff might have been very pretty. - - -1283. - -Silk Damask; ground, amber yellow; design, a hart, in gold, lodged -beneath green trees in a park, the paling of which is light green, -with a bunch of the corn-flower, centaurea, before it. Sicilian, 14th -century. 7½ inches by 5½ inches. - - -1283A. - -Silk Damask; ground, amber yellow; design, the sun in its splendour, an -eagle in gold, a green tree. Sicilian, 14th century. 7¼ inches by -5½ inches. - - -1284. - -Silk Damask; ground, amber yellow; design, a hart, in gold, lodged -beneath green trees in a park, the paling of which is light green, with -a bunch of the corn-flower before it. Sicilian, 14th century. 7 inches -by 6½ inches. - - -1284A. - -Silk Damask; ground, amber yellow; design, a running hart, in gold, -amid foliage. Sicilian, 14th century. 8 inches by 4½ inches. - - The last four pieces are, in fact, but fragments of the same stuff, - and when put together make up its original pattern, and beautiful it - must have seemed when beheld as a whole; the bird and animals are done - with much freedom and spirit; so likewise the foliage: but two of the - portions, by being more exposed to the light, are much faded, in such - a manner that the green in them has almost fled. As usual, so poor was - the golden thread that the bird and animals now look almost black, but - here and there, with a good glass, shimmerings of gold may be found - upon them. To some eyes the sun may look like a rose surrounded by - rays. At one time or another an unfeeling hand has most plentifully - sprinkled all these four pieces with flowers made from gilt paper - stamped out, and pasted on the staff with stiff glue. The silk, - especially the yellow, of this tissue was mixed with very fine threads - of cotton. - - -1285. - -One of the Ends of a Stole, embroidered in beads; ground, dark blue; -design, very likely the head of an apostle, in various coloured and -gold beads. Venetian, late 12th century. - - So like both in design, execution, and materials to the portion of an - orphrey, No. 8274, that it would seem this piece was not only worked - by the self-same hand, but formed a part of the self-same set of - vestments. The places, now bare, in the nimb and neck, were, no doubt, - once filled in with fine seed-pearls that have been wantonly picked - out. The other end of the same stole to which this belonged is the - following. - - -1286. - -Exactly like the foregoing; but if in its fellow piece seed-pearls are -not to be seen, here they are left in part of the nimb, but especially -over the left eye. Of the large piece with the head of the Blessed -Virgin Mary, we have spoken at length, No. 8274. - - -1287. - -Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, light yellow silk; design, a -reticulation of vine-branches bearing grapes and leaves, and enclosing -butterflies, an armorial shield having a royal crown over it, all in -light purple cotton. Sicilian, early 14th century. 17½ inches by -15½ inches. - - The design in all its elements is so like many other specimens - wrought by the looms of Palermo at the period, that we are warranted - to presume it came from that great mart of silken stuffs during the - middle ages. So thin in its texture, it must have been meant for the - lining of a heavier material. Père Martin has figured, in his very - valuable “Mélanges d’Archéologie,” t. iv. plate xxii, a piece of silk, - now in the Museum of the Louvre, almost the same in pattern, but - differing much in colour, from the specimen before us. In the specimen - at Paris little dogs and dragons, both in pairs, come in, but here - they are wanting; so that we may learn that, to give variety to the - pattern, parts were changed. Upon the shield there is a charge not - unlike a star, rather oblong, of six points. - - -1288. - -Damask, silk and cotton; ground, deep bluish green; design, pairs of -monsters, half griffin, half elephant, in gold, a conventional flower -in light green, enclosing a pair of wings in gold, and pairs of birds -amid foliation, with short sentences of imitated Arabic here and there. -Sicilian, early 14th century. 14 inches by 11 inches. - - This is a fine and noteworthy production of the Palermitan loom, and - shows in its pattern much fancy and great freedom of drawing; for - whether we look at those very singular griffin elephants, sitting - in pairs--and gazing at one another, or the two birds of the hoopoe - family, with a long feather on the head, or the two gold wings - conjoined and erect, so heraldically tricked, with that well-devised - flower ending in a honeysuckle scroll, an ornament sprinkled all - about, we cannot but be pleased with the whole arrangement. The - combination of elephant and griffin in ornamentation is almost, - perhaps quite, unique. The pretended Arabic points to a locality - where once Saracenic workmen laboured, and left behind them their - traditions of excellency of handicraft. In Dr. Bock’s “Geschichte der - Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 4 Lieferung, pl. ix. may be - seen this curious stuff figured. - - -1289. - -Part of a Maniple, silk damask; ground, fawn-coloured; design, an -ovate foliation amid monster beasts and birds, all in light blue silk, -excepting the heads of the birds; the feet and heads of the animals -done in gold. Sicilian, late 13th century. 13¼ inches by 7 inches. - - -1289A. - -Part of a Maniple, silk damask; ground, fawn-coloured; design, an ovate -foliation amid small lions and large monster beasts and birds, in light -blue silk, excepting the small lions all in gold, and the heads and -claws of the others in the same metal. Sicilian, late 13th century. -21½ inches by 6½ inches. - - The two articles were evidently parts of the same maniple; a - liturgical appliance of such narrow dimensions that we cannot make - out the entire composition of the very fine and admirably drawn - design upon the stuff, out of which it was cut originally. From what - is before us we perceive that there were a pair of small lions, face - to face, all in gold, a pair of wyverns segreant in green, a pair - of griffins passant, with heads of gold, and a pair of other large - animals, antelopes, with their horned heads and cloven hoofs in the - same metal; slight indications of the fleur-de-lis here and there - occur. - - -1290. - -A bishop’s Liturgical Shoe, of silk and gold damask; ground, crimson -silk; design, eagles, in couples, at rest, in gold, amid foliations in -green silk; a small piece on the left side of the heel is of another -rich stuff in gold and light green. Italian stuff, 14th century. 11½ -inches. - - Such old episcopal liturgic shoes are now great rarities; and a - specimen once belonging to one of our English worthies, Waneflete, is - given in the “Church of our Fathers,” t. ii. p. 250; it is of rich - silk velvet, wrought with flowers, and still kept at Magdalen College, - Oxford, built and endowed by that good bishop of Winchester. In the - present example we have, in its thin leather sole for the right foot, - a proof that making shoes right and left was well known then. - - -1291. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground (now very faded), crimson silk; design, -animals, all in gold, and flowers in gold, pricked out, some in green, -others in purple silk. Sicilian, 14th century. 14½ inches by 8½ -inches. - - The animals are large antelopes couchant, and smaller ones in the like - posture, within flowers, along with large oddly-shaped wyverns with - the head bent down; the flowers are roses, and a modification of the - centaurea, or corn-flower. Though the gold be tarnished, the pattern - is still rich. - - -1292. - -Taffeta, silk and cotton; ground, dull crimson cotton; design, -reticulated foliage with a conventional artichoke in the meshes, all in -pale blue. Spanish, 15th century. 7½ inches by 6¾ inches. - - -1292A. - -Taffeta, silk and cotton; ground, dull crimson cotton; design, -reticulated foliage with a conventional artichoke in the meshes, all in -pale blue. Spanish, 15th century. 5½ inches by 5¼ inches. - - As poor in material as in design, and evidently manufactured for - linings to silks of richer substances. - - -1293. - -Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, bright crimson silk; design, floriated -circles filled in with a pair of griffins rampant, addorsed, regardant, -and the spaces between the circles ornamented with a floriated cross, -all in yellow cotton. Sicilian, 14th century. 9¼ inches by 7 inches. - - A good design bestowed upon somewhat poor materials. At first the - yellow parts of the pattern had their cotton thread covered with - gold, but of such a debased quality and so sparingly, too, that it - has almost all disappeared, and, where seen, has tarnished to a dusky - black. - - -1294. - -Silk Damask; ground, purple; design, large fan-like leaves, between -small fruits of the pomegranate, in dead purple. Spanish, late 15th -century. - - Upon this specimen there was sewed an inscription, now so broken as - not to make sense, and from the style of letter, of the floriated - form, done in red and gold thread upon purple canvas, as is all the - scroll-work about it, some German hand must have wrought it. - - -1295. - -Tissue of Cotton Warp and Silk and Gold Woof; ground, now yellow; -design, eagles in pairs, divided by rayed orbs, amid foliage all in -gold. Sicilian, middle 14th century. 6½ inches by 5½ inches. - - The eagles are about to take wing, and are pecking at the rays of, - seemingly, the sun which separates them. The foliage is much like, - in form, that which so often occurs on works from the looms of - Palermo; and, in all likelihood, the ground, now yellow, was once - of a fawn-colour. Though good in design, this stuff is made of poor - materials, the silk in it is small, and the gold of such a base - quality that it has become a dusky brown. - - -1296. - -Tissue of Flaxen Thread Warp and Silk and Gold Woof; ground, -fawn-coloured; design, eagles in pairs affronted, with a pencil of -sun-rays darting down upon their heads, and resting amid flowers all in -gold. Sicilian, middle 14th century. 8 inches by 4¼ inches. - - What we said of No. 1295 is equally applicable to this specimen, in - which, however, may be seen, the corn-flower, centaurea, so often met - with in Palermitan textures of the time. - - -1297. - -Silk Damask; ground, light green; design, within a heart-shaped -figure, a large vine-leaf, at which two very small hoopoes, one at -each side, are pecking; outside the ovals, from which large bunches -of small-fruited grapes are hanging, runs a scroll with little -vine-leaves, all now of a fawn-colour, but at first in a rosy crimson -hue. Italian, late 14th century. 15 inches by 5¼ inches. - - The design for this tasteful stuff was thrown off by an easy flowing - hand; and Dr. Bock has given a good plate, in his “Dessinateur des - Etoffes,” 3 Livraison, of a silk almost the very same, the differences - being some very slight variations in parts of its colours. - - -1298, 1298A. - -Silk Damask; ground, purple; design, amid foliage and small geometrical -figures, birds in pairs, all in rosy red, and beasts in gold. Sicilian, -14th century. 9½ inches by 3¾ inches, and 4½ inches by 4 -inches. - - Putting these two pieces together we make out this beautiful, - elaborate, though small pattern. What the birds may be is hard - to guess, but the beasts seem lionesses, with bushy tails, and - bold spirited griffins. Dr. Bock has figured this stuff in the - before-mentioned large work. - - -1299. - -Damask, gold, silk, and thread; ground, dull purple; design, two broad -horizontal bands, the first charged with a hound, green, collared, -armed, and langued white, lying down with head upturned to a large swan -in gold, with foliage all about them; on the second, a dog chasing a -hart, both in gold, and between two cable ornaments in gold, and two -scrolls of roving foliage, in light green pricked with white. Sicilian, -late 14th century. 18 inches by 12 inches. - - The beautiful and boldly-drawn pattern of these beasts and birds - in pairs, and succeeding each other, is not duly honoured by the - materials used in it; the quantity of thread is large, and the gold of - the poorest sort. - - -1300. - -Silk Damask; ground, blue; design, in yellow, a net-work done in -ovate geometrical scrolls, and the meshes filled in with geometrical -lozenges, and others showing an ornamentation of singular occurrence, -somewhat like the heraldic nebule. Lucca, early 15th century, 10½ -inches by 7½ inches. - - After a pattern that seldom is to be found on mediæval stuffs. - - -1301. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, bright crimson silk; design, in gold, -fruit of the pomegranate, mingled with flowers and leaves of another -plant. South of Spain, 15th century. 9 inches by 8¾ inches. - - At a distance this stuff must have shown well, but its materials are - not of the first class; though lively in tone, the silk is poor, and - its gold made of that thin gilt parchment cut into flat shreds, like - other examples here--Nos. 8590, 8601, 8639, &c. - - -1302. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, fawn-coloured faded from crimson, in -silk; design, large eagles perched in pairs, with a radiating sun -between them, and beneath the rays dogs in pairs, running with heads -turned back and looking on the foliage separating them, all in gold. -Sicilian, 14th century. 17 inches by 8½ inches. - - The fine and spirited pattern of this piece is now very indistinct, - owing to the bad colour of the ground, which has so much faded, and - the inferior quality of the gold upon the thread. - - -1303. - -Silk Damask; ground, a rose-coloured tint; pattern, in a dull tone -of the same, broad strap-work, in reticulations enclosing a circular -conventional floriation. Moresco-Spanish, 14th century. 6 inches by -5½ inches. - - The tone of the colour has changed from its first brightness, and the - stuff is of a very thin texture. - - -1304. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, crimson silk much faded; design, harts -collared and flying eagles amid foliage, all in gold. Sicilian, 14th -century. 2 feet 8 inches by 1 foot. - - In this spirited pattern the running harts in the upper row have - caught one of their hind-legs in the cord tied to their collar, and - an eagle swoops down upon them; in the second row, the same animal - has switched its tail into the last link of the chain fastened to its - collar, and an eagle seems flying at its head, as it screams with - gaping beak. The last use of this specimen of so magnificent a stuff - appears to have been as part of a curtain (with its 15th century poor - parti-coloured thread fringe) for hanging at the sides of an altar. - - -1305. - -Embroidered Lappet of a Mitre; ground, linen; design, beneath a tall -niche, a female in various coloured silks and gold; and under her, -within a lower-headed niche, a male figure after the same style. -German, late 14th century. 17½ inches by 3 inches. - - The high-peaked canopy, with its crocketing and finial well formed - and once all covered with gold, holds a female figure, crowned like a - queen, with the banner of the Resurrection in one hand and a chalice, - having on it the sacred host, in the other, which may be taken for the - person of the Church, while the majestic prophet beneath her seems to - be Malachi holding a long unfolded scroll significative of those words - of his relating to the sacrifice in the New Law. In the embroidery of - the figures this piece very much resembles the style of needlework in - the part of an orphrey, No. 1313. In his “Geschichte der Liturgischen - Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 2 Lieferung, pl. xii. Dr. Bock has given - figures of this curious lappet. - - -1306, 1306A. - -Silk Damask; ground, fawn-coloured; design, amid sunbeams, raindrops, -and foliage, large birds clutching in their talons a scroll charged -with a capital letter R thrice repeated, all in light green. Sicilian, -late 14th century. 13 inches by 6½ inches; and 8 inches by 3¾ -inches. - - The design of this stuff is rather curious from the inscribed scroll, - the letter R of which is very Italian. - - -1307. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, fawn-colour; design, amid a conventional -foliation shooting out in places with large fan-like flowers in gold, -braces of small birds on the wing and pairs of running dogs with two -antelopes, couchant, biting a bough, both in gold. Sicilian, 14th -century. 12½ inches by 8½ inches. - - A very good design well drawn, but unfortunately not quite perfect in - the specimen, the golden parts of which are much tarnished. - - -1308. - -Silk Damask; ground, rosy fawn-coloured; design, within a wreath made -up mostly of myrtle-leaves and trefoils, a lion’s head cabosed, above -which is a bunch of vine-leaves shutting in a blue corn-flower, and -at each side, in white, a word in imitated Arabic; excepting the blue -centaurea and two white flowers in the wreath, all the rest is in light -green. Sicilian, 14th century. 22 inches by 10¾ inches. - - This well-varied pattern is nicely drawn, and shows the traditions of - the Saracenic workmen who once flourished at Palermo. - - -1309. - -Embroidery of Thread upon Linen; design, in raised stitchery, the -hunting of the unicorn. German, late 14th century. 26½ inches by -13½ inches. - - This fine piece of needlework shows us a forest where a groom is - holding three horses, on two of which the high-peaked saddles are - well given; running towards him are two hunting dogs, collared. In - the midst of the wood sits a virgin with her long hair falling down - her back, and on her lap an unicorn is resting his fore-feet; behind - this group is coming a man with a stick upon his shoulder, from which - hangs, by its coupled hind-legs, a dead hare. Not only the lady, but - the men wear shoes with remarkably long toes, and the gracefulness - with which the foliage is everywhere twined speaks of the period as - marked in the architectural decoration of the period here in England. - In another number (8618) the same subject is noticed as significative - of the Incarnation, and fully explained. No doubt, like the other - piece of fine Rhenish needlework, this also formed but a part of a - large cloth to hang behind an altar as a reredos. Those very long-toed - shoes brought into fashion here by Ann of Bohemia, our Richard II.’s - queen, were called “cracowes.” - - -1310. - -Maniple of Crimson and Gold Damask; ground, bright crimson; design, -stags and sunbeams. Sicilian, late 14th century. 3 feet 7½ inches by -4 inches. - - Under No. 8624 there is a specimen of silk damask, without gold in - it, of a pattern so like this that, were the present piece perfect in - its design, we might presume both had come from the same loom, and - differed only in materials. In that, as in this, we have a couple of - stags well attired, with their heads upturned to a large pencil of - sunbeams darting down upon them amid a shower of raindrops. - - -1311. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, deep violet; design, St. Mary of Egypt, -with her own hair falling all over her, as her only garment, on her -knees before an altar on which stands a cross; behind her, a tree, upon -which hovers a bird with a long bough in its beak; and high up over -against her an arm coming from a cloud with the hand in benediction, -and rays darting from the fingers, between two stars, one of eight, the -other of six points, all mostly in gold. Venetian, 15th century. 12 -inches by 11½ inches. - - The materials and the weaving of this valuable tissue are both good, - and figure a saint once in great repute in Oriental Christendom as - well as among those Europeans who traded with the East, as an example - of true repentance. A part of the design is, so to say, ante-dated, - and to understand the whole of it we ought to know something of the - life of this second Magdalen. - - In the latter half of the fourth century St. Mary of Egypt, then a - girl of twelve, fled to Alexandria, where she led an abandoned life. - - It chanced that she went in a certain ship full of pilgrims to - Jerusalem, where, on the feast of the Elevation of the Cross, she - was hindered by a miracle from entering the church. Then, coming to - herself, she made a vow of penance, and withdrew to the desert beyond - the Jordan. There she lived unseen for forty years, till all her - garments fell away and she had nothing wherewith to clothe herself but - her own long hair. - - On the stuff before us the anachronism of its design will be soon - perceived from this rapid sketch of St. Mary’s life. Instead of being, - as she must have been, arrayed in the female fashion of the time when - she went to Jerusalem, the great penitent is represented so far quite - naked that her own long tresses, falling all around her, are her only - mantle--just as she used to be more than forty years afterwards. But - yet the design well unfolds her story; the hand darting rays of light - signifies the revelation given her from heaven, and the blessing that - followed it; while the two stars tell of Jerusalem, as also does the - elaborately-fashioned cross that is standing on the altar, the frontal - to which, in the upper border, seems ornamented in purple, with an - inscription, now unreadable, but the last letters of which look as if - they are R L I. The bird, perhaps a dove, has no part in the saint’s - history, but is a fancy of the artist. In Dr. Bock’s “Geschichte der - Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 1 Band, 1 Lieferung, pl. xi. - is a figure of this stuff. - - -1312. - -Silk Damask; ground, crimson; design, a complication of geometric lines -and figures in yellow, blue, green and white. Moresque, 15th century. -22½ inches by 18½ inches. - - Those who know the ornamentation on the burned clay tiles and the gilt - plaster ceilings in the Alhambra at Granada will recognize the same - feeling and style in this showy stuff, the silk of which is so good, - and the colours, particularly the crimson, so warm. - - -1313. - -Part of an Orphrey; ground, deep crimson satin, edged with a narrow -green band; design, three apostolic figures beneath Gothic canopies, -all wrought in gold thread and coloured silks upon canvas and applied. -German, early 15th century. 30 inches by 7¼ inches. - - Each figure is nicely worked; and the first, beginning at the top, - holding a sword erect in his right hand, is St. James the Greater; - beneath him, with a halbert, St. Matthew; and last of all, holding - in one hand a book, in the other a sword, St. Paul. The flowery - crocketing running up the arches of the niches is particularly good. - - -1314. - -Silk Damask; ground, crimson (now faded); design, two golden lions with -their fore-paws resting on a white scroll, looking down upon an orb -darting straight down its rays upon the heads of two perched eagles, -amid foliation, all in green. Italian, late 14th century. 26 inches by -9¾ inches. - - A fine design, and sketched with great freedom; but the silk and gold - employed in it are not of the best. - - -1315. - -Silk Taffeta; ground, brown; design, broad bands made up of eight -red-edged orange stripes within two white ones. Egyptian, 10th century. -26 inches by 9¾ inches. - - -1316. - -Silk Taffeta; ground, purple; design, narrow stripes made up of white -purple and green lines. Egyptian, 10th century. 24 inches by 3½ -inches. - - These scarce examples of Oriental ability in the production of very - thin substances for personal adornment and dress, under such a sun as - even the north of Africa has, were originally wrought for ordinary, - not religious use. They were brought to Europe as precious stuffs, and - given as such to the Church and used for casting over the tombs of the - saints, as palls, or as linings for thicker silken vestments. That - these or any of the following specimens of gauze or taffeta were ever - put to the purpose of making stockings, or rather leggings like boots, - still worn by bishops on solemn occasions during the celebrations of - the liturgy, cannot for a moment be thought of. Such appliances are, - and always were, made either of velvet or strong cloth of gold or - silver. - - -1317. - -Silk Gauze; ground, light green; design, broad bands composed of white, -black, and orange stripes. Egyptian, 10th century. 13 inches by 4 -inches. - - -1318. - -Taffeta, Silk and Cotton; ground and design, broad stripes of crimson, -green, crimson and orange, separated by narrow lines of white; the warp -is of brown fine cotton. Egyptian, 10th century. 12 inches by 2½ -inches. - - Of such stuffs the Orientals make their girdles to this day; and for - such a purpose we presume this taffeta was woven at Cairo and for - Moslem use, as the green of the so-called prophet is one among its - colours. - - -1319. - -Silk Gauze; ground, a light green. Egyptian, 10th century. 10 inches by -3½ inches. - - Though without any pattern, such a specimen is very valuable for - letting us see the delicate texture which the Saracens, like the - ancient Egyptians, knew how to give to the works of the loom. This, - like No. 1317, if ever used for church purposes, could only have been - employed for spreading over shrines, or the lining of vestments; - specimens like these are sometimes found between the leaves in - illuminated MSS, to protect the paintings. - - -1320. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, crimson (now faded) silk; design, lions -in pairs addorsed, regardant, each with a swan swung upon its back, -and held by the neck in its mouth, bounding from out a small space -surrounded by a low circular paling, and amid two large conventional -floriations; at the top of one of these are two squirrels sitting -upright, or sejant, all in gold. Italian, late 14th century. 17½ -inches by 10¾ inches. - - Unfortunately this curious well-figured and interesting design is - somewhat wasted upon materials so faded, as scarcely to show it - now. The foliation is rather thick and heavy. In Dr. Bock’s work, - “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 1 Band, 1 - Lieferung, pl. xiv. may be found this stuff, nicely figured. - - -1321. - -Small Piece of Embroidery; background, canvas diapered with lozenges -in brown thread; foreground, once partly strewed with streaks of gold; -design, two men bearded and clad in long garments, seemingly personages -of the Old Law, talking to each other. Florentine, 15th century. - - With quite an Italian and Florentine character about them, these two - figures, both worked in silk, have no great merit; though there are - some good folds in the brown mantle, shot with green, of the hooded - individual standing on the left-hand. That it has been cut away from - some larger piece is evident, but what the original served for, - whether a sacred or secular purpose, it is impossible now to say. - - -1322. - -Stole; ground, light blue silk; design, a thin bough roving along -the stole’s whole length in an undulating line, and sprouting out -into fan-like leaves, and small flowers, and in a white raised cord, -narrowly edged with crimson silk and gold thread. At one expanded end -is the Holy Lamb upon a golden ground; at the other, the dove, emblem -of the Holy Ghost, alighting upon flowers. German, 15th century. 8 feet -6½ inches by 3¾ inches. - - Though the work upon this stole is rather coarse, still from its - raised style it must have been effective; but its chief value is from - having been a liturgic ornament. The diapering at the end figured with - the Holy Lamb, done upon a yellow canvas ground, with its thin golden - threads worked into three circles, with their radiations not straight - but wavy, is remarkable, and may be found upon another work wrought by - a German needle in this collection. Not only the Lamb and the Dove, - but the floriation, are thrown up into a sort of low relief. - - -1323. - -Embroidered Linen; design, barbed quatrefoils filled in with armorial -birds and beasts, and the spaces between wrought with vine-leaves. -German, 15th century. 16 inches by 11¾ inches. - - This is but a piece of a much larger work, the pattern of which, - in its entire form, can only be guessed at from a few remains. One - quatrefoil is occupied by a pair of eagles (as they seem to be) - addorsed regardant; and the two legs of another three-toed creature - remaining near them prove that other things besides the eagles were - figured. The whole is coarsely done in coarse materials, and, in - workmanship, far below very many specimens here. It appears to have - served for household not for church use. - - -1324. - -Embroidered Cushion for the missal at the altar; ground, crimson -silk; design, our Infant Lord in the arms of the Blessed Virgin Mary, -with St. Joseph and four angels worshipping, on the upper side, in -various-coloured silk; on the under side, a reticulation filled in with -a pair of birds and a flowering plant alternately. German, late 13th -century. 19 inches by 13 inches. - - Such cushions, and of so remote a period, are great liturgical - curiosities, and, fortunately, the present one is in very good - preservation, and quite a work of art. Throned within a Gothic - building, rather than beneath a canopy, sits the mother of the Divine - Babe, who is outstretching His little hands towards the lily-branch - which the approaching St. Joseph is holding in one hand, while in - the other he carries a basket of doves. Outside, and on the green - sward, are kneeling four angels robed as deacons, three of whom bear - lily flowers, a fourth the liturgical fan; the whole is encircled by - a garland of lilies. The under-side is worked with white doves in - pairs, and a green tree blooming with red flowers; and though much of - the needlework is gone, this cushion is a good example for such an - appliance. Dr. Bock has figured it in his “Geschichte der Liturgischen - Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 1 Band, 2 Lieferung, p. xiii. - - -1325. - -Part of an Altar-cloth; ground, linen; design, amid foliage sparingly -heightened with yellow silk, birds, and beasts, and one end figured -with the gammadion. German, 14th century. 6 feet 4½ inches by 2 feet -2½ inches. - - This altar-cloth, now shortened and without one of its ends figured - with the gammadion, is made up of two different pieces, of which one - showing two large-headed pheasants, put one above the other, amid - foliage plentifully flowered with the fleur-de-lis and roses, is quite - perfect in its pattern; but the other, marked with alternate griffins - and lions, has been cut in two so as to give us but the hinder half of - each animal, amid a foliage of oak-leaves. The whole design, however, - is boldly drawn and spiritedly executed. - - -1326. - -Damask, silk and cotton; ground, green; design, large and small -conventional artichokes, in gold and yellow silk, amid garlands in -white silk. Italian, 15th century. 2 feet 10 inches by 1 foot 3¼ -inches. - - Though much cotton is mixed up with the silk, and its gold was of - an inferior quality, still the crowded and elaborate design of its - pattern makes this stuff very pleasing. - - -1327. - -Silk Net; green. Turkish, 16th century (?). 11½ inches by 4½ -inches. - - Such productions of the loom are used among the Moslem inhabitants of - the East in various ways, for concealing their females when they go - abroad in carriages, &c. - - -1328. - -Linen Diaper. Flemish, 15th century. 2¾ inches square. - - Very likely from the looms of Yprès, then famous for its napery, and - which gave its name, “d’ypres,” to this sort of wrought linen. - - -1329. - -Part of an Orphrey Web; ground, crimson silk; design, straight branches -bearing flowers and boughs, in gold thread; and amid them St. Dorothy -and St. Stephen. German, 15th century. 23 inches by 2¾ inches. - - St. Dorothy is figured holding in her right hand a golden chalice-like - cup filled with flowers, and in her left, a tall green branch blooming - with white roses; St. Stephen carries a palm-branch, emblem of his - martyrdom. Both saints are standing upon green turf sprinkled with - crimson daisies, and beneath each is the saint’s name, written - in gold. Though the persons of the saints are woven, the heads, - hands, and emblems are wrought with the needle. The dalmatic of the - proto-martyr is nicely shown, in light green, with its orphreys in - gold. This piece is a favourable specimen of its kind, and very likely - was produced at Cologne. - - -1330. - -Frontlet to an Altar-cloth; ground, diapered white linen; design, -embroidery of two large flower-bearing trees, with an uncharged shield -between them, and under them inscriptions. German, 16th century. 15¾ -inches by 5 inches. - - So very like the piece No. 8864 that it would seem to have been - wrought by the same hand. To the left we read--“Spes unica, stabat - mater;” to the right--“Mater dolorosa juxta crucem,” &c. - - -1331. - -Web for Orphreys; ground, crimson silk; design, two boughs with leaves -and flowers twined in an oval form, all in gold thread. German, late -15th century. 10 inches by 4¼ inches. - - Graceful in its design, but poor in both its silk and gold, the latter - having become almost black. - - -1332. - -Piece of Raised Velvet, brocaded in gold; ground, dark blue; design, -a diapering in cut velvet on the blue ground, and large leaves and -small artichokes in gold. Italian, early 16th century. 16½ inches by -15¾ inches. - - This nicely diapered velvet, of a good pile and sprinkled with - a gold brocade, may have been wrought either at Lucca or Genoa. - Unfortunately, the gold thread was of an inferior quality. - - -1333. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, crimson silk; design, broad garlands -twined into a net-work, the almost round meshes of which are filled -in with a conventional artichoke wreathed with corn-flowers, all in -pure good gold, upon a ground specked with gold. Spanish, late 15th -century. 22½ inches by 9 inches. - - This is a fine rich specimen of an article of the Spanish loom, very - likely from Almeria; its crimson tone is fresh and warm, while its - gold is as bright now as when first woven into its present graceful - pattern. - - -1334. - -Web for Orphreys; ground, gold thread; design, two branches twined -into large oval spaces, and bearing leaves and red and white flowers, -having, in one space, the name Gumprecht and a shield, applied, -_or_, a spread-eagle _sable_, langued and armed _gules_, (may be for -Brandenburg); and under this, in the web itself, another shield _or_, -a lion rampant _gules_, armed langued and crowned _or_, and double -tailed, seemingly for Bohemia. German, 15th century. 16 inches by 5½ -inches. - - Though of poor materials, this piece is interesting from showing a - name and armorial bearings. - - -1335. - -Web for Orphreys; ground, fawn-coloured silk; design, almost all in -gold, sitting on a throne beneath a Gothic canopy the Blessed Virgin -Mary, crowned and nimbed, with our Lord as a child upon her lap, -alternating with a circle bearing within it the sacred monogram (worked -the wrong way) done in blue silk, surrounded by golden rays. German, -middle of 15th century. 11¼ inches by 4½ inches. - - The design of this orphrey-web is good, but the gold so amalgamated - with copper that it has become quite brown. Though the monogram is - that usually seen in the hands of St. Bernardinus of Sienna, and the - drawing of the group of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the sacred Child - is somewhat Italian, this was not the work of any Italians loom; for - in no part of Italy would the monogram have had given it letters of - such a German type. - - -1336. - -Silk Damask; ground and pattern in rich crimson; design, eight-cusped -ovals, each cusp tipped not with a flower, but tendrils; the ovals -enclose a conventional artichoke purfled with flowers; and the spaces -between the ovals are filled in with small artichokes in bloom. -Spanish, 15th century. 20 inches by 14¾ inches. - - This is a fine specimen both for the richness of its silk and the warm - and mellow tint of its ground, upon which the pattern comes out in a - duller tone. Further on we shall meet with another stuff, No. 1345, - which must have proceeded from the same loom, and shows in its design - many elements of the one in this. Either Granada or Almeria produced - this fine piece, which affords us, in the brilliancy of its colour, an - apt sample of our old poet Chaucer’s dress for one of his characters, - of whom he tells us,-- - - “In sanguin and in perse he clad was alle;” - -and helps us to understand Spenser’s allusion to the young maiden’s -blushes:-- - - “How the red roses flush up in her cheekes - ... with goodly vermill stayne, - Like crimson dyde in grayne.” - - - -1337. - -Web for Orphreys; ground, crimson silk; design, in gold thread, a -straight branch of a tree bearing pairs of boughs with flowers, -alternating with other boughs with sprigs of leaves. German, early 16th -century. 14½ inches by 2½ inches. - - The warp of this web is thick linen thread, and where the woof of - crimson silk is worn away, this thread, as if part of the design, - shows itself; and, as the gold is poor and sparingly put on, the - specimen now looks shabby. Like many other samples of the kind, woven, - probably, at Cologne, this was intended as the narrow orphrey on - liturgical garments. - - -1338. - -An Apparel to an Alb; ground, strong linen; design, within twining -boughs bearing flowers and leaves, a dove and a lamb, all in -various-coloured silks and outlined in narrow strips of leather. -Spanish, early 15th century. 13 inches square. - - That the last liturgic use of this piece was as an apparel to an alb - there can be little doubt, though, in all likelihood, it may have been - cut off a larger piece of needlework wrought for the front border of - an altar-cloth. The outline in leather is rather singular; though now - black, it was once gilt, like those strips we see cut into very narrow - shreds, and worked up, instead of gold thread, into silken stuffs - from the looms of Almeria or Granada, specimens of which are in this - collection. As an art-production of the needle, this is but a poor one. - - -1339. - -Raised Gold Brocaded Velvet; ground, green silk; design, within an oval -in crimson raised velvet of a floriated pattern, dotted with flowers -and grapes in white, a large trefoil on raised crimson velvet, bearing -inside an artichoke in green and gold, springing from a white flower. -Italian, 16th century, 11¾ inches by 8 inches. - - This tasteful and pleasing design is wrought in rich materials; and - large state-chairs are yet to be seen in the palaces of Rome covered - with such beautiful and costly velvets. - - -1340. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, blue silk; design, ogee arches, over the -finial of each a large conventional flower, and within and without -the arches a slip of the mulberry-leaf and fruit, all in bright gold. -Lucca, 16th century. 3 feet 5 inches by 2 feet 4 inches. - - This fine rich stuff must have been most effective for wall-hangings. - The blue silk ground is tastefully diapered in bright and dull shades - of the silk itself; and in the fine gold design the artichoke is - judiciously brought in upon the ogee arches. When nicely managed, - nothing is better than a ground in one shade and a design in a deeper - tone of the same colour. - - -1341. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, fawn-coloured silk; design, pomegranates -piled together in threes, all gold, and flowers in silk alternately -crimson and green. Spanish, 16th century. 16¼ inches by 12 inches. - - The rich ground of this fine stuff has a well-designed and rather - raised diapering of geometrical scroll-work; the pomegranates are - wrought in pure gold thread, and the tones of the flowers are bright. - - -1342. - -Worsted Work; ground, black; design, flowers. German, 16th century. -21¼ inches square. - - Very likely this was part of a carpet, embroidered by hand, for - covering the top of the higher step at the altar, called by some a - pede-cloth; the ground is of a black worsted warp, with a woof of - thick brown thread. The flowers are mostly crimson-shaded pink, some - are, or were, partly white, and seem to be made for sorts of the - pentstemon, digitalis, and fritillaria; a butterfly, too, is not - forgotten. - - -1343. - -Cradle-quilt, linen, embroidered in coloured silks with flowers and -names. German, late 15th century. 3 feet 4¼ inches by 1 foot 8¼ -inches. - - At each of its four corners, as well as in the middle, is wrought a - large bunch of our “meadow pink;” between the flowers are worked these - names,--“Jhesus, Maria, Johanes, Jaspar, Baltasar, Maria, Melchior, - Johanes.” From the names assigned to the three wise men, whose relics - are enshrined in the cathedral at Cologne, being so conspicuously - wrought upon this piece, we may presume that the needlework was done - in that great German city. By wear, the greens of the leaves have - turned brown, and the pink of the flowers become pale. Those pieces of - printed linen with which the holes in two places are mended will not - be without an interest for those who are curious in tracing out the - origin of such manufactures. Other examples of these cradle-quilts are - in this collection. - - -1344. - -Cradle-quilt, linen, embroidered in coloured silks; design, within a -broad border of scroll-work in simple lines, the emblems of the four -Evangelists, one at each corner; of the Crucifixion, with the Blessed -Virgin Mary on the right, and St. John to the left, only a small part -of the young apostle’s figure is to be found at present. German, early -16th century, 2 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 2 inches. - - Though in mere outline, the whole design was well drawn, and the - emblems at the corners have great freedom about them. On the popular - use of the evangelists’ emblems upon such baby’s furniture, some - observations are given on another good sample, No. 4644, in this - collection. A cradle-quilt like the present one occurs at No. 4459. - - -1345. - -Silk Damask; ground and pattern in reddish crimson; design, -eight-cusped ovals,--each cusp tipped with a flower, ending in a -fleur-de-lis above a crown, at top, and enclosing a conventional -artichoke purfled with flowers. Spanish, 15th century. 14 inches by 13 -inches. - - From its present shape, this piece was evidently last in use as the - hood to a liturgical cope. - - -1346. - -Part of an Embroidered Orphrey; ground (now faded), crimson silk; -design, a green silk bough so twined as to end in a long pinnatified -leaf or flower, now white but once gold, with little rounds of gold -sprouting from parts of the outside branches. German, 16th century. -16¾ inches by 3 inches. - - A specimen as meagre in design as it is poor in materials. - - -1347. - -Part of an Embroidered Orphrey; ground, crimson silk; design, a green -silk bough, &c. German, 16th century. 17½ inches by 5 inches. - - In all likelihood a part of the broader orphrey wrought for the same - vestment as the one just before mentioned. - - -1348. - -Web for Orphreys; ground, gold thread; design, the fleur-de-lis -composed into a geometric pattern, outlined in dark brown silk. German, -late 15th century. 14½ inches by 4¼ inches. - - Both the brown colour and the design are somewhat rare, as found upon - ecclesiastical appliances. Here, as elsewhere, the gold is so poor - that it is hardly discernible. Under the canvas lining is a piece of - parchment, on which is written some theological matter. - - -1349. - -Web for Orphreys; ground, cloth of gold pricked with crimson; design, -the names--“Jhesus,” “Maria,” done in blue silk, between two trees, one -bearing heads of crimson fruit, the other lilies, parti-coloured white -with crimson; and the green sward, from which both spring, covered -with full-blown daisies in one instance, with unexpanded daisies in the -other. German, late 15th century. 17½ inches by 4½ inches. - - Like several other specimens in the collection, and most probably - woven to be the orphreys sewed, before and behind, in a horizontal - stripe, upon the dalmatics and tunicles for high mass. The student - of symbolism will not fail to see in the tree to the right hand the - mystic vine, bearing bunches of crimson grapes; while, to the left, - the tree covered with parti-coloured lilies--white for purity, red - for a bleeding-heart--is referrible to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose - heart, as she stood at the foot of the cross, underwent all the pains - of martyrdom foretold her by Simeon when he said,--“And thine own soul - a sword shall pierce,” _Luke_ ii. 35. - - -1350. - -Web for Orphreys; ground, narrow blue spaces alternating with wider -crimson ones; design, the name of “Jhesus,” in gold upon the blue, -between two borders checkered crimson blue and yellow, the crimson -spaces charged with a floriation, alternately gold and yellow; the next -blue space inscribed with the name “Maria” in gold. In the names, as -well as the floriation, the metal has become tarnished so as to look a -dull brown. German, late 15th century. 19 inches by 2¼ inches. - - Of such webs there are several specimens in the collection; and their - use was to ornament liturgical vestments, in those long perpendicular - lines found upon tunicles and dalmatics. - - -1351. - -Piece of Raised Velvet; ground, crimson; design, a conventional -artichoke, wreathed with small flowers in green and yellow within a -garland of the same colours. Italian, 16th century. 11½ inches by 11 -inches. - - -1351A. - -Piece of Raised Velvet. A part of the same stuff. Italian, 16th -century. 9¾ inches by 1¾ by inches. - - -1351B. - -Piece of Raised Velvet. A part of the same stuff. Italian, 16th -century. 12½ inches by 1¾ inches. - - These three pieces are portions of a material made of excellent rich - silk, and of good tones in colour. - - -1352. - -Piece of Raised Velvet, brocaded in gold; ground, crimson; design, -an oval with cusps inside and enclosing a large artichoke, the whole -wreathed with a garland, and in gold. Italian, 16th century. 2 feet -3¾ inches by 8¼ inches. - - This magnificent stuff is rendered still more valuable, as a specimen, - from having much of its design of that rare kind of velvet upon - velvet, or one pile put over, in design, another but lower pile. The - state-rooms of a palace could alone have been hung with such sumptuous - wall-coverings. Perhaps church vestments and hangings about the altar - may have been sometimes made of such a heavy material. - - -1352A. - -Piece of Raised Velvet, brocaded in gold; ground, crimson; design, a -cusped oval enclosing a conventional artichoke, and the whole wreathed -with a broad garland, all in gold. Italian, 16th century. 18 inches by -7 inches. - - This differs both in design and quality from the former, having no - pile upon pile in it. - - -1352B. - -Piece of Raised Velvet, brocaded in gold; ground, crimson; design, not -very clear: though, from what can be observed, it is the same with No. -1352. - - -1353. - -Web for Orphreys; ground, crimson silk; design, in yellow silk and gold -thread, between two floriated borders, a series of foliated scrolls, -with the open round spaces filled in with the Blessed Virgin holding -our Lord as a naked child in her arms, and a saint-bishop wearing his -mitre and cope, giving his blessing with one hand, and holding his -pastoral staff in the other. Venetian, 16th century. 25 inches by 8¼ -inches. - - The materials are good, excepting the gold thread, which has turned - black, though the large quantity of rich yellow silk used along with - it somewhat hides its tarnish. In gearing his loom the weaver has made - the mistake of showing the bishop as bestowing his benediction with - his left, instead of his right hand. - - -1354. - -Embroidered Linen; ground, very fine linen; design, separated by a -saltire or St. Andrew’s cross, lozenges filled in with a Greek cross, -and half lozenges, the whole ornamented with circles enclosing other -small crosses. Italian, 16th century. 10¾ inches by 3½ inches. - - This elaborate design is as delicately worked as it is beautiful in - pattern. - - -1355. - -Silk Damask; ground, sea-green; design, in the same tint, a -conventional foliation of the pomegranate, surrounding a wide -broad-banded oval filled in with a large fruit of the same kind. -Spanish, early 16th century. 33 inches by 12½ inches. - - In the beauty of its design, the rich softness of its silk, and its - grateful tone, this is a pleasing specimen of the loom from the south - of Spain. - - -1356. - -Piece of Raised Velvet; black; design, foliated branches joined at -intervals by royal crowns alternating with vases, and large artichokes -in the intervening spaces. Italian, late 15th century. 25½ inches by -21¾ inches. - - This truly beautiful velvet was, no doubt, meant for personal attire. - - -1357. - -Raised Velvet; ground, olive-green silk; design, slips with flowers and -leaves of a somewhat deeper tone, and outlined in a lighter coloured -raised velvet. Lucca, 16th century. 8-⅞ inches by 8¾ inches. - - This nicely-wrought stuff of pleasing pattern must have been made for - personal attire. - - -1358. - -Linen Crochet Work; design, saltires, between crosses formed of leaves, -and a modification of the Greek meander. Flemish, 16th century. 21 -inches by 7½ inches. - - The convents in France, but more particularly in Flanders, were at all - times famous for this kind of work; hence it is often called nun’s - lace, because wrought by them for trimming altar-cloths and albs. The - present one is a good specimen of a geometrical pattern, and the two - borders are neatly done by the needle upon linen. In all likelihood - this piece was the hem of an altar-cloth. - - -1359. - -Linen Damask; design, scrolls and foliage, with a deep border showing -ducal coronets, armorial shields, and the letters L and K. Flemish, -early 17th century. 28¼ inches by 11½ inches. - - An elaborate specimen of the way they geared their looms in Flanders, - and more especially at Yprès, where most likely, this fine damask was - woven. The shield is party per pale, 1st, two chevronels embattled; - 2nd, three turreted towers, two and one. Seemingly this piece of - Flemish napery was made for some nobleman whose wife was, or claimed - to be, of the ancient blood of the royal house of Castile. - - -1360. - -Silk Damask; ground, crimson; design, bunches of flowers, artichokes, -and pomegranates, in yellow. Spanish, 16th century. 20 inches by 11¼ -inches. - - A rich stuff, whether colour or material be considered; and quite - agreeing with other specimens in the love of the southern Spanish loom - for the pomegranate, the emblem of Granada, where probably it was - wrought. - - -1361. - -Silk Damask; ground, dull violet; design, within reticulated squares, a -conventional bunch of flowers much in the honeysuckle shape, in white -and yellow. Italian, 16th century. 6 inches by 7½ inches. - - Though the silk is good, the weaving is rather coarse and rough. - - -1362. - -Silk Damask; ground, bright crimson; design, a conventional floriation -in various-coloured silks. North Italian, 16th century. 9¼ inches by -6¾ inches. - -[Illustration: 1362. - -SILK DAMASK - -Crimson ground with large branching pattern in coloured silk. Italian, -16th century. - - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith. - -] - - So thick is this somewhat showy stuff, that it must have been meant - for furniture purposes. - - -1363. - -Silk Damask; ground, reddish purple; design, slips of three kinds of -flower-bearing plants, one of which is the pomegranate. Spanish, late -15th century. 10¾ inches by 6-⅞ inches. - - From the south of Spain, and bearing a token, if not of the city, at - least of the kingdom of Granada. - - -1364. - -Damask, linen woof, silken warp; ground, yellow; design, a conventional -floriation, showing a strong likeness to the whole plant of the -artichoke, in white linen. Italian, 16th century. 10 inches by 9¾ -inches. - - A poor stuff in respect to materials, colour, and design; which latter - is the best element in it. Intended for household decorative purposes. - - -1365. - -Damask, silk woof, linen warp; ground, light red, now faded; design, -vases filled with flowers, in yellow silk. Italian, late 16th century. -24 inches by 22 inches. - - No doubt this stuff was meant for hangings in a palace or - dwelling-house; and among the flowers may be seen the bignonia or - trumpet-flower, and the pomegranate opening and about to shed its seed. - - -1366. - -Linen Diaper; design, square made out of four leaves. Flemish, late -16th century. 20 inches by 9 inches. - - The pattern, though so simple, is very pleasing, and the stuff itself - speaks of Yprès as being the place of its origin. - - -1367. - -Silk Taffeta; ground, purple; design, amid boughs, a pair of birds, -with an artichoke between them, all in orange-yellow. Sicilian, 14th -century. 9¾ inches square. - - This light thin stuff, quiet in its tones and simple in its pattern, - must have been wrought for lining robes of rich stuffs. - - -1368. - -Silk Damask; ground, white satin; design, amid flowers, among which -the chrysanthemum is very conspicuous, a group, consisting of a man -inside a low fence looking upwards upon a blue lion and a golden tiger, -seemingly at play, side by side, one of which is about to be struck by -a long spear held by a man standing above, within a walled building. -Just over him stands another man with a short mace in one hand, in -the other a small bottle, out of which comes a large bough of the -pomegranate tree in leaf, flower, and fruit. Chinese, 16th century. 2 -feet 6¾ inches by 10¾ inches. - - For the soft warm tints of its several coloured flos-silks, the - pureness of the gold thread upon the human faces, the animals and - the flowers, the correctness of the drawing, and the well-arranged - freedom of the whole pattern, there are few pieces that come up to - this in the whole collection. In all likelihood it was brought from - China, perhaps made up as a liturgical chasuble, by some Portuguese - missionary priest, in the latter portion of the 16th or beginning of - the 17th century. - - -1369. - -Dalmatic; ground, blue silk; design, narrow bands charged with -circles enclosing a word in imitated Arabic, and conventional flowers -separating two hounds couchant, gardant, each within his own circle, -all in gold, and a large conventional floriation, at the foot of which -are two cheetahs collared, courant, face to face, all in white silk, -slightly specked with crimson, and between this group two eagles, in -white silk, flying down upon two small hounds, sejant, gardant, both -in gold. The orphreys, broad and narrow, are embroidered with heraldic -shields set upon a golden ground. Sicilian, 14th century. 3 feet 5½ -inches by (across the sleeves) 4 feet 2¾ inches. - - Some ruthless hand has cut away from the back a large square piece of - this vestment; and, to adopt it to modern fashion, its sleeves have - been slit up at the under side. The armorial bearings are, on one - shield, a chief _or_, _gules_, three stars, two, and one _argent_; on - the other, _purpure_, two arrows in saltire _or_. - - The cheetahs are well marked by the round spots upon them; and when - new, this stuff, with its pattern so boldly figured, must have been - pleasing. - - -1370. - -Piece of Cut-work, for wall-hanging; ground, square of blue and red, -with the upper border blue, the side one red; design, at top, knights -and ladies talking, and each within a separate arch; in the body of the -piece, the history of some dragon-slayer, figured in two horizontal -rows of compartments, every one of which is contained within an archway -with a head composed of three trefoil arches in a straight line, and -resting on trefoil-brackets, and having, all through, birds and flowers -in the spandrils. French, late 14th century. 7 feet 11 inches by 3 feet -4 inches. - - Though now so rough and tattered this almost unique piece of - “cut-work” (which French people would call appliqué, but better - described by the English words), of so large a size, is valuable for - its use in showing how, with cheap materials and a little knowledge of - drawing, a very pleasing, not to say useful, article of decoration may - be made, either for church appliance or household furniture. - - Unfortunately the heads of the personages in the upper row are all - cut away, but lower down we plainly see the history meant to be - represented. Upon the first pane, to the left, we have a regal throne, - upon which are sitting, evidently in earnest talk, a king, crowned - and sceptred, and a knight, each belted with a splendid military - girdle falling low down around the hips. Behind the knight stands his - ’squire. In the next pane the enthroned king is giving his orders - to the standing knight, toward whom his ’squire is bringing his - sword, his shield, (_argent_ a fess _azure_, surmounted by a demi-ox - _azure_,) and a bascinet mantled and crested with the head of the same - demi-ox or aurochs and its tall horns. After this we behold the knight - with lance and shield, and his ’squire on horseback riding forth - from the castle, at the gate of which stands the king, outstretching - his hand and bidding farewell to the knight, who is turning about - to acknowledge the good-bye. Going first upon the road, the knight, - followed by the ’squire, seems asking the way to the dragon’s lair, - from a gentleman whom they meet. The monster is then found in a wood, - and the knight is tilting his spear into its fire-red maw. The next - pane carrying on the romance is the first to the left in the second - or lower series. Here the knight is unhorsed, and his good grey steed - is lying on the field; but the knight himself, wielding his sword in - both hands, is about to smite the dragon breathing long flames of - fire towards him. Afterwards he catches hold of his fiery tongue, and - is cutting it off. It would look as if the dragon, though wounded to - the loss of its tongue, had not been worsted; for in the following - compartment we behold the same knight all unarmed, but well mounted, - galloping forth from a castle gate with a hound and some sort of bird, - both with strings to them, by his horse’s side, and having found the - dragon again, appears holding an argument with the beast that, for - answer, shows the fiery stump of his tongue in his gaping mouth. But - the dragon will not give himself up and be led away captive. Now, - however, comes the grand fight. In a forest, with a bird perched on - high upon one of the trees, the knight, dismounted from his horse, - cuts off the head of the dragon, which, to the last, is careful to - show his much shortened yet still fiery tongue to his victor. Now have - we the last passage but one in the story. Upon his bended knee the - triumphant knight is presenting the open-mouthed, tongueless, cut-off - dragon’s head to the king and queen, both throned and royally arrayed, - the princess, their daughter, standing by her mother’s side. The young - maiden, no doubt, is the victor’s prize; but now--and it is the last - chapter--the knight and lady, dressed in the weeds of daily life and - walking forth upon the flowery turf, seem happy with one another as - man and wife. The two panes at this part, and serving as a border, - seem out of place, and neither has a connection with the other; in the - first, just outside a castle wall, rides a crowned king followed by - a horseman, evidently of low degree; and a column separates him from - a large bed, lying upon which we observe the upper part of a female - figure, the head resting upon a rich cushion; next to this, but put in - anglewise to fill up the space, we have a crowned lady and a girdled - knight, sitting beneath a tree, each with a little dog beside them. - - The costume of both men and women in this curious piece of cut-work - is that of the end of the 14th century. The parti-coloured dress of - the men, their long pointed shoes, and the broad girdles, worn so low - upon their hips by the king and knight, as well as the bascinet and - helmet of the latter, with the horses’ trappings, all speak of that - period; nor should we forget the sort of peaked head-dress, as well as - the way in which the front hair of the ladies is thrown up into thick - short curls. All the human figures, all the beasts, as well as the - architecture, are outlined in thin leather or parchment once gilt, but - now turned quite black. With the same leather, too, were studded the - belts of the king and knight, and the spangles and golden enrichments - of the ladies’ dress were of the same material. Saving here and there - a few stitches of silk, everything else was of worsted, and that none - of the finest texture. With such small means a good art-work was - produced, as we see before us. The way in which each figure over the - whole of this curious piece of cut-work is outlined by the leather - edging strongly reminds us of the leadings in stained glass; in fact, - both the one and the other are wrought after the same manner, and the - principal difference between the window and the woollen hanging is - the employment of an opaque instead of a transparent material. If the - personages are dressed sometimes in blue, at others in crimson, it - will be found that these colours alternate with the alternating tints - of the panes upon which they are sewed. - - So often do the passages in the romance here figured correspond with - certain parts in the wild legend of our own far-famed “Sir Guy of - Warwick,” that, at first sight, one might be led to think that as his - renowned story was carried all through Christendom, we had before us - his mighty feats and triumph over the dragon in Northumberland, set - forth in this handiwork of some lady-reader of his story. - - -1371. - -Worsted Work; ground, green; design, conventional flowers in yellow, -with, at one end, a border of foliated boughs, the leaves of which are -partly green, partly red, and an edging of a band made up of white, -green, yellow, scarlet straight lines on the inner side; on three sides -there is a narrow listing of bluish-green lace. German, 15th century. 4 -feet 3¼ inches by 1 foot 10 inches. - - In all probability this was intended and used as a carpet for some - small altar-step. It is worked upon coarse canvas. - - -1372. - -Piece of Needlework; pattern, upon bell-shaped spaces of silver thread, -flowers mostly white and shaded yellow, divided by a sort of imperial -high-peaked cap of blue shaded white, arising out of a royal crown. -17th century. 12½ inches by 7½ inches. - - -1372A. - -Border to an Altar-cloth, embroidered; ground, crimson silk; design, -animals and birds amid branching foliage and fleurs-de-lis, well -raised in white and gold; the upper part linen, wrought into lozenges -alternately crimson and yellow, braced together by a fret, and filled -in with narrow bars saltire wise. German, 15th century. 3 feet 10¼ -inches by 11½ inches. - - Among the animals is the symbolic lamb and flag, with a chalice - underneath its head. From the exact similarity of style in the - ornamentation and needlework, there can be no doubt but the same hand - which wrought the stole, No. 1322, worked this piece, and probably - both formed a portion of the same set of ornaments for the chantry - chapel of some small family. - - -1373. - -Cope; ground, green raised-velvet; design, amid leaves of a heart-shape -or cordate, freckled with a kind of check, large conventional -artichokes. The orphreys are of web, figured, on a golden ground, with -saints, inscription, and flower-bearing trees; the hood is ornamented -with applied cut-work and needle embroidery, and the morse is of plain -velvet. The raised velvet is Italian, 16th century; the orphrey web, -German, 16th century; the embroidery of the hood, 16th century. 9 feet -2 inches by 3 feet 11¼ inches. - - The raised velvet, though now so torn and stitched together, is of a - very fine pile, and pleasing elaborate design. The hood is figured - with the Annunciation, and the faces are applied pieces of white silk - with the features and hair brought out by the needle in coloured - silks; the other parts of the embroidery are coarse but effective. On - the orphreys are shown, on one side, St. Peter and St. Katherine, on - the other, St. Paul and St. Barbara. The ground for the name of the - last saint looks very bright and fresh in its gold; but the gold is, - so to say, a fraud. It is put, by the common gilding process, upon the - web after being woven, and not twined about the thread itself. The - fringe all round the lower part is rather unusual. - - -1374. - -Applied Embroidery; ground, green silk; pattern, a flower-vase between -two horns of plenty with flowers coming out of them, and separated by -a conventional floral ornament, mostly done in amber-coloured cord. -French, late 17th century. 2 feet 3 inches by 6½ inches. - - Tame in its design, and easy in its execution. - - -1374A. ’64. - -Chasuble of Silk Damask; ground, purple; design, a quatrefoil within -another charged with a cross-like floriation, having a square -white-lined centre, surmounted by two eagles with wings displayed and -upholding in their beaks a royal crown, all in green. Italian, early -15th century. 4 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 7 inches. - - By some unfeeling hand a large piece was, not long ago, cut out from - the front of this fine old ample chasuble; and, very likely, the - specimen of the same stuff, No. 7057, is that very portion. - - -1375. ’64. - -Chasuble; ground, very rich velvet; design, in the middle of a large -five-petaled flower, a pomegranate, and another pomegranate in the -spaces between these flowers. The orphreys are, before and behind, of -rich diapered cloth of gold, the one behind of the Y form, figured in -embroidery with the Crucifixion; the one before on a piece of velvet of -a different diapering from the back, with the Blessed Virgin Mary and -our Lord, as a child, in her arms; and below, the figure of Religion. -Spanish, late 15th century. 3 feet 2 inches by 2 feet 4¾ inches. - - This chasuble must have been truly grand and majestic when new, and - seen in all its sumptuous fulness, for it has been sadly cut away - about the shoulders. It must, originally, have measured, on that part, - at least some inches beyond four feet. The Y cross orphrey on the back - is figured with the crucifixion, done after a large and effective - manner, for the person of our Redeemer measures more than 1 foot 9 - inches in length, and His, as well as all the other faces are thrown - up in low relief. At the ends of the transom of the cross are four - winged angels--two at each side, of whom one is catching, in a golden - chalice, the sacred blood spirting from the wounds in the hands, the - other flying down in sorrow from the clouds. High above the cross are - two angels with peacock-feather wings, swinging two golden thuribles, - which are in low relief; and between these angelic spirits, a golden - eagle in high relief, with wings displayed, armed and beaked _gules_ - and holding in his once crimson talons a scroll which, from the - letters observable, may have been inscribed with the motto, “(Respice) - in fi(nem).” The front of the chasuble is made of a piece of velvet - of another and much broader design--a large flower of five petals and - two stipulæ--but equally remarkable for its deep mellow ruby tone and - soft deep pile. Its orphrey of fine diapered gold-thread embroidery, - but much worn away through being long rubbed by its wearers against - the altar, is worked with the Blessed Virgin Mary carrying in her arms - our Saviour, as a naked child, caressing His mother’s face; and, lower - down, with a female figure crowned and nimbed, bearing in her right - hand a golden chalice, at the top of which is a large eucharistic - particle marked with a cross-crosslet; this is the emblem of the - Church. Both figures are large and of a telling effect; and, like the - other figures, have more of a naturalistic than ideal type of beauty - about them. - - -1376. - -Chasuble; ground, raised crimson velvet with concentric circles in -cloth of gold, within garlands of which the leaves are green, the -flowers gold. The orphreys are woven in coloured silks on cloth of -gold, with inscriptions. The velvet, Florentine, late 15th century; the -orphrey web, German, late 15th century. 3 feet 10¾ inches by 2 feet -10¼ inches. - -[Illustration: 1376. - -PART OF THE ORPHREY OF A CHASUBLE. German 15th century. - - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith.] - -[Illustration: 1376. - -PART OF THE ORPHREY OF A CHASUBLE. German 15th century. - - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith.] - -The very rich stuff of this vestment far surpasses in splendour the -orphreys, which ought to have been better. On the one behind, we -have the Crucifixion with the words below, in blue silk, “O Crux -Ave.” Further down an angel is holding a sheet figured with all the -instruments of the Passion. After the word Maria, a second angel is -shown with another sheet falling from his hands and figured with the -Holy Lamb, having, beneath it, the words “Ecce Agnus Dei;” then a third -angel, with the word, but belonging to another piece, “Johan.” On the -orphrey in front a fourth angel is displaying a chalice surmounted by -a cross and standing within a fenced garden, and beneath the sheet the -word “Maria.” Lower down a fifth angel is showing the column and two -bundles of rods, with “Jhesus.” Last of all there is an angel with -a napkin marked with the crown of green thorns and two reeds placed -saltire-wise, and the word “Maria.” - - -1375. - -Saddle-bag of Persian carpeting; ground, deep crimson; pattern, stripes -in various colours running up the warp. Persian. 3 feet 4 inches by 1 -foot 5 inches. - - The warp and weft are of a strong coarse texture, and not only at the - corners but upon each pouch there are tassels. - - -1376. - -Travelling-bag, of the same stuff, but varying in pattern. Persian. 1 -foot 8 inches by 1 foot 7 inches. - - -1378. - -Bag of woven worsted; ground, deep crimson; pattern, narrow stripes -figured with diversified squares in different colours. Persian. 1 foot -3¾ inches by 1 foot 2¼ inches. - - From the string of worsted lace attached to the side it would seem - that this bag was meant to be slung across the person of the wearer. - None of these three articles are very old. - - -1379. - -Bag of woven silk and worsted; ground, deep crimson worsted; pattern, -horizontal bands in silk figured, in places, with four-legged beasts, -white, yellow, red, and green, and with vertical bands figured with a -green net-work filled in with what look like birds, crimson, separated -by a tree. Persian. 11¾ inches by 10 inches. - - Most Persian in look is this bag, which, from the thick cord attached - to it, seems to have been for carrying in the hand. It is lined with - brown linen, and has two strings for drawing the mouth close up. The - two birds repeated so often on the lower part, and separated by what - looks like a tree, may be an ornament traditionally handed down from - the times when the Persian sacred “hom” was usual in the patterns of - that country. No great antiquity can be claimed by the textile before - us. - - -1547, 1548. - -Two Escutcheons of the Arms of France, surmounted by a royal crown, and -encircled with the collars of two orders--one St. Michael, the other -the Holy Ghost--embroidered upon a black ground, in gold and silver, -and the proper blazon colours. French, 17th century. - - All well and heraldically done. - - -1622. - -Piece of Printed Chintz. Old English, presented by F. Fellingham, Esq. - - -2864A. - -Frame for enamels; ground, purple velvet; pattern, scrolls in raised -gold embroidery. French, late 17th century. 8 inches by 7 inches. - - The velvet is put on pasteboard. In the centre, left uncovered, a - larger enamel must have been let in; upon the four small circular - and unembroidered spaces of the velvet, lesser enamels, or precious - stones, were sewed. - - -2865. - -Frame for enamels; ground, crimson velvet; pattern, scrolls in raised -gold embroidery. French, late 17th century. 8 inches by 7 inches. - - Though differing in its colour, this is evidently the fellow to the - one just mentioned. - - -4015. - -Mitre; crimson and gold velvet. Florentine, 15th century. 1 foot 10½ -inches by 11 inches. - - This liturgical curiosity is of that low graceful shape which we find - in most mitres before the 16th century; in all probability this one - was made not for real episcopal use, but to be employed in the service - of the so-called boy-bishop who used, for centuries, to be chosen - every year from among the boys who served in the cathedral, or the - great churches of towns, at Christmas-tide, as well in England as all - over Christendom; (see “Church of our Fathers,” t. iv. p. 215). As the - rubrical colour for episcopal mitres is white, or of cloth of gold, a - crimson mitre is of great rarity. The one before us is made of those - rich stuffs for which Florence was so famous, as may be instanced in - the gorgeous vestments given to Westminster Abbey by our Henry VII. - The mitre itself is of crimson velvet, freckled with gold threads, - raised in a rich pile upon a golden ground, with green fringed - lappets; but the “titulus,” or upright stripe before and behind, - along with the “corona,” or circular band, are all of a kind of lace - or woven texture of raised velvet, green, white, and crimson, after - a pretty design, upon a golden ground. The mitre is lined throughout - with light-blue silk. - - -4016. - -Bed-quilt; ground, cherry-coloured satin; pattern, birds amid flowers -and foliage, in the centre a double-headed eagle, displayed. East -Indian (?), early 17th century. 8 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 10 inches. - - The satin is poor, and its colour faded; but the embroidery, with - which it is plentifully overspread, is of a rich, though not tasty, - kind. Birds of extraordinary, and, no doubt, fanciful plumage are - everywhere flitting about it, among flowers as unusual as themselves; - but the glowing tones of the many-coloured silks in which they are - wrought must strike every one’s eye. From the double-headed eagle, - done in gold, with wings blue, yellow, and green, displayed, it would - appear that this quilt was wrought for some (perhaps imperial) house - in Europe. - - -4018. - -State-cap, of crimson velvet turned up with white satin, which is faced -with crimson velvet, and all embroidered in gold and silver threads. -German (?), late 17th century. 14½ inches by 10 inches. - - By a very modern hand the words “King Charles” are written upon the - green silk lining; what Charles, however, is not mentioned. There is - much about the shape of the cap itself, and especially in the design - of its embroidery, to induce the belief that it was wrought and - fashioned by a German hand, and for German and not English use. In - a piece of tapestry once belonging to the famous Bayard, and now in - the Imperial Library at Paris, the same form of high-crowned crimson - velvet cap is worn by Pyrrhus while he is being knighted, as may be - seen, plate 42, in Shaw’s “Dresses and Decorations of the Middle - Ages,” t. ii, borrowed from Jubinal’s fine work on “Early Tapestries.” - - -4024. - -Altar-frontal; ground, crimson satin; subjects, five apostles, each -under a Gothic canopy, with bunches of flowers between them wrought in -coloured silks and gold thread. Italian, late 15th century. 7 feet 3 -inches by 2 feet. - - Beginning at the left-hand we have St. Paul holding a sword, then St. - James the Greater with the pilgrim-staff; in the middle, St. Thomas - holding in one hand a spear, and giving his blessing with the right, - St. Andrew with a cross of large size leaning against his shoulder; - and, last of all, St. John with an eagle at his feet. The figures are - better done than the niches about them, which are very heavy and bad - in taste, as are the bunches of flowers. The whole is applied, and - upon a more modern piece of crimson satin. The back is lined with - leaves of a printed book relating to the Abbey of Vallombrosa, near - Florence. - - Hanging behind this frontal, and put together as a background to it, - are Numbers:-- - - -4513-4516. - -Fringed Panels of Domestic Furniture; ground, deep maroon velvet; -pattern, a small arabesque within a square of the same design, in cloth -of gold edged with gold cord. Italian, 16th century. Nos. 4513 and -4515, each 4 feet 6 inches by 1 foot 4 inches; Nos. 4514 and 4516, each -3 feet 7 inches by 1 foot 4 inches. - - Bedsteads in Italy are so large that these pieces look far too - small to have ever been applied to such a purpose as bed-furniture. - They were, probably, the hangings for the head of a canopy in the - throne-room of a palace during the year of mourning for the death of - its prince. - - -4045. - -Chasuble; the ground, tawny-coloured velvet; pattern, angels and -flowers in coloured flos-silks and gold thread, the orphreys before and -behind figured with saints. English, 15th century. 7 feet by 3 feet. - - Though the needlework upon this chasuble is effective at a distance, - like much of the embroidery of the time, both in this country and - abroad, it is found to be very rude and coarse when seen near. The - style of the whole ornamentation is so very English that there is no - mistaking it. The back orphrey is in the shape of a cross; and on - it, and figured at top, Melchisedek with three loaves in his hand; - beneath him, the prophet Malachi, on the left of whom we have Abraham - with a large broad sacrificial knife in his hand, on the right, King - David and his harp; these three form the transom of the cross. Going - downward, we see St. John the Evangelist with the chalice; below this - apostle, David again; and, last of all, half the person of some saint. - On the front orphrey are given St. James the Greater, and two prophets - of the Old Law. This chasuble, with its stole and maniple, is said to - have been found at Bath, hidden behind the wainscot of a house there. - Certain it is that the chasuble has been much cut down. The original - size was far larger. - - -4046, 4046A. - -Stole and Maniple; ground, tawny-coloured velvet, embroidered with -flowers in gold and coloured silks. English, 15th century. Stole, 8 -feet 6 inches by 2¾ inches; maniple, 3 feet 3 inches by 2¾ inches. - - The embroidery is quite of the style of the period, and in character - with that usually found upon the commoner class of English vestments, - done in flos-silk and gold thread, after a large design. The velvet is - Italian, and this tone of colour seems to have been then in favour. - - -4059. - -Piece of Woven Orphrey; ground, crimson silk; subject, the Assumption -of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in yellow silk. Florentine, 15th century. 2 -feet 9 inches by 8¾ inches. - - This favourite subject of all art-schools in the mediæval period is - treated here much after other examples in this collection, as No. - 8977, &c., but with some variations, and better design and drawing. - The Eternal Father, with glory round Him, and two cherubim, is putting - a crown upon the head of St. Mary, who is seated upon sunbeams - surrounded by angels, while she drops her girdle to St. Thomas as - he kneels at her late grave, now filled with new-blown lilies, and - bearing on its front the words “Assunta est.” “Assunta” for “Assumpta” - is the weaver’s own blunder. Dr. Bock gives a plate of it in his - “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 1 Band, 2 - Lieferung, pl. xvi. - - -4061. - -Piece of Raised Velvet; ground, pale yellow silk; pattern, in raised -velvet, a large oblong square, having within a border of corn-flowers -a large star-like inflorescence, and each square separated by a border -or band charged with liliaceous flowers, in crimson raised velvet, in -part upon a silver ground, now blackened, surrounded by an ornament in -amber-streaked green in raised velvet. Italian, late 16th century. 4 -feet by 1 foot 1 inch. - - Another of the several specimens of the rich raised velvet for - furnishing purposes. - - -4062. - -Purse in Green Velvet, embroidered with gold and silver threads, and at -bottom emblazoned with a ducal crown and two shields of arms. French, -18th century. 4½ inches in diameter, 3 inches high. - - Though so small, this little purse is tastefully and richly wrought, - and has nicely worked double strings, with gold-covered knobs at their - ends for drawing its mouth close, and two other like knobs for opening - it. At bottom it is very richly ornamented with a golden mantle, upon - which are two shields, the one on the man’s side is _azure_ two lions - passant gardant, royally crowned _or_; that on the woman’s side, - _azure_ a chevron _or_, between two four-petaled and barbed flowers, - in chief, and a double transomed cross in base _argent_; over both - shields is a ducal coronet. No doubt this purse, which is lined with - white kid-leather, was one of those still used by ladies in France, - and held in their hands as they stand at the doors or go about the - church at service-time to collect the alms of the congregation, for - the poor or other pious purposes; this one may have belonged to an - heiress married to a duke. - - -4068. - -Strip of Raised Velvet; ground, silver and white silk; pattern, a large -crimson and green flower seeded gold, alternating with a floriation -having flowers of crimson, tawny, and purple on green stems. North -Italy, 16th century. - -[Illustration: 4068. - -VELVET - -Silver ground, raised floriated pattern, in various colours. Genoese, -16th century.] - - This fine specimen of raised velvet is of a deep pile and rich mellow - colouring. The silver threads of the ground have become quite dimmed, - while the gold in the flower is fresh and glowing. Seemingly, this - piece last served as the hanging of a bed. - - -4069. - -Piece of Raised Velvet on a gold ground; pattern, large conventional -flowers and ears of corn issuing out of a ducal coronet. Genoese, early -17th century. 8 feet by 4 feet. - - The gold of the ground is now so tarnished, and was, at first, so - sparingly used that now it is almost invisible; but the pile of the - velvet is deep and the pattern bold. Doubtless this stuff was for - household decoration. - - -4070. - -Piece of Silk Brocade; purple; pattern, in gold and silver, a large -vase out of which spring two ramifications and two eagles, one on -each side, alternating with a floriation bearing at top a pomegranate -seeded; in the narrow border at top and bottom the fleur-de-lis is the -chief ornament, while the tasseled fringe, designed at bottom, shows -that this texture must have been intended as a hanging for a frieze. -Lyons, late 16th century. 12 feet by 1 foot 10 inches. - - The occurrence of birds or animals of any sort in stuffs of the period - is unusual; and, in all likelihood, the last use of this piece was as - a hanging in some large hall. - - -4209, 4210. - -Pieces of White Brocaded Silk. Lyons, 18th century, 1 foot 4 inches by -11 inches. - - The manufacture of this stuff is rather remarkable, not so much for - that satin look, produced by flos-silk, in some parts of its design - of flower-bearing branches, as by the way in which portions of it are - thrown up in little seed-pearls. - - -4216. - -Piece of Needlework figured with a female saint at her prayers before a -picture of our Saviour, and a crowd of men standing behind her near a -belfry, in which are swinging two bells. Italian, early 15th century. 1 -foot 4½ inches by 11½ inches. - - By the costume this work would seem to have been done in Tuscany, and - it shows the bed-room of some saintly noble dame, wimpled and clad in - a crimson mantle embroidered with gold. At the foot of her bed there - is, wrought and diapered in gold, a praying desk on which lies open a - book in silver having a large M in red marked on its first page; above - is a picture of our Redeemer, known by His crossed glory, in the act - of giving His blessing, before whom the saint is praying. At her knees - are two green snakes, and above her two angels are carrying her soul, - under her human form, up to heaven. Behind her, and close to a belfry, - where the bells are swinging and the ropes of which are hanging - down, is a group of men, one a tonsured cleric, seemingly, from his - dalmatic, a deacon, with both hands upraised in surprise; near him - other clerics tonsured, two of whom are reading with amazement out - of a book held by a noble layman. This work contains allusions to - several events in the life of St. Frances, widow, known in Italy, as - Santa Francesca Romana; but a very remarkable one is here especially - sketched forth. She is said to have often beheld the presence of her - guardian angel, clothed as a deacon, watching over her. Such was the - obedience and condescension yielded by her to her husband that, though - wrapped in prayer, or busied in any spiritual exercise, if called - by him or anywise needed by the lowliest servant in her family, she - hastened to obey at the moment. It is told of her, that one day, being - asked for as many as four times in succession, just as she was, each - time, beginning the same verse again, of a psalm in the Office of the - Blessed Virgin, on coming back for the fifth time she found that verse - written all in gold. Here then we have the loving husband showing this - prayer-book, with its golden letters, to a crowd of friends, among - whom is his wife’s angel hidden under a deacon’s dalmatic; while the - saint herself is at her devotions, foreseeing in vision the evils that - are to befall Italy, through civil strife, shown by those serpents and - the swinging bells betokening alarm and fright. - - -4456. - -Table-cover; ground, coarse canvas; design, armorial bearings, -symbolical subjects, fruits, and animals, besides five long -inscriptions in German, dated A.D. 1585. German. 6 feet by 6 feet 6 -inches. - - The whole of this large undertaking was worked by some well-born - German mother as an heirloom to her offspring. At the right hand - corner, done upon a separate piece of finer canvas and afterwards - applied to the ground, is a shield of arms, _sable_, three lions - rampant _or_ armed and langued _gules_ two and one between a fess - _argent_; at another corner, but worked upon the canvas ground - itself, a shield, _gules_ three bars dancetté _argent_; upon a third - shield, _argent_, a fess dancetté _sable_; on the last corner - shield, quarterly _or_ and _gules_, a fess _argent_; upon a smaller - shield in the middle of the border, _sable_ a pair of wings expanded - _argent_; on the border opposite, party per fess _sable_ and _or_, - two crescents _argent_; in the centre of the next border, _gules_ two - bars (perhaps) _sable_ charged, the upper one with three, the lower - with one, bezants or plates; and last of all, upon the other border, - _or_, a lion rampant, _gules_ with chief vair, _sable_, and _or_. - Repeated at various places are a vase surmounted by a cross with two - birds, half-serpent, half-dove, sipping out of the vessel; and below - this group another, consisting of two stags well “attired,” each with - one hoof upon the brim of a fountain out of which they are about to - drink. This latter symbol is evidently a reference to the Psalmist’s - hart that panteth after the fountains of water, while the former one - is a representation of the union of the serpent’s wisdom with the - simplicity of the dove. In many ancient monuments the upper half of - the bird is that of a dove, the lower ends in a snake-like shape - with an eye shown at the extremity of the tail. There are five long - rhythmical inscriptions on this cloth, in German, one at every corner, - and the longest of all in the middle; considering the period at which - they were written, these doggerel verses are very poor, and run nearly - as follows:-- - - “ALS . MAN . ZALT . FUNFZEHN . HUNDERT . JAHR. - DARZU . NOCH . ACHTZIG . UND . FUNF . ZWAR. - HAT . DER . EDEL . UND . VEST . HEINRICH. - VON . GEISPITZHEIM . DIE . TUGENTREICH. - ANNA . BLICKIN . ZUM . GMAL . ERKORN. - WELCHE . VON . LIGTENBERG . GEBORN. - BEID . ALTES . ADELICHS . GESCHLECHT. - ZUSAMMEN . SICH . VERMEHLT . RECHT. - DAMIT . NUHN . IN . IHREM . EHESTANDT. - VLEISIG . HAUSHALTUNG . WURDT . ERKANDT. - HAT . SIE . IHREM . TUNCKERN . ZU . EHRN. - DEN . HAUSRAHT . WOLLEN . ZIRN . UND . MEHRN. - DARUMB . MIT . IHRER . EIGNEN . HANDT. - DIES . UND . NOCH . VIEL . ZIERLICHS . GEWANDT. - ZU . IHRER . GEDACHTNIS . GEMACHT. - MIT . BEIDER . NECHSTEN . ANGHEN . ACHT. - MIT . GOTT . IHRH . TUNCKERN . D . KINDER . ZART. - AUCH . SIE . ERHALTE . BEI . WOHLFAHRTH. - DARNEBEN . VERLEIHEN . GEDULT. - DAS . WIR . BEZAHLN . DER . NATUR . SCHULT. - NACH . VOLLPRACHTEM . LANGEN . LEBEN. - UNS . ALLEN . DIE . EWIG . FREUD . GEBEN. - AMEN. - OBGMELTER . HEINRICH . DICHTET . MICH. - - “When one wrote the year Fifteen hundred and Eighty five, the noble - and true Henry von Geispitzheim had chosen for his spouse the virtuous - Anna Blickin von Lichtenberg. Both of them were of ancient noble - descent. And she, to honour the esquire, her husband, wished to adorn - and increase the house furniture, and there has worked with her own - hand this and still many other pretty cloths, to her memory. Praying - that God may preserve the esquire, and the tender children, and - herself also, and that they may pay the debt of nature at the end of a - long life, and eternal joy may be granted them. - - Amen. - - The aforesaid Henry has composed me (i.e. the doggerel verses).” - - “NUN . FOLGET . AUCH . BEI . DIE . ZEIT . UND . JAHR. - DARIN . ICH . ZUR . WELT . GEPOHREN . WAR. - DES . WEN . MEIN . DREI . DOCHTERLEIN. - AUCH . SONN . ZUR . WELT . GEPOHREN . SEIN. - ALS . MAN . ZALTT . FUNFF . ZEHEN . HUNDERT . LII. - ERFREUWET . MEIN . MUTTER . MEIN . GESCHREI. - AN . DEM . JAR . ACHTZIG . FUNFF . HER . NACH. - ICH . MEINEM . JUNCKERN . EIN . DOCHTER . PRACHT. - EMILIA . CATHARIENA . IST . IHR . NAHM. - VON . JUGENT . GERECHT . UND . LOBESAM. - ZWEI . JHAR . DAR . NACH . IM . JANNER . HART. - MICH . GOT . WIEDERUM . ERFREUET . HAT. - MIT . EINER . DOCHTER . ZART . UND . FEIN. - SIE . DRINCKT . WASER . UND . KEINEN . WEIN. - MAGDALENA . ELISABETH . GENNANT. - JHREM . VATER . WERTH . GAR . WOHL . BEKANNT. - NACH . GEHENTS . JAHR . ACHTZIG . ACHT. - MEINEN . SON . REICHART . AN . DAS . LICHT . GEPRACHT - DAS . WAR . DEM . VATER . GROSSE . FREUWDT. - GOT . SEI . GELOBT . IN . EWIGKEIT. - DAS . VOLGT . JAHR . ACHTZIG . UND . NEUN. - BRACHT . ICH . ZUR . WELT . DIE . ZWILING . MEIN. - HANS . CASPARN . ERST . DRAUFF . EMICHEN . BALDT. - DAS . SICH . ERFREUDT . DER . VATER . ALT. - DAS . GESCHACH . DEN . IZ . HORNUNGS . DAG. - GOTS . ALLMACHT . NOCH . VIEL . MEHR . VERMAG. - ZU . LETZ . IM . JAHR . NEUNTZIG . UND . DREI. - ANNA . MARGARETHA . KAM . AUCH . HERBEI. - DEN . ZWOLFFTEN . FEBRUARIUS. - DAMIT . ICH . DISSE . SACH . BESCHLUSZ. - O . IHR . HERTZ . LIEBE . KINDTER . MEIN. - ICH . LASZ . EUCH . MIR . BEFOHLEN . SEIN. - BEHTET . ALLENS . MORGENS . OHN . UNDER . LASZ. - IN . FROLIGKEIT . HALT . GNAE . MASZ. - ACH . IHR . HERTZ . LIEBE . KINDTER . MEIN. - MACHT . EUCH . MIT . GOTTES . WORT . GEMEIN. - SO . WIRT . EUCH . GOT . DER . HER . ERHALTEN. - DAS . IHR . EWEREM . VATER . NOCH . MIT . EHRN . [some letters wanting] - DISEN . SPRUCH . MERCKT . EBEN. - SO . WIRT . EUCH . GOT . GLICK . UND . SGEN . GEBN. - - “Now follows here my own birthday. When one wrote 1552 my mother’s - heart was gladdened by my first cry. In the year 1585 I gave birth - myself to a daughter. Her name is Emilia Catharina, and she has been - a proper and praiseworthy child. Two years later, in a cold January, - has God again gratified me with a daughter tender and fine, she - drinks water and no wine, her name is Magdalena Elizabeth. In 1588 - my son Richard came into this world, whose birth gave great pleasure - to his father. In the following year, in February, I gave birth to - my twins, Hans Caspar and Emich (Erich?). At last, in 1593, on the - 12th of February, my daughter Anna Margaretha was born.--O you truly - beloved children, I commend myself to your memory. Do not forget your - prayers in the morning. And be temperate in your pleasures. And make - yourselves acquainted with the Word of God. Then God will preserve - you, and will grant you happiness and bliss.” - - “DISZ . HAB . ICH . EUCH . LIEBE . KINDER . MEIN. - IN . REIMEN . BRINGEN . LASZEN . FEIN. - AUFF . DAS . IR . WUST . EUWERS . ALTERS . ZEIT. - DURCH . DIESE . MEINER . HANDT . ARBEIT. - WELCHS . ICH . EUCH . ZUR . GEDECHTNIS . LAS. - UND . BITT . EUCH . FREUNDLICH . ALLER . MASS. - SEIDT . UFFRICHTIG . IN . ALLEN . SACHEN. - DAS . WIRT . EUCH . GOSZ . UND . HERLICH . MACHN. - THUT . IEDEM . EHR . NACH . SEINEM . STANDT. - DAS . WIRT . EUCH . RUMLICH . MACHEN . BEKANDT. - UND . IHR . HERTZ . LIEBE . SONE . MEIN. - WOLT . EUCH . HUTEN . VOR . VERIGEM (feurigem) . WEIN. - DRINCKT . DEN . WEIN . MIT . BESCHEIDENHEIT. - DA . SICHS . GEBURTT . DAS . PEHUT . VOR . LEIDT. - UND . IHR . HERTZ . LIEBE . DOCHTER . MEIN. - LAST . EUCH . ALLE . TUGENT . BETOLEN . SEIN. - BEWART . EUHER . EHR . HAPT . EUHR . GUT . ACHT. - BEDENCKT . ZU . VOR . JDE . SACH. - DAN . VOR . GETHAN . UND . NACH . BEDRACHT. - HAT . MANCHEN . WEIT . ZURUCK . GEBRACHT. - DAS . MITELL . DIS . ALLES . ZU . GEPEN. - IST . DIE . FORCHT . GOTTES . MERCKT . MICH . EBEN. - GOTTS . FORCHT . BRINGT . WEISHEIT . UND . VERSTANT. - DAR . DORCH . GESEGNET . WIRDT . DAS . LANDT. - GOTS . FORCHT . MACHT . REICH . BRINGT . FRED . U . MUHT. - ERFRISCHT . DAS . LEBEN . UND . DAS . BLUT. - GOTES . FORCHT . BEHUTT . VOR . ALLEM . LEIDT. - UND . IST . EIN . WEG . ZUR . SELIGKEIT. - GOTTES . FORCHT . IST . DAS . RECHT . FUNDAMENT. - DARUFF . DES . MENSCHEN . GLICK . BEWENDT. - UND . IST . EIN . HAUPTMITTEL . ALLER . DUGENT. - WER . SICH . DER . ANIMPT . IN . DER . JUGENT. - DEM . GEHT . SEIN . ALTER . AN . MIT . EHREN. - UND . SEIN . GLICK . WIRD . SICH . TAGLICH . MEHREN. - DAR . DURCH . DER . MENSCH . ZUM . SELIG . ENDT. - LETZLICH . GELANGT . ACH . HER . UNS . SENDT. - DEIN . HEILIGER . GEIST . DER . UNS . THUT . EINFREN. - ZU . SOLCHER . FORCHT . DIE . WOL . EUCH . RIHREN. - EWER . HERTZ . UND . SIN . IHR . SOLICH . FORCHT. - ERGREIFFEN . KONT . UND . GOT . GEHRCHT. - AMEN . DAS . WERDT . WARH . G . GOTT . DIE . ERH. - - “This, O my dear children, has at my wish been put into rhymes, in - order that you may know your age by this work of my own hand, which - I leave to you as a memorial. I beseech you to be sincere in all - matters; that will make you great and glorious. Honour everybody - according to his station; it will make you honourably known. You, my - truly beloved sons, beware of fiery wine, and drink with moderation; - that will preserve you from evil. And you, my truly beloved daughters, - let me recommend you to be virtuous. Preserve and guard your honour; - and reflect before you do anything; for many have been led into evil - by acting first and reflecting afterwards. The way to get to this - end is the fear of God, mark me well! The fear of God brings wisdom - and understanding. The fear of God makes rich, and gives joy and - courage, refreshes life and blood. The fear of God protects us from - all evil; and is the way to the state of bliss. The fear of God is the - foundation on which the happiness of man rests; and is the chief way - to all virtues. He who seeks it in his youth will live with honour - till his old age; and his happiness will daily increase. - - “Amen. Give to God all honour.” - - “ALS . MAN . ZALT . FUFZEHN . HUNDERT . JAHR. - UND . NEUNTZIG . NEUN . DARZU . JST . WAR. - DEN . ERSTEN . APRIL . NACH . MITNACHT. - GLEICH . UMB . EIN . UHR . OFFT . ICHS . BETRACHT. - DER . ALLERLIEBSTE . JUNCKER . MEIN. - GENANDT . HEINRICH . VON . GEISPITZHEIM. - ZU . DIR . O . GOTT . AUS . DIESER . WELT. - ERFORDERT . WIRT . ALS . DIRS . GEFELLT. - SEIN . ALTER . WAR . SECHZIG . UND . ACHT. - DIE . WASSER . SUCHT . IHN . UMGEPRACHT. - DEN . WOLLEST . O . GOTT . GNED . GEBEN. - SEIN . PFLEGEN . NACH . DEM . WILLEN . DEIN. - JCH . SEIN . BETRUEBTE . NACHGELASSEN . ANN. - BLICKIN . VON . LIECHTENPERG . GENANDT. - HAB . MIT . NICHT . UNDER . LASSEN . WOLLEN. - SONDERN . EIN . SOLICHES . HIE . MELDEN . SOLLEN. - IN . DIESEM . TUCH . MIT . MEINER . HANDT. - DAMIT . ES . WERD . MEINEN . KINDERN . BEKANDT. - DIESES . MEIN . GROSSES . LEID. - WELCHES . MIR . VON . GOTT . WARD . BEREIT. - - “When one wrote the year Fifteen hundred and ninety-nine, on the - first of April after midnight, just at one o’clock--often I think - of it--my truly beloved husband, the Squire Henry von Geispitzheim, - was called to Thee, O God! from this world, according to Thy will. - His age was sixty and eight years. The dropsy has killed him. To him - grant, O God! Thy mercy, after Thy will. I, his afflicted Anna Blickin - von Liechtenperg who was left behind, have related it with my hand - in this cloth, that it might be known to my children--this my great - sorrow, which God has sent me.” - - “DEN . FUNFFTEN . AUGUST . BALDT . HERNACH. - WIEDERUM . SICH . FUGT . EIN . LEIDIG . SACH. - MEIN . JUNGSTER . SON . EIMCH . EIN . ZWILLING. - VON . DIESER . WELT . ABSCHIEDT . GAB . GEHLINGS. - DARDURCH . WARDT . MIR . MEIN . LEID . GEMERT. - UND . ALLE . HOFFNUNG . UMBGEKERTH. - ACH . GOTT . LAS . DICHS . MIENER . ERBARMEN. - UND . KOM . ZU . TROST . UND . HILFF . MIR . ARMEN. - HILF . TREUWER . GOT . UND . STEH . BEI . MICH. - TROST . MICH . MIT . DEINEM . GEIST . GNEDIGGLICH. - UND . BEHUT . MIR . MEIN . LIEBE . KINDT. - SO . BISZ . NOCH . GESUND . UEBRIG . SINT. - UND . SCHAFF . O . GOT . DAS . WIR . ZUGLICH. - DICH . SCHAU . DEN . IM . HIMMEL . EWIGLICH. - DARZU . HILFF . UNS . GNEDIGKLICH. - ACH . HER . VER . GIEB . ALL . UNSER . SCHULT. - HILFF . DAS . WARTEN . MIT . GEDULT. - BIES . UNSER . STUNTLIN . NACHT . HERBEI. - AUCH . UNSER . GLAUBE . STETZ . WACKER . SEI. - DEIN . WORT . ZU . DRAUWEN . TESTIGKLICH. - BIS . WIR . ENDT . SCHLAFFEN . SELIGKLICH. - - “On the fifth of August soon afterwards another sorrowful event - happened. My youngest son Eimah (Erich?), one of my twins, suddenly - departed from this world; and therefore my sorrow was increased, and - all hope overthrown. O God! have mercy upon me, and come to comfort - and help me, poor one. Help, true God! and assist me, comfort me with - Thy Spirit, and protect me and my dear children who are still left in - good health. And grant, O God! that we then may behold Thee in Heaven - eternally. O Lord! forgive us our trespasses, help that we may wait - with patience until our last hour may come; and also that our faith - may be true, to believe in Thy Word steadfastly until we sink into the - slumber of death.” - - -4457. - -Table-cover of white linen, figured in thread, with the “Agnus Dei,” -or “Holy Lamb,” in the middle, and the symbolic animals of the four -Evangelists, one at each corner. German, late 16th century. 6 feet 3 -inches by 5 feet 8 inches. - - For its sort and time there is nothing superior to this fine piece - of needlework. About the evangelic emblems, as well as the Lamb in - the centre, there is a freedom and boldness of design only equalled - by the beauty and nicety of execution, making the piece altogether - quite an art-work. The little dogs chasing the young harts, as well - as the rampant unicorns, but especially the bird of the stork-kind - preening its feathers, and the stag looking back at the hound behind, - all so admirably placed amid the branches so gracefully twining over - the whole field, show a master’s spirited hand in their design. - Unfortunately, however, none of its beauty can be seen unless, like a - piece of stained glass, it be hung up to the light. Its use was most - likely liturgic, and occasions for it not unfrequently occur in the - year’s ritual round; and on Candlemas-day and Palm Sunday it might - becomingly have been spread over the temporary table on the south - side of the altar, upon which were put, for the especial occasion, - the tapers for the one service, and the palm-branches for the other, - during the ceremony of blessing them before their distribution. - - -4458. - -Linen Napkin; the four corners embroidered in crimson thread. German, -17th century. 3 feet by 2 feet 6½ inches. - - The design consists of a stag at rest couchant, and an imaginary - figure, half a winged human form, half a two-legged serpent, separated - by a flower of the centaurea kind. This is repeated on the other side - of the square, up the middle of which runs an ornamentation made out - of a love-knot, surmounted by a heart, sprouting out of which is a - stalk bearing a four-petaled flower, and then a stem with the usual - corn-flower at the end of it. To all appearance, this linen napkin was - for household use. - - -4459. - -Linen Cradle-Coverlet; ground, fine white linen; pattern, the -Crucifixion, with Saints and the Evangelists’ emblems, all outlined in -various-coloured silk thread; dated 1590. German. 6 feet by 6 feet 6 -inches. - - This piece of needlework is figured with the Crucifixion in the - middle, and shows us, on one side, the Blessed Virgin Mary and - St. Christopher; on the other, St. John and the Blessed Virgin - Mary holding our Lord in her arms, and, at her feet, a youthful - virgin-saint, most likely St. Catherine of Sienna. From the cross - itself flowers are in some places sprouting out, and three angels - are catching, in chalices, the sacred blood that is gushing from the - wounds on the body of our Lord. At each corner is an evangelist’s - symbol, and the whole is framed in a broad border in crimson and - white silk, edged by crochet-work, and at the corners are the letters - A. H. A. R. Though the figures are in mere outline they are well - designed, but poorly, feebly executed by the needle. Another specimen - of a cradle-quilt, much like this, is No. 1344, and under No. 4644 - notice is taken of feeling for the employment of the four Evangelists’ - symbols at the corners of this nursery furniture. - - -4460. - -Linen Napkin; embroidered at one end with two wreaths of flowers above -a narrow floral border; it is edged with lace, and bears the date 1672, -and the initials A. M. W. German, 3 feet 6 inches by 1 foot 6 inches. - - Probably meant to hang in the sacristy for the priest to wipe his - fingers on after washing the tips of them, before vesting for mass. - - -4461. - -Linen Table-Cover; pattern, a wide floriation done in white and yellow -threads; in the centre, a flag couchant within a wreath. German, late -16th century. 5 feet 4 inches by 4 inches. - - Free in design and easy of execution. - - -4462. - -Embroidery on Silk Net; ground, crimson; pattern, branches twined into -ovals, and bearing flowers and foliage, in various-coloured silks, and -heightened, in places, with gold and silver thread. Italian, late 17th -century. 2 feet 8 inches by 9 inches. - - A very pleasing and exceedingly well-wrought specimen of its style. - Like in manner, but much better done than the examples at Nos. 623, - 624. No doubt it was meant for female adornment. - - -4522. - -Altar-frontal; embroidered in the middle with nine representations of -the birth, &c. of our Lord; and four passages from the Saints’ lives -on each side, all in gold and various-coloured silks, upon fine linen. -Italian, 14th century. 4 feet 3 inches by 1 foot 8 inches. - - This frontal is said to have been brought from Orvieto; but in it - there is nothing about the celebrated relic kept in the very beautiful - and splendid shrine in that fine cathedral. So very worn is this piece - of embroidery, that several panels of it are quite indistinct. It may - be, however, distinguished into three parts--the centre and the two - sides. In the first we have, in nine compartments, the Annunciation, - the Nativity, the coming of the Wise Men, the Blessed Virgin Mary, - with St. Joseph, going to the temple and carrying in a basket her - pair of turtle-doves, which she is giving to Simeon; the Last Supper; - our Lord being taken in the garden; the Crucifixion; the burial; the - Resurrection of our Saviour; on the right side, the legend of St. - Christopher, mixed up with that of St. Julian Hospitaler; on the left - are passages from the life of St. Ubaldo, bishop of Gubbio in the - middle of the 12th century. In the first square is the saint mildly - forgiving the master-mason who carried the new walls of the city - across a vineyard belonging to St. Ubaldo, and, when reproved about - the wrong thus done to private property, knocked down the saint; in - the second we behold the saint at the bedside of a converted sinner, - whose soul, just breathed forth, an angel is about to waft to heaven; - in the third we have before us the saint himself, upon his dying bed, - surrounded by friends, one of whom--a lady--is throwing up both her - arms in great affright at the sudden appearance of a possessed man who - has cast himself upon his knees at the bedfoot, and, with one hand - outstretched upon the bed, is freed from the evil spirit, which is - flying off over head in shape of a devil-imp; in the last the saint - is being drawn in an open bier, by two oxen, to church for burial, - followed by a crowd, among whom is his deacon. - - From the subjects on this much-decayed frontal, figured, as it is, - with the life of St. Ubaldo, known for his love of the poor, his - kindness to wayfarers and pilgrims, and his healing of the sick, as - well as with the legends of St. Julian and St. Christopher, remarkable - for the same virtues, we may infer that this ecclesiastical appliance - hung at the altar of some poor house or hospital, in by-gone days, at - Orvieto. - - -4643. - -Band of Gimp Openwork, crimson and gold thread. German (?), 18th -century. 1 foot 10 inches by 1 inch. - - Evidently for ladies’ use, but how employed is not so clear; from a - little steel ring sewed to it, perhaps it may have been worn hanging - from the hair behind the neck. - - -4644. - -Cradle-quilt; ground, green satin, embroidered with armorial bearings, -the four Evangelists, and flowers, all in coloured silks, and dated -1612. German. 2 feet 5 inches by 1 foot 9 inches. - - Within a narrow wreath of leaves and flowers there are two shields, - of which the first bears _gules_ a wheel _or_, surmounted by a closed - helmet, having its mantlings of _or_ and _gules_, and on a wreath - _gules_ a wheel _or_ as a crest; the second, _azure_, a cross couped - _argent_ between a faced crescent and a ducal coronet, both _or_, and - all placed in pile, surmounted by a closed helmet having its mantlings - of _or_ and _azure_, and on a wreath _or_, a demy bear proper with a - cross _argent_ on its breast, crowned with a ducal coronet _or_, and - holding in its paws a faced crescent _or_. At each of the four corners - is the emblem of an evangelist with his name, and shown as a human - personage nimbed and coming out of a flower, with his appropriate - emblem upholding an open volume which he has in his hands, thus - calling to mind those nursery rhymes:-- - - “Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, - Guard the bed I lie upon,” &c.; - - which seem to be as well known in Germany as they were, and yet are, - in England. See “Church of Our Fathers,” t. iii. p. 230. - - -4645. - -Cradle-quilt; centre, crimson silk, embroidered with flowers in -coloured silk, mostly outlined with gold thread, and here and there -sprinkled with gold ornamentations, and surrounded by a broad satin -quilting edged with a gold lace-like border. German, late 17th century. -2 feet 7 inches by 2 feet 2 inches. - - The cradle-cloths, or quilts, are of common occurrence, and afford - occasions for much elegance of design. - - -4646. - -Cradle-quilt; ground, brown silk; pattern, a wreath of green leaves -encircling two armorial shields, and filled in with flowers outside -the spandrils; the whole surrounded by a border of flowers, all in -various-coloured flos-silk. German, late 16th century. 3 feet by 2 feet -5 inches. - - Of the two shields the first is party per fess _azure_ and _sable_, a - griffin rampant _or_ holding three ears of wheat; the shield itself - surmounted by a helmet closed, having green mantlings and crested - with a ducal coronet out of which issues a demi-griffin rampant - holding three ears of wheat _or_. The second shield is party per fess - _sable_ and _or_, a lion rampant _or_ noued, and langued _gules_, - counterchanged _or_ and _sable_, surmounted by a closed helmet with - green mantlings, and crested with a demy-lion rampant _or_, langued - _gules_ issuing from a wreath _sable_ and _or_ (now faded). By means - of a long slit with hooks and eyes to it a blanket might be introduced - to make this coverlet warmer. - - -4647. - -Satin Bed-quilt; the middle a silk brocade diapered with a large -floriation within a broad wreath-like band, all bright amber upon a -crimson ground; the broad border is of crimson satin, quilted, after -an elaborate pattern shown by a cording of blue and gold. French, 17th -century. 6 feet by 5 feet 6 inches. - - -4648. - -Satin Bed-quilt; the middle, silk brocade diapered with a somewhat -small floriation, in bright amber and white upon a crimson ground. The -wide border, in crimson satin of rich material and brilliant tone, -is quilted after an agreeable design with yellow cord. French, 17th -century. 7 feet 10 inches by 5 feet 4 inches. - - -4649. - -Liturgical Scarf; ground, white silk; pattern, bunches of leaves and -flowers, in various-coloured silk thread. French, 18th century. 11 feet -5 inches by 1 foot 4 inches. - - Such scarves are used for throwing on the lectern, and to be worn by - the sub-deacon at high mass; and, from its appearance, this one must - have seen much service. All its flowers, as well as its two edgings, - are worked in braid, nicely sewed on and admirably done. - - -4661. - -Long Piece of Silk Brocade; ground, light maroon; pattern, creamy white -scrolls, dotted with blue flowerets, and placed so as to form a wavy -line all up the warp amid bunches of red and blue flowers and leaves. -Lyons, late 17th century. 8 feet 6 inches by 1 foot 7 inches. - - The colours are faded somewhat, and though showy, this stuff is not so - glaring in its design as were the silks that came, at a later period, - from the same looms. - - If used in the liturgy, it must have been for covering the moveable - lectern for holding the Book of the Gospels, out of which the deacon - at high mass chants the gospel of the day. It might, too, have served - as a veil for the sub-deacon for muffling his hands while he held the - paten after the offertory. - - -4665. - -Pair of Lady’s Gloves of kid leather, with richly embroidered cuffs. -French, late 17th century. 13 inches by 7½ inches. - - The hands are of a light olive tone, and embroidered on the under - seams in gold; the cuffs are deep, and embroidered in gold and silver - after a rich design upon crimson silk, and are united by the novelty - of a gusset formed of three pieces of broad crimson ribbon. - - -4666. - -Purse in gold tissue, embroidered with flowers in pots, and bound with -ribbons in silver and colours. French, 18th century. 5 inches by 4½ -inches. - - Some of the flowers are springing up from silver baskets; others are - tied up with silver ribbons, and the whole pleasingly done. - - -4667. - -Purse in gold and silver embroidery, with gilt clasp. English, 19th -century. 4½ inches by 4 inches. - - The design of this is pretty, and consists of small gold and silver - disks wrought in thread, and linked together by a strong green silk - netting. - - -4894. - -Velvet Hanging; ground, black; pattern, a frieze made up of a -flower-bearing vase between two broad horns of plenty, full of fruits, -and two imaginary heraldic monsters, one on each side, like supporters, -fashioned as red-tongued eagles, with wings displayed in the head, -but having a tailless haunch, and cloven-footed legs of an ox; the -fimbriations are edged with green fringe, and the spaces filled with a -conventional floriation; and the greater parts done in yellow satin, -smaller parts in other coloured satins, all edged with gold cording and -silver thread, and applied to the ground of black velvet. French, early -17th century. 25 inches by 12 inches. - - The whole of this curious piece is designed with great boldness and - spirit, and most accurately wrought. - - -5662. - -Four Pieces of Raised Velvet, sewed into one large square; ground, -yellow and crimson silk; pattern, a bold floriation in raised crimson -velvet. Genoese, 16th century. - - A fine specimen of the Genoese loom, showing a well-managed design - composed of a modification of the artichoke, mixed with pomegranates, - ears of corn (rather an unusual ornament), roses, and large liliacious - flowers. Not unlikely this stuff was ordered by some Spanish nobleman - for hangings in the state halls of his palace. Such stuffs are - sometimes to be seen on the canopy in the throne-room of some Roman - princely house, whose owners have the old feudal right to the cloth of - estate. - - -5663. - -Set of Bed Hangings complete, in green cut velvet raised upon a yellow -satin ground, diapered in gold. Genoese, 16th century. - - The foliated scroll pattern of this truly rich stuff is executed in a - bold and telling manner; and the amber satin ground is marked with a - small but pleasing kind of diaper, which is done in gold thread. To - give a greater effect to the velvet, which is deep in its pile, a cord - of green and gold stands stitched to it as an edging. - - -5664, 5664A. - -Two Pieces of Embroidery; ground, light purple, thin net lined with -blue canvas; pattern, nosegays of white and red flowers and large -green branches tied up in bunches, with white and with yellow ribbons -alternately; the narrow borders, which are slightly scolloped, are -figured with sprigs of roses; and the whole is done in bright-coloured -untwisted silks, and has throughout a lining of thin white silk. -French, late 16th century. 10 feet 9½ inches by 2 feet 9¾ inches. - - Each piece consists of two lengths of the same embroidery sewed - together all along the middle; and served for some household - decoration. - - -5665. - -Embroidered Table-cover; ground, green cloth; pattern, within a large -garland of fruits and flowers, separated into four parts by as many -cherubic heads, two armorial shields and a scroll bearing the date -1598, and the four sides bordered with an entablature filled in with -animals, fruits, flowers, and architectural tablets having about them -ornaments of the strap-like form, and each charged with a female face. -South Germany, 16th century. 5 feet 7 inches by 5 feet 3 inches. - - The design of the embroidery, done in various-coloured worsteds, is - admirable, and quite in accordance with the best types of that period; - nor ought we to overlook the artistic manner in which the colours are - everywhere about it so well contrasted. The animals are several, not - forgetting the unicorn and monkey; though, from the frequency of the - Alpine deer kind, it looks as if this fine piece of work had been - sketched and executed by those familiar with the Alps. The shields - are, first, barry of six _argent_ and _azure_, with mantlings about a - helmet closed and crested with a demi-bloodhound collared and langued, - and, from the neck downward, barry like the shield; second, quarterly - 1 and 4 _or_ charged with a pair of pincers _sable_; 2 and 3 _sable_, - a lion rampant _or_, and mantlings about a helmet closed and crested - with a demi-lion rampant _or_, upon a wreath _sable_ and _argent_. The - silver has now become quite black. - - -5666. - -Table-cover; ground, dark green serge; pattern, embroidered in silk and -thread, the four seasons and their occupations, &c., and in the centre -the Annunciation. German, early 17th century. 5 feet 3 inches by 4 -feet 6 inches. - - This piece, though much resembling the foregoing, No. 5665, is far - below it as an art-work, and, by its style, betrays itself as the - production of another period. Within a wreath, the Annunciation is - figured, after the usual manner, but without gracefulness, in the - middle of the cloth; at one corner Winter is shown, by men in a yard - chopping up and stacking wood; then, by the inside of a room where - a woman is warming herself before one of those large blind stoves - still found in Germany, and a bearded man, seated in a large chair, - doing the same at a brazier near his feet, while outside the house a - couple are riding on a sledge drawn by a gaily caparisoned horse. At - the corner opposite we have Spring--a farm-house, with its beehives, - and a dame coming out with a jug of milk to a woman who is churning, - near whom is a hedger at his work, and other men pruning, grafting, - and sowing. For Summer, two gentlemen are snaring birds with a net; - a woman and a man, each with a sickle in hand, are in a cornfield; - two people are bathing in a duck-pond before a farm-house, on the - roof of which is a nest with two storks sitting, one of which has - caught a snake; and in a meadow hard by a man is mowing and a woman - making hay. For Autumn, we see a vineyard where one man is gathering - grapes and another carrying them in a long basket on his shoulders; - and near, a man with a nimb, or glory, about his head, and lying on - the ground with one leg outstretched, which a dog is licking above - the thigh--perhaps the shepherd St. Rock, and, while a gentleman is - walking past behind him, a girl, with a basket of fruit upon her - head, is coming towards the spot. Between the seasons, and within - circular garlands, are subjects akin to these parts of the year; in a - boat, upon the water, a young couple are beginning the voyage of life - together; a lady on a grey horse is, with hawk on hand, disporting - herself in the flowery fields; a young lady is caressing a lamb with - one hand and carries a basket of young birds in the other; last of - all, another lady is kneeling at her prayers, with a book open before - her on a table over-spread with a nicely worked cloth. A deep gold - fringe runs all round the four sides of this table-cover. - - -5670-5676. - -Seven Chair-seat Covers; ground, yellow satin; pattern, birds, flowers, -and a mask of an animal, all embroidered in various-coloured flos-silk. -French, late 17th century. 2 feet 6 inches by 2 feet. - - The satin is rich, and all the embroideries done in a bold effective - manner; in some of these pieces the beak of each green parrot holds a - strawberry or arbutus-fruit; and the lily and fleur-de-lis here and - there betray a French feeling. It should be noticed, too, that much - botanical knowledge is shown in the figuration of the flowers, which - are more pleasing and effective from being thus done correctly. - - -5677. - -Two Pieces of Raised Silk Brocade; ground, yellow; pattern, the -artichoke amid strap-work ornamentation, all of a large bold character, -in raised crimson. Italian, 16th century. 10 feet 1 inch by 4 feet 2 -inches. - - A rich stuff, and made up for household decoration, perhaps for the - throne-room of some palace. - - -5678. - -Cradle-coverlet, green silk, brocaded in gold and silver; pattern, -imitation of Oriental design in gold and silver flowers, after a large -form, lined in red. French, 18th century. 3 feet 6 inches square. - - A specimen of a rich and telling, though not artistic, stuff. - - -5723. - -Piece of Raised Velvet; green, on a light amber-coloured ground. -Genoese, late 16th century. 7 feet 10 inches by 1 foot 8 inches. - - The pattern, rich in its texture and pleasing in its colours, consists - of large stalks of flowers springing out of royal open crowns, all in - a fine pile of green velvet, and, no doubt, was meant for palatial - furniture. - - -5728. - -A Missal-Cushion; ground, white satin; pattern, flowers and fruit -embroidered in coloured silks, amid an ornamentation of net-work, -partly in gold; it has four tassels of green silk and gold thread. -French, 17th century. 1 foot 5 inches by 10 inches. - - One of those cushions once so generally used for supporting the Missal - at the altar. It is figured only on the upper side, and underneath is - lined with a silk diapered in a pleasing pattern, in amber-colour. Its - tassels are rather large and made of several coloured silk threads and - gold. - - -5788. - -A figure of St. Mark, seated; embroidered, in part by the hand, in part -woven. Florentine, early 16th century. 1 foot 3 inches by 8½ inches. - - Beneath a circular-headed niche, with all its accessories in the style - of the revival of classic architecture, sits St. Mark, known as such - by the lions at his side. Within his right arm the Evangelist holds - a large cross; and on his lap lies an open book, both pages of which - are written with the words:--“Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in tēa.” Much - of the architecture, as well as of the drapery of this personage, is - loom-wrought, assisted in places by needle-embroidery. The head, the - hands, the feet, are all done by the needle; but the head, neck, and - beard are worked upon very fine linen by themselves, and afterwards - applied, and in such a manner that the long white beard overlaps the - tunic. His chair, instead of legs, is upheld upon the backs of two - lions lying on the ground. The head is done with all the fineness - and delicacy of a miniature on ivory, and the way in which the - massive folds of his full wide garments are thrown over his knees is - noteworthy and majestic. - - -5900. - -Silk Damask Orphrey Web; ground, crimson; pattern, the Resurrection. -Venetian, 16th century. 1 foot 4 inches by 8¾ inches. - - One of those numerous examples of woven orphrey-work for vestments - such as copes and chasubles. Our Lord is figured as uprising from - the grave, treading upon clouds, giving, with His right hand, a - blessing to the world, and holding the triumphal banner in the left. - Glory streams from His person, and a wreath of Cherubim surrounds - Him; while, from the top part of this piece, we know that two Roman - soldiers were sitting on the ground by the side of the sepulchre, - which they were charged to guard. - - -5958. - -Box for keeping the linen corporals used at mass, in the vestry. It -is covered with fine linen, of a creamy brown tint, embroidered with -crimson silk and gold. Inside it is lined, in part green, on the lid -crimson, where a very rude print of the Crucifixion, daubed with -colour, has been let in. German, 17th century. 8½ inches by 7½ -inches, 1¾ inches deep. - - Such boxes seem to have been much used, at one time, throughout - Germany, for keeping, after service, the blessed pieces of square fine - linen called corporals, and upon which, at mass, the host and chalice - are placed. - - Before being employed all the year round as the daily repository - for laying up the corporals after the morning’s masses, this sacred - appliance, overlaid with such rich embroidery, and fitly ornamented - with the illumination of the Crucifixion inside its lid, would seem - to have been originally made and especially set aside for an use - assigned it by those ancient rubrics, which we have noticed in our - Introduction, § 5. As such, it is, like No. 8327 further on, a great - liturgical rarity, now seldom to be found anywhere, and merits a place - among other such curious objects which give a value to this collection. - - At the mass on Maundy Thursday, besides the host received by the - officiating priest, another host is and always has been - consecrated by him for the morrow’s (Good Friday’s) celebration; and - because no consecration of the Holy Eucharist, either in the Latin or - in the Greek part of the Church, ever did nor does take place on Good - Friday, the service on that day is by the West called the “Mass of the - Pre-sanctified,” by the East, “Λειτουργία τῶν προηγιασμενῶν.” - - Folded up in a corporal (a square piece of fine linen), the additional - host consecrated on Maunday Thursday was put into this receptacle or - “capsula corporalium” of the old rubrics, and afterwards carried in - solemn procession to its temporary resting-place, known in England - as the sepulchre, and there, amid many lights, flowers, and costly - hangings of silk and palls of gold and silver tissue, was watched - by the people the rest of that afternoon, and all the following - night, till the morning of the next day, when, with another solemn - procession, it was borne back to the high altar for the Good Friday’s - celebration. - - -6998. - -Piece of Green Satin; pattern, an arabesque stenciled in light yellow, -and finished by touches done by hand. Italian, very late 18th century. -3 feet 1½ inches by 1 foot 6½ inches. (Presented by Mr. J. Webb). - - This piece may have been part of a frieze, round the head of a bed; - and have had a good effect at that height, though, in a manner, an - artistic cheat, pretending to be either wrought in the loom or done - by the needle. The design, in its imitative classicism, is bold and - free, and the touches of the pencil effective. To this day stencil - ornamentation upon house-walls is very much employed in Italy, where - papering for rooms is seldom used even as yet, and not long ago was in - many places almost unknown. - - -7004. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, crimson; pattern, wheat-ears, flowers, -and conventional foliage in gold, shaded white. Italian, late 16th -century. 11 inches by 10¾ inches. - -[Illustration: 7004. - -SILK DAMASK, - -Italian, 16th century. - - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith. - -] - - A pleasing design, but the gold is very scant. - - -7005. - -Woollen and Thread Stuff; ground, white; pattern, sprigs of artichokes -and pomegranates. Spanish, 16th century. 11 inches by 7½ inches. - - The warp is white linen thread, rather fine; and the weft of thick - blue wool; and, altogether, it is a pleasing production, and the - design nicely managed. - - -7006. - -Satin Brocade; ground, bright green satin; pattern, sprigs of gold -flowers. Genoese, late 16th century. 7½ inches by 6½ inches. - - The flowers upon this rich and showy stuff are the lily, the - pomegranate, and the artichoke in sprigs, each after a conventional - form; and the gold in the thread is of the best, as it shows as bright - now as almost on the first day of its being woven in the satin, which - so seldom happens. - - -7007. - -Silk Diaper; ground, creamy white; pattern, small bunches of leaves, -flowers, and fruit, in white, green, and brown silk. Spanish, 16th -century. 4¾ inches by 3½ inches. - - Though the warp is woollen, the silk in the weft is rich and the - pattern after a pretty design, where the pomegranate comes in often. - - -7008. - -Piece of Silk Damask of the very lightest olive-green; pattern, a -diaper of large sprigs of flowers. Italian, late 16th century. 1 foot -2¼ inches by 9¼ inches. - - Pleasing in its quiet tone, and good design. - - -7009. - -Damasked Silk; ground, light red, with lines of gold; pattern, leaves -and flowers in deeper red. Sicilian, late 14th century. 10 inches by -6½ inches. - - Very like several other specimens in this collection from the looms of - Sicily, Palermo especially, in the pattern of its diapering, usually - in green upon a tawny ground. - - -7010. - -Silk Damask; ground, crimson; pattern, bunches of flowers of the pink -and lily kinds, mingled with slips of the pomegranate. Spanish, 15th -century. 12 inches by 10 inches. - - The colour has much faded; but the design of the pattern, which is - a crowded one, is very pretty; and the stuff seems to have been for - personal wear. - - -7011. - -Satin Damask; ground, green; pattern, an acorn and an artichoke united -upon one small sprig, in yellow silk. Genoese, 16th century. 8 inches -by 3½ inches. - - Though small, this is a pretty design; and, perhaps, the great family - of Della Rovere belonging to the Genoese republic may have suggested - the acorn, “rovere” being the Italian word for one of the kinds of oak. - - -7012. - -Satin Damask; the diapering is a sprig fashioned like the artichoke, -and, in all likelihood, was outlined in pale pink. Italian, late 16th -century. 1 foot 4½ inches by 9¼ inches. - - A texture for personal attire which must have looked well. - - -7013. - -Silk Damask; ground, crimson; pattern, a large artichoke flower -bearing, in the middle, a fleur-de-lis. Genoese, late 16th century. - - The design in the pattern is rather singular; and may have been meant - for some noble, if not royal French family, connected with a house of - the same pretensions in Spain. - - -7014. - -Silk Brocade; ground, dull purple silk; pattern, flowers in gold, -partially relieved in white silk. Spanish, late 16th century. 10 inches -by 6 inches. - - The flowers are mostly after a conventional form, though traces of - the pomegranate may be seen; the gold thread is thin and scantily - employed, and always along with broad yellow silk. With somewhat poor - materials, a stuff rather effective in design is brought out. - - -7015. - -Silk Web, on linen warp; ground, deep crimson; pattern, a quatrefoil -with flowers at the tips of the barbs or angles at the corners, in gold -thread, and filled in with a four-petaled flower in gold upon a green -ground. German, 15th century. 14½ inches by 4½ inches. - - Intended as orphreys of a narrow form; but made of poor materials, for - the gold is so scant that it has almost entirely disappeared. - - -7016. - -End of a Maniple; pattern, lozenges, green charged with a yellow cross, -and red charged with a white cross of web; the end, linen embroidered -with a saint holding a scroll, and fringed with long strips of -flos-silk, green blue white and crimson. German, early 15th century. -15½ inches by 3 inches. - - As this piece is put the wrong side out in the frame, the figure of - the saint cannot be identified, nor the word on the scroll read. - - -7017. - -Linen Web; ground, crimson and green; pattern, on the crimson square, -a device in white; on the green, two narrow bands chequered crimson, -white, and green, with an inscription (now illegible) between them. -German, 15th century. 16 inches by 2½ inches. - - Poor in every respect, and the small band of gold is almost black. - - -7018. - -Orphrey Web; ground, gold; pattern, a flower-bearing tree in green, -red, and white; and the sacred Name in blue silk. German, 15th century. -13½ inches by 3¾ inches. - - The same stuff occurs at other numbers in this collection. - - -7019. - -Orphrey Band; ground, gold thread; pattern, flowers in various-coloured -silks. Flemish, 16th century. 19¾ inches by 2¾ inches. - - The whole of this pretty piece is done with the needle, upon coarse - canvas, and, no doubt, ornamented either a chasuble, dalmatic, or some - liturgical vestment. - - -7020. - -Crimson and Gold Damask; ground, crimson; pattern, a diaper of animals -in gold. Italian, 15th century. 14¾ inches by 4 inches. - - Exactly like another piece in this collection; a winged gaping - serpent, with a royal crown just above but not upon its head, occupies - the lowest part of the design; over it is the heraldic nebulée or - clouds darting forth rays all about them, and above all, a hart, - collared, and with head regardant lies lodged within a palisade or - paled park. - - -7021. - -Narrow Orphrey of Web; ground, red and gold diapered; pattern, armorial -shields with words between them. German, 15th century. 1 foot 10 inches -by 2 inches. - - One of the shields is _azure_, two arrows _argent_ in saltire; the - other shield is _argent_, three estoils, two and one, _azure_; and on - a chief _or_, two animals (indiscernible) _sable_: the words between - the shields are so worn away as not to be readable. - - -7022. - -Linen, block-printed; ground, white; pattern, two eagles or hawks -crested, amid floriations of the artichoke form, and a border of roving -foliage; all in deep dull purple. Flemish, late 14th century. 1 foot 8 -inches by 6¾ inches. - - The design is good, and evidently suggested by the patterns on silks - from the south of Europe. Further on, we have another piece, No. 8303. - - -7023. - -Orphrey of Web; ground, red and gold, figured with a bishop-saint. -German, 15th century. 5 inches by 4½ inches. - - The spaces for the head and hands are left uncovered by the loom, so - that they may be, as they are here, filled in by the needle. In one - hand the bishop, who wears a red mitre--an anomaly--and a cope with a - quatrefoil morse to it, holds a church, in the other a pastoral staff. - - -7024. - -Embroidery, in coloured silks upon fine linen damask. Flemish, 16th -century. 10 inches by 2½ inches. - - The fine linen upon which the embroidery is done, is diapered with a - lozenge pattern: on one side of a large flower-bearing tree are the - words:--“Jhesu Xpi,” and the other, “O crux Ave,” on each side of the - tree is a shield unemblazoned but surrounded by a garland of flowers. - Most likely this piece served to cover the top of the devotional table - in a lady’s bed-room. - - -7025. - -Embroidery, in coloured silks upon white linen; pattern, symbols of the -Passion, flowers, and birds, with saints’ names. German, 17th century. -20½ inches by 6 inches. - - Within a green circle, overshadowed on four sides by stems bearing - flowers, stands a low column with ropes about it and a scourge at one - side, and divided by it is the word Martinus, in red silk; amid the - flower-bearing wide-spread branches of a tree are the names Ursula, - Augustinus; within another circle like the first we see the cross with - the sponge at the end of a reed, and the lance, having the name of - Barbara in blue and crimson; and, last of all, another tree with the - names Laurentius--Katerina. It is edged with a border of roses and - daisies, and has a parti-coloured silk fringe. No doubt this piece - served as the ornament of a lady’s praying-desk in her private room, - and bore the names of those for whom she wished more especially to - pray. - - -7026. - -Orphrey of Web; ground, gold; pattern, two stems intertwined and -bearing leaves and flowers, in crimson silk. German, 15th century. 9 -inches by 2½ inches. - - -7027. - -Linen, block-printed; ground, white; pattern, crested birds and -foliage, just like another piece, No. 8615, in this collection. -Flemish, late 14th century. 14 inches by 2¾ inches. - - -7028. - -Small Piece of Orphrey; ground, yellow silk stitchery upon canvas, -embroidered, within barbed quatrefoils in cords of gold, and upon a -gold diapered ground, with the busts of two Evangelists in coloured -silks, and the whole bordered by an edging of gold stalks, with -trefoils. Italian, the middle of the 15th century. 10 inches by 5½ -inches. - - The quatrefoils are linked together by a kind of fretty knot, as well - as the lengths in the two narrow edgings on the border by a less - intricate one, all of which looks very like Florentine work. Most - likely this orphrey served for the side of a cope. - - -7029. - -Piece of a Liturgical Cloth, embroidered in white thread, very slightly -shaded here and there in crimson silk, upon linen, with a quatrefoil -at top enclosing the Annunciation and four angels, one at each corner -swinging a thurible, and lower down, with St. Peter and St. Paul, St. -James the Less and St. Matthias, St. James the Greater and St. Andrew; -amid the leaf-bearing boughs, roving all over the cloth, may be seen an -occasional lion’s head cabossed and langued _gules_. German, late 14th -century. 2 feet 9½ inches by 1 foot 10½ inches. - - This is but a small piece of one of those long coverings or veils for - the lectern, of which such fine examples are in this collection. - - The lion’s head cabossed would seem to be an armorial ensign of the - family to which the lady who worked the cloth belonged, although such - an ornament does sometimes appear, without any heraldic meaning, - upon monuments of the period. In the execution of its stitchery the - specimen before us is far below others of the same class. - - -7030. - -Piece of a Stole or Maniple; ground, crimson silk (much faded); and -embroidered with green stems twining up and bearing small round flowers -in gold, and large oak leaves in white. Italian, 16th century. 13¾ -inches by 3 inches. - - The leaves, now so white, were originally of gold, but of so poor a - quality that the metal is almost worn off the threads. - - -7031. - -Silk Ribbon; ground, green and gold; pattern, squares and lozenges on -one bar, spiral narrow bands on another, the bars alternating. Italian, -early 17th century. 8 inches by 8¼ inches. - - Both silk and gold are good in this simple pattern. - - -7032. - -Silk Damask; ground, crimson; pattern, a square enclosing a floriation; -both in bright yellow. Spanish, 15th century. 8 inches by 4½ inches. - - Designed on Moorish principles, and coarse in its workmanship. - - -7033. - -Silk Texture; ground, yellow; pattern, net-work, with flowers and -mullets, all in dark blue. Sicilian, late 14th century. 10 inches by -3½ inches. - - Of a simple design and poor in texture, and probably meant as the - lining for a richer kind of stuff. - - -7034. - -Silk Damask; ground, crimson silk; pattern, in gold thread, two very -large lions, and two pairs, one of very small birds, the other of -equally small dragons, and an ornament like a hand looking-glass. -Oriental, 14th century. 2 feet 4 inches by 2 feet. - - The large lions, which strongly resemble, in their fore-legs, the - Nineveh ones in the British Museum, are placed addorsed regardant and - looking upon two very small birds, while between their heads stands - what seems like a looking-glass, upon a stem or handle; at the feet of - these huge beasts are two little long-tailed, open-mouthed, two-legged - dragons. The whole of this design now appears to be in coarse yellow - thread, which once was covered with gold, but so sparingly and with - such poor metal that not a speck of it can now be detected anywhere in - this large specimen. The probability is that this stuff was wrought - in some part of Syria, for the European market; at the lions’ necks - are broad collars bearing two lines or sentences in imitated Arabic - characters. Copes and chasubles for church use during the Middle Ages - were often made of silks like this. Dr. Bock has figured this very - piece in his “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” - t. i. pl. iv. - - -7035. - -Silk and Linen Texture; ground, crimson; pattern, star-like flowers. -Spanish, 15th century. 5¾ inches by 2½ inches. - - Poor in design as well as material. - - -7036. - -Silk Diapered, with a man wrestling with a lion repeated; ground, -crimson, the diaper in various colours, and the waving borders in -creamy white, edged black, and charged with crimson squares, and fruits -crimson and deep green. Byzantine, 12th century. 15¾ inches by -12½ inches. - - This is one among the known early productions of the loom, and - therefore very valuable. The lion and man seem to be meant for - Samson’s victory over that animal, though, for the sake of a pattern, - the same two figures are repeated in such a way that they are in - pairs and confronted. Samson’s dress is after the classic form, and - he wears sandals, while a long narrow green scarf, fringed yellow, - flutters from off his shoulder behind him; and the tawny lion’s mane - is shown to fall in white and black locks, but in such a way that, at - first sight, the black shading might be mistaken for the letters of - some word. This stuff is figured by Dr. Bock in his “Geschichte der - Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” t. i. pl. ii. - - -7037. - -Silk and Linen Damask; ground, pale dull yellow-coloured linen; -pattern, circles enclosing tawny foliation, in the midst of which is -a purple cinquefoil, and the spandrils outside filled in with other -foliations in the same tawny tone. Byzantine, 14th century. 13½ -inches by 13 inches. - - Of poor stuff, but of a rather pleasing design. - - -7038. - -Silk Texture; ground, crimson; pattern, geometrical figures, mostly -in bright yellow, filled in with smaller like figures in blue, green, -and white. Moorish, 15th century. 1 foot 10½ inches by 1 foot 2¼ -inches. - - Most likely this garish and rather staring silk was woven either at - Tangier or Tetuan, and found its way to Europe through some of the - ports on the southern coast of Spain. - - -7039. - -Silk Damask; ground, purple; pattern, lozenges, with so-called -love-knots, one on each side, enclosing a flower and a lozenge -chequered with Greek crosses alternately, all in yellow. Byzantine, -14th century. 8½ inches by 4 inches. - -[Illustration: 7039 - -SILK FABRIC, - -Byzantine---- 14th century. - - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith. - -] - - Though poor in material this silk is so far interesting as it gives a - link in that long chain of traditional feeling for showing the cross - about stuffs, meant, as most likely this was, for ritual uses, and - known among both the Latins and the Greeks as “stauracina.” To this - day the same custom is followed in the East of having the cross marked - upon the textiles employed in liturgical garments. - - -7040. - -White Linen, diapered with a small lozenge pattern, and a border of one -broad and two narrow bands in black thread. Flemish, 15th century. 12 -inches by 11½ inches. - - A good example of Flemish napery with the diaper well shown. - - -7041. - -Silk and Linen Texture; ground, blue; pattern, a large petaled flower -within a park fencing, upon the palings of which are perched two birds, -and another somewhat like flower enclosed in the same way with two -quadrupeds rampant on the palings. Italian, 15th century. 16 inches by -12¾ inches. - - The birds seem to be meant for doves; and the animals for dogs. In - design, but not in richness of material, this specimen is much like - No. 7020. - - -7042. - -Silk Damask; ground, deep blue; pattern, floriated lozenges, enclosing -chequered lozenges in deep yellow. South of Spain, 14th century. 12 -inches by 7¾ inches. - - A tissue showing a Saracenic feeling. - - -7043. - -Silk Damask; ground, tawny; pattern, a cone-shaped floriation amid -foliage and flowers. Sicilian, 15th century. 13½ inches by 13 inches. - -[Illustration: 7043. - -SILK DAMASK, - -Sicilian--15th century. - - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith. - -] - - Both around the cone, as well as athwart the flowers, there are - attempts at Arabic sentences, but in letters so badly done as easily - to show the attempted cheat. - - -7044. - -Silk Damask; ground, deep blue; pattern, six-sided panels filled in -with conventional floriations, all in orange yellow. Spanish moresque, -15th century. 7 inches by 3½ inches. - - If not designed and wrought by Moorish hands, its Spanish weaver - worked after Saracenic feelings in the forms of its ornamentation. - - -7045. - -Silk Damask; ground, amber, diapered in small lozenges; pattern, -parrots in pairs outlined in blue and crimson, both which colours are -almost faded, and having a border consisting of narrow parallel lines, -some dark blue with white scrolls, others of gold thread, with deep -blue scrolls. Oriental, late 12th century. 9 inches by 5¾ inches. - - -7045A. - -Silk Border, torn off from the foregoing number. Both the one and the -other are valuable proofs of the care taken by the Greek weavers, in -the Greek islands, Greece proper, and in Syria, to give an elaborate -design to the grounds of their silks. - - -7046. - -Silk Brocade; ground, deep crimson; pattern, a diapering, in the same -colour, of heart-shaped shields charged with a fanciful floriation, -amid wavy scrolls bearing flowers upon them. South of Spain, 14th -century. 6½ inches by 4¼ inches. - - The fine rich tone of colour, so fixed that it is yet unfaded, is - remarkable. - - -7047. - -Silk Crape, deep crimson, thickly diapered with leaves upon the items. -Syrian. 8¾ inches by 5¾ inches. - - Not only the mellow tone, but the pretty though small pattern is very - pleasing. - - -7048. - -Silk and Cotton Texture; ground, white cotton; pattern, lozenges filled -up with a broken fret of T-shaped lines and dots, and a cross in the -middle; and with similar markings in the intervening spaces. Byzantine, -14th century. 14 inches by 5 inches. - - Though of such poor materials this specimen is rather interesting - from its design where the narrow-lined lozenges with their T’s and - short intervening lines are all in green silk, now much faded; and - the cross, known as of the Greek form, with those little dots are in - crimson silk. Most likely it was woven in one of the islands of the - Archipelago, and for liturgical use, such as the broad flat girdle - still employed in the Oriental rituals. - - -7049. - -Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; design, parrots and giraffes in pairs -amid floriated ornamentation, all, excepting the portions done in gold, -of the same tint with the ground. Sicilian, 13th century. 15 inches by -8 inches. - - Like the specimen under No. 1274, where it is fully described. - - -7050. - -Silk Damask; all creamy white; pattern, net-work, the oval meshes of -which show floriations in thin lines upon a satiny ground. Syrian, 13th -century. 11½ inches by 6 inches. - - This fine rich textile is, in all probability, the production of a - Saracenic loom, and from the eastern part of the Mediterranean. - - -7051. - -Silk Tissue; ground, amber; pattern, a reticulation, each six-sided -mesh filled in with alternate flowers and leaves, with here and there -a circle enclosing a pair of parrots, addorsed, regardant; and between -them a lace sort of column having, at top, a crescent all in dark blue. -Oriental, late 12th century. 12½ inches by 6½ inches. - - A good specimen, when fresh and new, of the eastern loom. - - -7052. - -White Silk Damask, diapered with a chequer charged with lozenges, -bearing the Greek gammadion, and sprinkled with larger flowers. -Oriental, 14th century. 7½ inches by 5½ inches. - - The pattern of this curious stuff is very small; and from the presence - of the gammadion upon it, we may presume it was originally wrought for - Greek liturgical use, somewhere on the coast of Syria. - - -7053. - -Silk Damask; green; the pattern, an oval, enclosing an artichoke, and -the spaces between filled in with foliations and pomegranates. Spanish, -16th century. 23 inches by 12½ inches. - - Beautiful in tone of colour, and of a pleasing design, well shown by a - shining satiny look of the silk; this is a specimen of a rich stuff. - - -7054. - -Diapered Silk; ground, yellow; pattern, a large conventional foliation, -in rows, alternating with rows of armorial shields, all in blue. -Spanish, early 17th century. 20 inches by 17 inches. - - A very effective design for household use: the shield is a pale, the - crest a barred closed helmet topped by a demy wyvern. - - -7055. - -Silk Diaper; ground, gold; pattern, flowers and fruits in crimson, -slightly shaded in blue and green silk. Spanish, 16th century. 12½ -inches by 8½ inches. - - Though the gold on the ground be so sparingly put in, this stuff has a - rich look, and the occurrence of the pomegranate points to Granada as - the place of manufacture of this and other tissues of such patterns. - - -7056. - -Silk Tissue, now deep amber, once bright crimson, diapered with a -modification of the meander, and over that sprigs of flowers. Oriental, -13th century. 8 inches by 4½ inches. - - To see the raised diapering of this piece requires a near inspection, - but when detected, it is found to be of a pleasing type. - - -7057. - -Silk Damask; ground, purple; pattern, a quatrefoil, within another, -charged with a cross-like floriation, with a square white centre, -surmounted by two eagles with wings displayed, upholding in their beaks -a royal crown, all in green. Italian, early 15th century. 14 inches by -11½ inches. - - Though the silk be poor the design is in good character, and the stuff - would seem to have been wrought either at Florence or Lucca, for some - princely German house. - - -7058. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, red and gold; pattern, a pair of ostrich -feathers, springing from a conventional flower, and drooping over an -artichoke-like floriation, of a tint once light green, and shaded dull -white. Spanish, 15th century. 14¾ inches by 7½ inches. - - A curious mixture of silk, wool, linen thread and gold very sparingly - employed. The ostrich feather is so unusual an element of ornamental - design, especially in woven stuffs, that we may deem it a kind of - remembrance of the Black Prince who fought for a Spanish king, Don - Pedro the Cruel, at the battle of Navaretta, or Najarra, if not having - a significance of the marriage of Catherine of Arragon, first with - our Prince Arthur, eldest son of Henry VII, and after his death, with - his younger brother, Henry VIII, each of whom was in his time Prince - of Wales, whose badge became one or more ostrich feathers. In old - English church inventories drawn up towards the middle and the end - of the 15th century, mention is often found of vestments made of a - Flemish stuff, called Dorneck, from the name in Flanders for the city - of Tournay, where it was made, but spelt in English various ways, as - Darnec, Darnak, Darnick, and even Darnep. Such an inferior kind of - tissue woven of thin silk mixed with wool and linen thread, was in - great demand, for every-day wear in poor churches in this country. - Though not wrought at Tournay, the present specimen affords a good - example of that sort of stuff called Dorneck, which, very probably, - was introduced into Flanders from Spain. Besides the present textile, - another, figured in the “Mélanges d’Archéologie,” t. iii. pt. xxxiii, - furnishes an additional instance in which the ostrich feather is - brought into the design. - - -7059. - -Green Silk Damask; pattern, floriations and short lengths of narrow -bands arranged zig-zag. Italian, 17th century. 8 inches by 6½ inches. - - An extraordinary but not pleasing pattern. - - -7060. - -Silk and Linen Damask; ground, creamy white; pattern, in light brown, -once pink, a conventional artichoke. Italian, 16th century. 1 foot 5 -inches by 9½ inches. - - The warp is thread, but still the texture looks well. - - -7061. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, light green silk; pattern, large -vine-leaves and stars, with a border of griffins and fleur-de-lis, in -gold. Sicilian, 14th century. 10¼ inches square. - - This beautiful stuff was, in all likelihood, woven at the royal - manufactory at Palermo, and meant as a gift to some high personage - who came from the blood royal of France. The griffins, affronted or - combatant, are drawn with much freedom and spirit, and though the gold - be dull, the pattern still looks rich. - - -7062. - -Gold Web, diapered with animals in green silk. French, late 13th -century. 14¼ inches by 2¼ inches. - - Probably wrought in a small frame, at home, by some young woman, - and for personal adornment. So much is it worn away, that the green - beardless lion, with a circle of crimson, can be well seen only in - one instance. A narrow short piece of edging lace, of the same make - and time, but of a simple interlacing strap-pattern, is pinned to this - specimen. - - -7063. - -Green and Fawn-coloured Silk Diaper; pattern, squares, green, filled in -with leaves fawn-coloured, and beasts and birds, green. Sicilian, late -13th century. 8 inches by 3¼ inches. - - Another of those specimens, perhaps of the Palermitan loom: all the - animals look heraldic, and are lions, griffins, wyverns, and parrots. - The stuff itself is not of the richest. - - -7064. - -Gold Lace, so worn by use that the floriation on the oblong diaper is -obliterated. French, 13th century. 9 inches by 1¼ inches. - - -7064A. - -Gold Lace; pattern, interlacing strap-work. French, 13th century. 7 -inches by 1½ inches. - - Equally serviceable for personal or ecclesiastical use. - - -7065. - -Black Silk Damask; figured with a tower surrounded by water, over which -are two bridges; in the lower court are two men, each with an eagle -perched upon his hand; from out the third story of the tower springs a -tree, bearing artichoke floriations. Italian, 15th century. 11 inches -by 8 inches. - - Another piece of this identical damask occurs at No. 8612, but there - the design is by no means so clear as in the piece before us. - - -7066. - -Green Silk; pattern, a lozenge reticulation, each mesh filled in with -four very small voided lozenges placed crosswise, in pale yellow. -Oriental, 14th century. 5¼ inches by 4-⅝ inches. - - -7067. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, green silk; pattern, conventional -floriation, with a circular form of the artichoke. Spanish, early 15th -century. 1 foot 3¾ inches by 4 inches. - - One of those samples of that poor texture which came from the Spanish - loom, with the sham gold, which we have before observed in other - examples, of thin parchment gilt with a much debased gold. - - -7068. - -Silk Damask; straw-colour; pattern, lozenge-shaped net-work, each mesh -enclosing a flower. Spanish, 15th century. 13¾ inches by 12 inches. - - So worn is this piece that it is with difficulty that its simple - design can be made out. - - -7069. - -Silk Damask; straw-colour; pattern, an imaginary eagle-like bird, -enclosed by a garland full of ivy leaves. Sicilian, 14th century. 7¾ -inches by 6 inches. - - The ground is completely filled in with the well-designed and pretty - diapering; but damp has sadly spoiled the specimen. - - -7070. - -Silk Damask; ground, purple; pattern, heraldic figures, birds, and oval -floriations, in gold thread. Oriental, 14th century. 16 inches by 9 -inches. - - On an oval, floriated all round, and enclosing two lionesses addorsed - rampant regardant, are two wyvern-like eagles with curious feathered - tails, regardant; below, are two cockatoos addorsed regardant, all in - gold. The oval floriation is outlined with green. When new, this stuff - must have had a brave appearance, and shows a Persian tradition about - it. - - -7071. - -Linen, embroidered in silk; ground, fine linen; pattern, a zigzag, -alternating in light blue and brown. German, 15th century. 14 inches by -3½ inches. - - The zigzag may be termed dancette, and all over is parted into - lozenges, each lozenge charged with a cross made of mascles, and the - spaces between the brown and the blue zigzags, filled in with others - of a light brown coloured diapering. - - -7072. - -Silk Damask; ground, violet or deep purple; pattern, angels with -thuribles, and emblems of the Passion, in yellow and white. Florentine, -late 14th century. 18¼ inches by 15¾ inches. - - This truly artistic and well-executed stuff displays a row of angels - in girded albs, all flying one way, as with the left hand they swing - thuribles, and another row kneeling, each with a crown of thorns in - his hands, alternating, with a second set of angels, in another row, - each bearing before him a cross. All the angels are done in yellow, - but with face and hands white, and the whole ground is strewed with - stars. It is likely that this fine stuff was woven expressly for the - purple vestments worn in Passion time, at the end of Lent. - - -7073. - -Crimson Silk and Gold Brocade; ground, a diaper of crimson; pattern, an -oval reticulation, in the meshes of which is an artichoke flower, all -in gold. Genoese, 16th century. 16¾ inches by 9 inches. - - The design of this rich stuff is well managed, and the diapering in - dull silk upon a satin ground throws out the gold brocading admirably; - the meshes which enclose the flowers are themselves formed of garlands. - - -7074. - -Raised Crimson Velvet, damasked in gold; pattern, the artichoke and -small floriations in gold. Genoese, 16th century. 15¾ inches by -11½ inches. - - A specimen of what, in its prime, must have been a fine stuff for - household decoration, though of such a nature as to have freely - allowed it to be employed for ecclesiastical purposes. It has seen - rough service, so that its pile is in places thread-bare, and its gold - almost worn away. - - -7075. - -Raised Velvet on Gold Ground; pattern, a very large rose with broad -border in raised crimson velvet, filled in with a bush of pomegranates, -in very thin lines of raised crimson velvet; the rest of the ground -is diapered all over with the pomegranate tree in very thin outline. -Genoese, early 16th century. 2 feet 9 inches by 2 feet. - - The gold thread was so poor that the precious metal has almost - entirely disappeared; but when all was new, this stuff must have - looked particularly grand. The large red rose, and the pomegranate, - make it seem as if it had been wrought, in the first instance, for - either our Henry the Seventh, or Henry the Eighth, after the English - marriage of Catherine of Arragon. - - -7076. - -Raised Velvet and Gold; pattern, conventional flowers in gold, upon -tawny-coloured velvet. Genoese, late 15th century. 12 inches by 8 -inches. - - The gold of the design is, in parts, nicely diapered; and the gold - thread itself thin, and now rather tarnished. - - -7077. - -Raised Crimson Velvet; pattern, an artichoke amid flowers. Genoese, -late 15th century. 16½ inches by 11½ inches. - - The pile is rich; and when it is borne in mind how the Emperor Charles - V. honoured Andrea Dorea, it is not surprising that his countrymen had - a partiality for the Spanish emblem of their great captain’s admirer. - - -7078. - -Raised Blue Velvet; ground, deep blue; pattern, within an outlined -seven-petaled floriation in silk, an artichoke, with sprigs of flowers -shooting out of it. Genoese, late 15th century. 17½ inches by 10¼ -inches. - - Though much worn by hard usage, this stuff is of a pleasing effect, - owing to its agreeable design, which not unfrequently occurs perfect, - and consists of a kind of circle in narrow lines, somewhat in the - shape of a flower, but having at the tips of its prominent feathering - cusps of florets. - - -7079. - -Figured Blue Velvet; embroidered in gold thread, with cinquefoils, -enclosing a floriation of the artichoke form, with smaller ones around -it. Spanish, 15th century. 15 inches by 9½ inches. - - By the shape of this piece it must have been cut off from the end of a - chasuble. Though the velvet is rich, the embroidery is poor, done as - it is in thin outline, but still of a good form. - - -7080. - -Orphrey Web, silk and gold; ground, crimson; pattern, on a gold -diapering, conventional floriations and scrolls, in one of which is the -bust of St. Peter, with his key in one hand and a book in the other. -Florentine, late 15th century. 21 inches by 8 inches. - - Like many other samples, this rich web of crimson silk and fine gold - thread was wrought for those kinds of broad orphreys needed for - chasubles and copes; and sometimes worked up into altar-frontals. - - -7081. - -Silk Damask; ground, yellow; pattern, net-work, the meshes, which are -looped to each other, filled in with a conventional floriated ornament, -all in green. Italian, 16th century. 16½ inches by 10¾ inches. - - Intended for household adornment. This stuff must have had an - agreeable effect, though the green has somewhat faded. - - -7082. - -Silk Damask; ground, yellowish pale green; pattern, a diapering of very -small leaves and flowers. Oriental, 13th century. 6½ inches by 5¾ -inches. - - Just like No. 7056, and needing the same near inspection to find out - its small but well-managed delicate design. - -7083. - -Silk and Linen Texture; ground, yellow; pattern, amid foliage, two -cheetahs, face to face, all blue, but spotted yellow. Syrian, 14th -century. 7¼ inches by 6½ inches. - - At the same time that the warp is of linen, the woof of silk is thin; - and a bold design is almost wasted upon poor materials. The specimen, - however, is so far valuable, as it shows us how, for ages, a Persian - feeling went along with the workmen on the eastern shores of the - Levant. - - -7084. - -Silk Damask; ground, tawny; pattern, birds, flowers, and heart-shaped -figures, encircled with imitated Arabic letters, all mostly in green, -very partially shaded white. Sicilian, 14th century. 19½ inches by -5½ inches. - - Above a heart-shaped ornament, bordered by a sham inscription in - Arabic, and surrounded by a wreath, are two birds of the hoopoe kind, - and beneath, two other birds, like eagles; and this design is placed - amid the oval spaces made by garlands of flowers. All the component - elements of the pattern are in small, though well-drawn figures. - - -7085. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, tawny; pattern, fruit, beasts, and birds. -Sicilian, 14th century. 22¼ inches by 10 inches. - - This rich stuff has an elaborate pattern, consisting of three pieces - of fruit, like oranges or apples, with a small pencil of sun-rays - darting from them above, out of which springs a little bunch of - trefoils, which separate two lions, in gold, that are looking down, - and with open langued mouths; below is another and larger pencil of - beams, shining upon two perched eagles, with wings half spread out for - flight. Between such groups is a large flower like an artichoke, with - two blue flowers, like the centaurea, at the stalk itself; above which - is, as it were, the feathering of an arch with a bunch of three white - flowers, for its cusp. With the exception of the lions and flowers, - the rest of the pattern is in green. - - -7086. - -Silk and Gold Brocade; ground, dark purple; pattern, all in gold, -floriations, birds and beasts. Oriental, 13th century. 18¼ inches by -7 inches. - - When new, this rich stuff must have been very effective, either for - liturgical use or personal wear. There is a broad border, formed - by the shallow sections of circles, inscribed with imitated Arabic - characters. Out of the points or featherings made by the junctions of - the circular sections spring forth bunches of wheat-ears, separating - two collared cheetahs with heads reversed; and from other featherings, - a large oval well-filled floriation, upon the branches of which are - perched two crested birds, may be hoopoes, at which the cheetahs seem - to be gazing. Over the wheat-ears, drops are falling from a pencil of - sunbeams above them; below are two flowers in silk, once crimson. - - -7087. - -Silk Damask; ground, blue; pattern, birds, animals, and flowers, in -gold, and different coloured silks. Oriental, late 13th century. 17½ -inches by 7½ inches. - - So fragmentary is this specimen, that it is rather hard to find - out the whole of the design, which was seemingly composed of white - cheetahs collared red, in pairs; above which sit two little dogs, - in gold, looking at one another; and just over them a pair of white - eagles, small too, on the wing, and holding a white flower between - them. Running across the pattern was a band, in gold, charged with - circles enclosing a sitting dog, a rosette, a circle having an - imitated Arabic sentence over it. - - -7088. - -Part of a Stole, or of a Maniple; silk brocade; ground, light crimson; -pattern, floriations in green, with lions rampant in gold. Sicilian, -late 14th century. 20½ inches by 3 inches. - - The parti-coloured fringe to this liturgical appliance is of poor - linen thread not corresponding to the richness of the stuff. - - -7089. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, gold; pattern, branches of foliation, in -yellow silk. Oriental, 15th century. 17½ inches by 3½ inches. - - Though rather rich in material, the design is so obscure as hardly to - be observable. - - -7090. - -Silk Damask; ground, purple; pattern, a diaper of parrots, and -floriations, in bright greenish yellow. Oriental, 14th century. 11 -inches by 4½ inches. - - Though of a poor silk, the design is pretty, and tells of the coast of - Syria, where many of the looms were kept at work for European use. - - -7091. - -Silk and Gold Damask; ground, purple; pattern, fleurs-de-lis in gold. -Sicilian, late 14th century. 4 inches square. - - Done, as was often the case, for French royalty, or some one of French - princely blood, at Palermo, and sent to France. The stuff is rich, and - well sprinkled with the royal golden flower. - - -7092. - -Silk Damask; ground, amber (once crimson); pattern, a diaper of flowers -and leaves, in yellow. Sicilian, late 14th century. 9 inches by 5¼ -inches broad. - - Of a quiet and pleasing kind of design, showing something like a - couple of letters in the hearts of two of its flowers. - - -7093. - -Embroidery in silk upon linen; pattern, men blue, women white, standing -in a row hand in hand; the spaces filled up with lozenges in white. The -women upon a green, the men upon a white ground. German, 16th century. -8¾ inches by 6½ inches. - - So very worn away is the needlework, that it is very hard to see the - design, which, when discovered, looks to be very stiff, poor, and - angular. - - -7094. - -Silk Damask; ground, straw-colour; pattern, net-work of lozenges and -quatrefoils, filled in each with a cross pommée, amid which are large -circles containing a pair of parrots, all in raised satin. Oriental, -13th century. 8¾ inches by 7¾ inches. - - This fine textile was, in all likelihood, woven by Christian hands - somewhere upon the Syrian coast, and while a religious character was - given it both by the crosses and the emblematic parrots, a Persian - influence by the use of the olden traditionary tree between the - parrots, or the Persians’ sacred “hom,” was allowed to remain upon the - designer’s mind without his own knowledge of its being there, or of - its symbolic meaning in reference to Persia’s ancient heathen worship. - - -7095. - -Blue Linen, wrought with gilt thin parchment; pattern, an oval, -filled in with another oval, surrounded by six-petaled flowers, all -in outline; this piece is put upon another of a different design, of -which the pattern is an eagle on the wing. Spanish, 14th century. 7½ -inches by 4-⅝ inches. - - This is another specimen of gilt parchment being used instead of gold - thread. - - -7099. - -Foot-cloth; ground, green worsted; pattern, birds and flowers. German, -16th century. 4 feet 7 inches by 2 feet 7 inches. - - In all likelihood, this piece of needlework served the purpose of a - rug or foot-cloth, or, may be, as the cloth covering for the seat of a - carriage. It is worked in thick worsted upon a wide-meshed thread net, - and after a somewhat stiff design. - - -7218. - -Table-cover, in green silk, with wide border of Italian point lace. -Venetian, late 16th century. 5 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 2 inches. - - The pattern of the lace is very bold and well executed, and consists - of a large foliage-scroll of the classic type, ending in a lion’s - head, so cherished by the Venetians, as the emblem of the Republic’s - patron-saint, St. Mark. The poor thin silk is not worthy of its fine - trimming. - - -7219. - -Table-cover, in light blue silk, with wide border of Italian point -lace. Venetian, late 16th century. 6 feet 5 inches by 4 feet. - - The pattern of the lace, like the foregoing specimen, is after a - classic form, consisting of two horns of plenty amid foliage and - scroll-work; in both pieces we see the effect of that school which - brought forth a Palladio. - - -7468. - -A Lectern Veil of silk and gold cut-work; ground, crimson silk; design, -of cut-work in cloth of gold and white and blue silk, ramifications -ending in bunches of white grapes, horns of plenty holding fruit, and -ears of wheat. French, 17th century. 9 feet by 1 foot 9¾ inches. - - Such veils are thrown over a light moveable stand upon which the book - of the Gospels and Epistles is put at high mass, for the deacon’s use - as he sings the Gospel of the day. The cut-work is well-designed, and - sewed on with an edging of blue cord in some places, of yellow in - others. The cloth of gold was so poor that now it looks at a short - distance like mere yellow silk. - - -7674. - -Missal Cushion; ground, red silk; pattern, two angels standing face -to face and holding between them a cross, all in gold, excepting the -angels’ faces and hands, which are white; there are four tassels, one -at each corner, crimson and gold. Florentine, early 15th century. 1 -foot 3 inches by 1 foot. - - The covering for this cushion is made of orphrey web, the gold of - which is very much faded; and, like other specimens from the same - looms, shows the nudes of the figures in a pinkish white. The use of - such cushions for upholding the missal upon the altar is even now - kept up in some places. According to the rubric of the Roman Missal, - wherein, at the beginning among the “rubricæ generales,” cap. xx. it - is directed that there should be “in cornu epistolæ (altaris) cussinus - supponendus missali.” - - -7788. - -Chasuble, in crimson velvet, with orphreys embroidered in gold and -coloured silks. Florentine, 15th century. 4 feet long by 2 feet 5 -inches broad. - - This garment has been much cut down, and so worn that, in parts, its - rich and curious orphreys are so damaged as to be unintelligible. Over - the breast and on the front orphrey is embroidered the Crucifixion, - but after a somewhat unusual manner, inasmuch as, besides our Lord - on the Cross, with His mother and St. John the Evangelist standing - by; two other saints are introduced, St. Jerome on one side, St. - Lucy on the other, kneeling on the ground at the foot of the Cross, - possibly the patrons, one of the lady, the other of the gentleman, - at whose cost this vestment was wrought. Under this is St. Christina - defending Christianity against the heathens; her arraignment, for her - belief, before one of Dioclesian’s officials; her body bound naked, - and scourged at a pillar. On the back orphrey, the same martyr on - her knees by the side of another governor, her own pagan father, and - praying that the idol, held to her for worship by him, may be broken; - the saint maintaining her faith to those who came to argue with her - before the window of the prison, wherein she is shut up naked in a - cauldron, with flames under it, and praying with one of the men - who are feeding the fire with bundles of wood, on his knees, as if - converted by her words; then, the saint standing at a table, around - which are three men; and below all, a piece so worn and cut, as to be - unintelligible. Upon the last square but one is a shield _argent_, - a bend _azure_, charged with a crescent _or_, two stars _or_, and - another crescent _or_, probably the blazon of the Pandolfini family, - to whose domestic chapel at Florence this vestment is said to have - belonged. - - -7789, 7790. - -Dalmatic, and Tunicle, in crimson velvet, with apparels of woven stuff -in gold and crimson silk, figured with cherubic heads. Florentine, 15th -century. - - The velvet is of a rich pile, and the tone of colour warm. The - orphreys, or rather apparels, are all of the same texture, woven of - a red ground, and figured in gold with cherubic heads, having white - faces; the lace also is red, and gold; but in both the gold is quite - faded. The sleeves are somewhat short, but the garment itself is full - and majestic. Doubtless the dalmatic and tunicle formed a part of a - full set of vestments, to which the fine and curiously embroidered - chasuble, No. 7788, belonged; and their apparels, or square orphreys, - above and below, before and behind, are in design and execution alike - to several others from the looms of Florence, which we have found - among various other remains of liturgic garments in this collection. - - -7791. - -Piece of Woven Orphrey; ground, crimson silk; design, in gold, an -altar, with an angel on each side clasping a column, and above, other -two angels worshipping; and upon the step leading to the altar, the -words “sanctus, sanctus.” Florentine, early 16th century. 9 feet 7 -inches by 9 inches. - - The design is evidently meant to express the tabernacle at the altar, - where the blessed sacrament is kept in church, for administration to - the sick, &c., and, like all similar textiles, was made of such a - length as to be applicable to copes, chasubles, and other ritual uses. - - -7792. - -Veil for the subdeacon, of raised velvet and gold; ground, gold; -pattern, a broad scroll, showing, amid foliation, a conventional -artichoke in raised crimson velvet. Florentine, late 16th century. 14 -feet 4 inches by 1 foot 10 inches. - - The bright yellow ground is more of silk than gold thread, and the - velvet design, deep in its rich pile and glowing in its ruby tint, - is dotted with the usual gold thread loops; at each end is a golden - fringe; both edges are bordered with poor gold open lace; and still - attached to it are the two short yellow silk strings for tying it in - front, when put about the shoulders of the subdeacon at the offertory, - when the paten is given him to hold at high mass. - - -7793. - -Hood of a Cope; ground, mostly gold, and a small part, silver; figured -with two adoring angels; the centre piece gone, and in its place a -saint standing, and done in woven work. Flemish, 15th century; the -inserted saint, Florentine, 15th century. 1 foot 4½ inches by 1 foot -4½ inches. - - The figures of the angels in worship are nicely done in flos-silk; - and perhaps the original lost figure was that of our Lord, or of the - B. V. Mary. The lay saint now inserted, bare-headed, and leaning on - his sword, wearing a green tunic, and a blue mantle sprinkled with - trefoils in red and gold, perhaps meant for fleurs-de-lis, seems to be - intended for St. Louis of France. The broad green silk fringe, and the - pointed shape of the hood will not escape notice; and behind may yet - be seen the eyes by which this hood was hung upon the cope. The poor - shabby silver tinsel round this king is an addition quite modern. - - -7794. - -Burse for Corporals; ground, crimson satin; pattern, foliations and -flowers in coloured silks and gold, with a phœnix rising from the -flames in the middle. German, late 17th century. 11 inches by 10¼ -inches. - - -7795. - -Burse for Corporals; ground, crimson velvet; pattern, velvet upon -velvet, lined at back with silk; ground, amber, figured with a -modification of the artichoke, in deep crimson. Italian, 16th century. -10¾ inches by 10 inches. - -[Illustration: 7795. - -SILK DAMASK, - -Italian---- 16th century.] - - Though probably this burse, like the one above, may have come from a - church in Germany, its beautiful materials are of Italian manufacture; - the fine deep piled velvet upon velvet, from Genoa, the well-designed - and pleasing silk at back, from Lucca, and many years, may be a half - century, older than the velvet, make this small liturgical article - very noteworthy on account of its materials. - - -7799. - -Veil of raised crimson velvet; ground, yellow silk and gold thread; -pattern, large floriations all in crimson velvet, freckled with little -golden loops. Florentine, 17th century. 11 feet 2½ inches by 1 foot -10 inches. - - One of those magnificent textures of cut velvet, with a fine rich - pile, sent forth by the looms of Tuscany. Its use may have been - both for a veil to the lectern for the Gospel, and to be worn by - the subdeacon at high mass; the two strings, attached to it still, - evidently show its application to the latter purpose. A heavy gold - fringe borders its two ends, the scolloped shape of which is rather - unusual. - - -7813. - -Front Orphrey of a Chasuble, embroidered with figures in niches. -Italian, late 15th century. 3 feet 1 inch by 7 inches; at the cross, -1¾ inches. - - The first figure is that of our Lord giving His blessing, and of a - very youthful countenance; next, seemingly the figure of St. Peter; - then St. John the Evangelist. All these are done in coloured silks, - upon a ground of gold, and within niches; but are sadly worn. The two - angels at our Lord’s head are the best in preservation; but the whole - is rather poor in execution. As a border, there are two strips figured - with silver crosses upon grounds of different coloured silks. - - -7813A. - -Part of an Orphrey, embroidered with figures of the Apostles. Italian, -late 15th century. 4 feet by 7½ inches. - - Of the five personages, only the second, St. Paul, can be identified - by his symbol of a sword. All are wrought upon a golden diaper, and - standing within niches; but though the features are strongly marked - in brown silk lines, as a specimen it is not remarkably good; and, - most likely, served as the orphrey to some vestment, a chasuble, the - orphrey of which for the front was the piece numbered 7813. - - -7833. - -Piece of Applied Embroidery, upon silk of a creamy white, an -ornamentation in crimson velvet and cloth of gold, scolloped and -tasseled. Italian, early 17th century. - - Rich of its kind, and probably a part of household furniture. - - -7900. - -Silk Damask; ground, blue; pattern, diaper of stalks, bearing a broad -foliation in whitish blue, and lions, and birds like hoopoes, all -in gold, between horizontal bands inscribed with imitated Saracenic -letters. Sicilian, 14th century, 10¾ inches square. - - A beautiful design; and in the bands, at each end of the imitated - word in Saracenic characters, are those knots that are found on - Italian textiles. So poor was the gold on the thread, that it is sadly - tarnished. - - -8128. - -Apparels to an Alb; figured with the birth of the B. V. Mary, in the -upper one; and in the lower, the birth of our Lord; with two armorial -shields alternating between the spandrils of the canopies. English -needlework, on crimson velvet, and in coloured silks and gold thread, -done in the latter half of the 14th century. Each piece 2 feet 8½ -inches by 10½ inches. Presented by Ralf Oakden, Esq. - - In many respects these two apparels, seemingly for the lower - adornment of the liturgical alb, one before, the other behind, are - very valuable; besides the subjects they represent, they afford - illustrations of the style of needlework, architecture, costume, and - heraldry of their time. - - In the upper apparel, we have the birth and childhood of the mother - of our Lord, as it is found in one of the apocryphal books of the New - Testament, entitled,--“Evangelium de Nativitate S. Mariae,” which the - Latins got from the Greeks, as early, it would seem, as the second - or third age of the Church. Though of no authority, this book was - in especial favour with our countrymen, and it was not unfrequently - noticed in their writings; hence, no doubt, the upper apparel was - suggested by that pseudo-gospel. In its first compartment, we behold - a middle-aged lady, richly clad, having a mantle of gold, lined with - vair or costly fur, about her shoulders, seated on a cushioned stool - with a lectern, or reading-desk before her, and upon it an open book - of the Psalms, with the beginning of the fiftieth written on its - silver pages,--“Miserere mei, Deus,” &c., and outstretching her hands - towards an angel coming down from the clouds, and as he hails her with - one hand, holds, unrolled, before her eyes, a scroll bearing these - words:--“Occurre viro ad portam.” This female is Ann, wife of Joachim, - and mother of Mary; and the whole is thus set forth in the Codex - Apocryphus Novi Testamenti; where the angel, who appeared to her while - she was at prayer, is said to have spoken these words:--“Ne timeas, - Anna, neque phantasma esse putes.... Itaque surge, ascende Hierusalem, - et cum perveneris ad portam quæ aurea, pro eo quod deaurata est, - vocatur, ibi pro signo virum tuum obvium habebis,” &c.--_Evangelium de - Nativitate S. Mariae_, c. iv. in COD. APOCRY. ed. Thilo, pp. 324, 325. - This passage is thus rendered in that rare old English black-letter - book of sermons called “The Festival,” which was so often printed by - Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde, and other early printers in London:--“Anne - was sory and prayed to God and sayde, Lorde, that me is woo. I am - bareyne, and I may have noo frute ... and I knowe not whyther he - (Joachim my husband) is gone. Lorde have mercy on me. Whene as she - prayed thus an angell come downe and comforted her, and sayd: Anne, - be of gode comfort, for thou shalt have a childe in thyne olde age, - there was never none lyke, ne never shall be ... and whan he (Joachim) - come nye home, the angell come to Anne, and bade her goo to the gate - that was called the golden gate, and abide her husbonde there tyll he - come. Thene was she glad ... and went to the gate and there she mete - with Joachim, and sayd, Lord, I thanke thee, for I was a wedow and now - I am a wyfe, I was bareyne and now I shall bear a childe ... and whan - she (the child) was borne, she was called Mary.”--_The Festival_, fol. - lxvi. In the second compartment we have a further illustration of the - foregoing text in the representation of the golden gate at Jerusalem, - and Anna and Joachim greeting one another as they meet there. In the - third, there is the lying-in of Anna, who from her own bed is swathing - her new-born child, whom the Almighty’s right hand coming from heaven - is blessing. In the fourth is Anna bringing her little girl Mary, - when three years old, as an offering to God, in the temple, before - the High Priest. In the fifth and last compartment of this upper row - of niches, we see Anna teaching her daughter, the B. V. Mary, to read - the Psalter. In the first compartment in the lower apparel, or on the - second row, the angel Gabriel, winged and barefoot, is represented - standing before the B. V. Mary, whom with his right he is blessing, - while in his left he holds out before her a scroll on which are the - words:--“Ave Maria gracia.” She outstretches her hands, and gently - bending her head forwards, seems to bow assent; between them is the - lily-pot, and, as it should, holds but one flower-stem, with three, - and only three, full-blown lilies (“Church of our Fathers,” t. iii. - p. 247); above, is the Holy Ghost, figured as a white dove, coming - down upon the Virgin. To this follows St. Elizabeth’s visit to the B. - V. Mary, or the Salutation, as it is often called in this country. - Then we have the Nativity, after the usual manner, with the ox and - ass worshipping at the crib wherein our Lord is lying in swaddling - clothes; and St. Joseph is figured wearing gloves. Filling the next - niche, we behold the angel coming from the skies, with a scroll in his - hands inscribed,--“Gloria in excelsis Deo,” to the shepherds, one of - whom is playing on a bag-pipe with one hand, as with the other he is - ringing a bell, which draws the attention of his dog that sits before - him with upturned head and gaping mouth. In the last compartment - we have the three wise men, clothed and crowned as kings, going to - Bethlehem with their gifts, but none of them is a negro. Of the two - shields hung alternately between every spandril, one is,--barry of ten - _argent_ and _gules_, which was the blazon of Thornell de Suffolk; and - the other,--_azure_ three cinque-foils _argent_, that of the family - of Fitton, according to a MS. ordinary of arms, drawn up by Robert - Glover, some time Somerset herald. In the subject of the shepherds, - the ground is so plentifully sprinkled with growing daisies, that it - seems as if it were done on purpose to tell us that she whose hands - had wrought the work was called Margaret; as the flower was in French - designated “La Marguerite,” it became the symbol of that saint’s name, - and not unfrequently was the chosen emblem of the females who bore it. - - -8226. - -Gold Embroidery on purple silk over a white cotton ground, with figures -of our Saviour and of the apostles St. Peter, St. Simon, and St. -Philip. Sicilian work, done about the end of the 12th century. 14½ -inches by 7 inches. - - This piece of needlework with its figures, as well as its - architectural accessories, wrought in gold thread, though rude in its - execution, is not without an interest. In it the liturgical student - will find the half of an apparel (for it has been unfeelingly cut in - half at some remote time) for the lower hem in front of the linen - garment known as the alb. Originally it must have consisted of seven - figures; one of our Lord, in the middle, sitting upon a throne in - majesty with the Α on the one side and the Ω on the other side of His - nimbed head, and His right hand uplifted in the act of bestowing His - benediction. To the left must have been three apostles; to the right - are still to be seen the other three, nearest our Saviour, St. Peter, - holding in his left hand a double-warded key, next to him St. Simon, - with his right hand in the act of blessing, and holding in his left - a saw fashioned not like ours, but as that instrument is still made - in Italy, and last of all St. Philip, but without any symbol. What - look like half-moons with a little dot in the inside, and having a - cross between them, are nothing more than the word “Sanctus,” thus - contracted with the letter S written as the Greek sigma formed like - our C, a common practice in Italy during the middle ages, as may be - seen in the inscriptions given by writers on Palæography. - - Our Lord is seated within an elongated trefoil, and, at each corner - at the outward sides, is shown one of His emblems, better known as - the Evangelists’ symbols hinted at by the prophet Ezekiel, i. 10: - of these, two are very discernible, the winged human bust, commonly - called St. Matthew’s emblem, at top, and the nimbed and winged horned - ox or calf for St. Luke. The Apostles all stand within round-headed - arches, the spandrils of which are filled in with a kind of diaper - ornamentation. - - -8227. - -Piece of Crimson Silk, with pattern woven in gold thread. Sicilian, -early 13th century. 10½ inches by 7 inches. - - This rich sample of the looms of Palermo betrays the architectural - influences, which acted upon the designers of such stuffs, by the - introduction of that ramified ornamentation with its graceful - bendings, that is so marked a character in the buildings of England - and France at the close of the 12th and opening of the 13th century. - The fleur-de-lis is rather an accidental than intentional adaptation, - years before the French occupation of Sicily. - - -8228. - -Piece of Purple Silk Embroidery in gold and silver; pattern of -interlaced dragons, human figures, and birds. North German, 12th -century. 8½ inches by 7¼ inches. - - This small sample of needlework is as remarkable for the way in which - it is wrought, as for the wild Scandinavian mythology which is figured - on it. - - The usual process for the application of gold and silver in textiles - and embroidery is to twine the precious metal about cotton thread, and - thus weave it in with the shuttle or stitch it on by the needle. Here, - however, the silver, in part white in its original condition, in part - gilt, is laid on in the form of a very thin but solid wire, unmixed - with cotton, and the effect is very rich and brilliant. - - In the middle of this piece are shown two monsters interlacing one - another; within the upper coil which they make with their snake-like - lengths, stands a human figure which, from its dress, looks that of a - man who with each outstretched hand, seems fondling the serpent-heads - of these two monsters; that at the other end terminates in the upper - portion of an imaginary dragon with wings on its shoulders, its paws - well armed with claws, and a wolfish head largely horned, and jaws - widely yawning, as eager to swallow its prey. To our thinking, we - have shown to us here the Scandinavian personification of evil in the - human figure of the bad god Loki (the embroidery of whose face is - worn away) and his wicked offspring, the Midgard serpent, the wolf - Fenrir, and Hela or Death, who may be identified in that female figure - seated within the smaller lower coil made by the twining serpents. - Amid some leaf-bearing branches to the right is perceived a man as if - running away affrighted; to the left we behold Thor himself, mallet - in hand, about to deal a heavy blow upon the scaly length of this - Midgard serpent. About the same time this embroidery was worked the - bishop’s crozier began to end in the serpent’s head. A good figure of - this piece is given by Dr. Bock, in his “Geschichte der Liturgischen - Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 1 Band, 2 Lieferung, pt. vi. - - -8229. - -Piece of Crimson Silk, with interlacing pattern woven in gold; the -centre occupied with representations of flat-shaped fish, and, as we -learn from Dr. Bock, like to an imperial robe at Vienna, made A.D. -1133. Oriental. 11 inches by 5 inches. - - Though of a very tame design and rather striking for the sparing way - in which the dim gold is rolled about its thread, still it is not - fair to judge of what this stuff might have once been when new, fresh - from the loom and unfaded. If, in the first half of the 12th century, - silks so wrought with the representation of fishes were deemed worthy - of being put into use for state garments of a German Emperor; a short - hundred years later, they were for their symbolism thought even more - fitting to be employed for making the chasubles and copes worn at - divine service in the cathedral of London. From the inventory drawn - up, A.D. 1295, of the altar vestments belonging to old St Paul’s, - we learn that among them there were:--“Capa magistri Johannis de - S. Claro, de quodam panno Tarsico, viridis coloris, cum plurimis - piscibus et rosis de aurifilo, contextis.” Dugdale’s “History of St. - Paul’s,” new ed. p. 318. “Item casula de panno Tarsico indici coloris - cum pisculis et rosulis aureis, &c.” Ib. p. 323. In all likelihood, - the fish here shown was meant for what we oddly call “John Dory,” a - corruption of the Italian “Gianitore,” or gate-keeper, the name of - this fish in some parts of Italy, in reference to St. Peter, who is - deemed to have found the tribute-money in the mouth of this fish, - hence denominated St. Peter’s fish. - - -8230. - -Piece of so-called Bissus, of a yellowish white, with squares formed by -intersecting bars of dark brown. 11¼ inches by 8½ inches. - - Though so unattractive to the eye, this fragment of one of the most - delicate sorts of textile manufacture is one among the most curious - and interesting specimens of this valuable collection. Unfortunately, - Dr. Bock does not furnish us with any clue to its history, nor tell - us where he found it. The large whitish squares measure 4¼ inches - by 3¾ inches, and those deep brown bars that enclose them are a - quarter of an inch broad, and meant evidently to have not a straight - but wavy form. Another piece of this curious textile may be seen under - No. 1238. - - -8231. - -Piece of Yellow Silk, with a diapering of an artichoke shape marked -with lines like letters. Moresco-Spanish, 14th century. 6 inches by 3 -inches. - - The texture of this silk is rather thick; and though resembling Arabic - letters, the marks in the diapering are not alphabetical characters, - but attempts to imitate them. - - -8231A. - -Piece of Dark Blue Purple Stuff, partly silk, partly cotton, -double-dyed, with a diapering of small hexagons. Oriental. 5 inches by -2½ inches. - - This somewhat strong texture seems to have come from Syria and to be - of the 14th century. - - -8232. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Embroidery. German, 8½ inches by 3 inches. - - It is said that an imperial tunic, now kept in the Maximilian Museum - at Munich, once belonged to the Emperor Henry II., and was spoken of - as such in a list of the treasures of Bamberg Cathedral in the 12th - century. From the border of this tunic the piece before us is reported - to have been cut off. - - That in the 12th century Bamberg Cathedral had the imperial (probably - the coronation) tunic of its builder and great benefactor, and as such - reckoned it among its precious things, was but natural; it, however, - by no means follows that this is the garment now at Munich and brought - from Bamberg six hundred years after its reputed owner’s death, and - put into the museum in his palace by the Elector Maximilian, A.D. - 1607. Keeping in mind that the Emperor Henry II. was crowned at the - very beginning of the 11th century, about the year 1002, and seeing - in the piece before us the style of the end of the 12th century--with - thus a period of almost two hundred years between the two epochs--we - cannot recognize this specimen to have ever formed a portion of the - real tunic of the above-named German emperor. Besides its style, its - materials forbid us to accept it as such. Its design is set forth in - cording of a coarse thread roughly put together; the spaces between - are filled in with shreds of red silken gold tissue, and of gold - stuff sewed on to very coarse canvas. That, in this condition, it - had been much used, and needed mending through long wear, is evident - from other pieces of a gold and velvet texture of the 14th century - being let in here and there over the frayed portions, thus showing a - second example of what is called “applied.” Like Germany, England, - too, has made its mistakes on such matters, for we are told that - “as the kings of England are invested with the crown of St. Edward, - their queens are crowned with that of St. Edgitha, which is named in - honour of the Confessor’s consort.”--Taylor’s “Glory of Regality,” - p. 63. In the inventory, drawn up in the year 1649, “of that part of - the Regalia which are now removed from Westminster to the Tower Jewel - House,” we find entered “Queen Edith’s crowne, King Alfred’s crowne,” - &c.--Taylor’s “Glory of Regality,” p. 313. The likelihood is that, in - the 17th century, these supposed Anglo-Saxon crowns were not 200 years - old. - - -8233. - -Piece of White Silk, with rich pattern of circles enclosing leopards -and griffins, and a diaper of scrolls and birds. Oriental, 13th -century. 1 foot 11 inches by 9 inches. - - Like the piece immediately preceding, this too comes to us with an - account that it once formed a part of the white silk imperial tunic - belonging to the same holy Emperor Henry II., and was cut off from - that garment now preserved in the Maximilian Museum in the royal - palace at Munich. That it could have been wrought so early as the - beginning of the 11th century, that is, about the year 1002, we are - hindered from believing by the style of the ornamentation of this very - rich stuff. As a specimen of the Arabic loom in the 13th century it is - most valuable, and looks as if its designer had in his mind Persian - traditions controlled by Arabic ideas while he drew its pattern. A - remembrance of the celebrated Persian _Hom_, or sacred tree, which - separates both the griffins, the leopards, and the birds--seemingly - peacocks in one place, long-tailed parrots in another--was clearly - before him. The griffins are addorsed regardant and sketched with - spirit; so too are the leopards, which are collared, and like the - “papyonns,” or present East Indian “cheetahs,” of which mention - is made at No. 8288. Altogether this pattern, which is thrown off - with so much freedom, is among the most pleasing and effective in - the collection, and the thickness of its silken texture renders it - remarkable. - - -8234. - -Piece of Purple Silk, double-dyed, the pattern formed of squares filled -in with a Greek cross amid conventional ornaments. Sicilian, 12th -century. 7½ inches by 9 inches. - - The warp is of linen thread, the woof of silk, and as the two - materials have not taken the dye in the same degree, the ground is of - quite another tone from the pattern, which is, in a manner, fortunate, - as thus a better effect is produced. - - Not for a moment can we look upon this piece as a specimen of real - imperial purple wrought at Byzantium for royal use, and so highly - spoken of by Anastasius Bibliothecarius, and called by him “blatthin,” - with the distinguishing adjunct of “holosericus,” or made entirely of - silk, and sometimes noticing it as “porphyreticum,” while enumerating - the gifts of rich silks bestowed upon the churches at Rome by - pontifical and imperial benefactors. - - -8235. - -Piece of Yellow Silk, with pattern of circles enclosing griffins, the -interspaces filled in with hawks. Byzantine, 11th century. 12 inches by -10½ inches. - - This well woven and thickly bodied stuff shows its Byzantine origin in - that style of ornamentation seen in the circles so characteristic of a - Greek hand, as may be found in the Byzantine MSS. of the period. What - makes this specimen somewhat remarkable, is the rare occurrence of - finding the birds and animals figured in lines of silver thread. Dr. - Bock tells us that the chasuble of Bishop Bernward, who died in the - 11th century, is decorated with a similar design. - - -8236. - -Piece of Silk, Tyrian purple, diapered with palmette pattern. Oriental, -11th century. 1 foot 4 inches by 8½ inches. - - The hundreds of years that have passed over this remnant of the - Eastern looms have stolen from it that brightness of tone which once, - no doubt, shone about its surface. - - -8237. - -Portion of Silk Border, crimson wrought in gold, with circles -containing grotesque animals. Italian (?), middle of the 13th century. -1 foot 5½ inches by 3½ inches. - - This well filled piece contains birds and beasts, among the latter - two dogs addorsed, embroidered with circles, upon plain red silk. By - the ornamentation, the embroidery must be about the middle of the - 13th century, and is of that general character which hinders national - identification, though there can be no doubt it must have been wrought - by some hand in Western Europe. - - -8238. - -Three Pieces of Silk, discoloured to dull olive, diapered with a -closely foliated pattern. Sicilian, 13th century. Respectively 6 inches -by 4 inches, 4½ inches by 4 inches, and 6 inches by 3 inches. - - The design of the pattern is very elaborate and worthy of attention - for the tasteful way in which it is arranged. - - -8238A. - -Piece of Silk, with lilac pattern, enclosing grotesque animals. -Sicilian, 13th century. 3¾ inches by 1¾ inches. - - There is no reason for assuming that this piece of woven stuff - formed the orphrey of a stole or any other liturgical ornament. It - is, however, a fine specimen in its kind, and is one of the very - many proofs to be found among the textiles and embroideries in the - Museum, of the influence exercised by heraldry upon the looms of - Western Europe. The beasts and birds are evidently heraldic, and - are heraldically placed, especially the beasts, which are statant - regardant. - - -8239. - -Maniple in Crimson Silk, embroidered in colours and gold with -emblematical animals. The ends contain within circles, one the lion, -symbolical of Christ, the other the initial M, but of much later work. -The silk, Oriental; the embroidery, German, early 14th century. 3 feet -8 inches by 7 inches. - - This valuable specimen of mediæval church-embroidery is very curious, - inasmuch as it contains three distinct periods of work; the middle - part of the earliest portion of the 14th century, embroidered with so - many fantastic figures; the lion passant with the human head, at the - left end, of the beginning of the 13th; and the green letter M, poorly - worked on the red garment laid bare at the right end by the loss of - the circular piece of embroidery once sewed on there, no doubt in the - style and of the same period of the human-faced lion, of the latter - part of the 15th century. - - The whole of the middle piece is of needlework, and figured with - sixteen figures, four-legged beasts in the body, and human in the - heads, all of which are seen, by the hair, to be female. All are - statant gardant or standing and looking full in the face of the - spectator. Eight of them are playing musical instruments, most of - which are stringed and harp-shaped, one a clarionet-like pipe, another - castanets, and two cymbals, and are human down to the waist; the other - eight seem meant for queens wearing crowns, and having the hair very - full, but reaching no further than the shoulders, while the minstrel - females show a long braid of dark brown hair falling all down the - back. The queens have wings, and are human only in head and neck; - the musical figures are wingless, and human as far as the waist. All - these monsters display large tails, which end in an open-mouthed head - like that of a fox, and are all noued. Each of these figures stands - within a square, which is studded at each corner with the curious - four-pointed love-knot, and in the ornamentation of its sides the - crescent is very conspicuous; besides which, upon the bodies of these - figures themselves numerous ring-like spots are studiously marked, - as if to show that the four-legged animal was a leopard. Grotesques - like those in this curious piece of embroidery abound in the MSS. - of the 14th century; and those cut in stone on the north and south - walls outside Adderbury Church, Oxon, bear a strong likeness to them. - These fictitious creatures, made up of a woman, a leopard--the beast - of prey, a fox--the emblem of craftiness and sly cunning, wielding - too the power of wealth and authority, shown in those regal heads, - and bringing those siren influences of music, love, and revelry into - action, lead to the belief that under such imagery there was once - hidden a symbolic meaning, which still remains to be found out, and - this embroidery may yield some help in such an interesting study. - - All the figures are wrought on fine canvas in gold thread, and shaded - with silk thread in various colours, the ground being filled in, in - short stitch, with a bright-toned crimson silk that has kept its - colour admirably. The narrow tape with a gold ornament upon a crimson - ground, that encloses the square at each end of this liturgical - appliance, is very good, and perhaps of the 13th century, as well - as the many-coloured fringe of the 15th. There is no doubt this - maniple, for such it is, was made out of scraps of secular adornments - of various dates; and gives us remarkable examples of embroidery and - weaving at various periods. One end of it is figured in Dr. Bock’s - “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 1 Band, 2 - Lieferung, part vi. - - -8240, 8240A. - -Two Pieces of Silk Border; red purple, embroidered with monsters, -birds, and scroll patterns. To No. 8240 is attached a portion of -edging, embroidered in gold, with the rude figure of a saint, on a -blue-purple ground. Sicilian, 13th century. 8240, 1 foot 3¼ inches -by 5 inches; 8240A, 1 foot 11 inches by 2 inches. - - Among the animals figured on these pieces may be discerned a wolf - passant, the fabulous heraldic wyvern, an eagle displayed, and a stag. - The figure, however, of the saint, done in gold now much faded, is of - the 12th century. - - -8241. - -Piece of Tapestry, the warp cotton, the woof partly wool, partly silk; -in the centre, a grotesque mask, connecting scroll-patterns in blue, -bordered with Tyrian purple. Sicilian, late 12th century. 1 foot 2¾ -inches by 6 inches. - - This is a rare as well as valuable specimen of its kind, and deserves - attention, not only for the graceful twinings of its foliage, but the - happy contrast of its colours. - - -8242. - -Portion of Gold Embroidery, on red-purple silk, over a dark blue cotton -ground, figure of St. Andrew within an arch. German work, 12th century. -9¾ inches by 5¼ inches. - - -8243. - -Piece of Silk, dark Tyrian purple ground, with dark olive pattern -of angular figures, and circles enclosing crosses, composed of four -heart-shaped ornaments. Byzantine, beginning of the 12th century. 6 -inches by 6 inches. - - -8243A. - -Piece of Silk Border, ground alternately lilac, purple, and yellowish, -with figures of animals within the spaces of the patterns; edging, -green. Sicilian, 13th century. 3¼ inches by 1 inch. - - Though small, this is a beautiful sample of textile excellence; on it - various animals are figured, of which one is the heraldic wyvern. - - -8244, 8244A. - -Two Pieces of Crimson, embroidered, in gold, with a scroll-pattern. -Sicilian, 13th century. 8244, 6½ inches by 2½ inches; 8244A, -6¼ inches by 2½ inches. - - -8245. - -Piece of Silk Tissue; the ground of pale purple, woven in a diaper with -stripes of yellow and blue; the pattern formed of parrots perched in -pairs. Sicilian, 12th century. 1 foot 6½ inches by 10 inches. - - It is said that St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, when his grave was - opened, was found vested in a chasuble made of a stuff much like this. - - -8245A. - -Piece of Tissue, like the foregoing (No. 8245), with a centre stripe -woven with gold thread and dark blue, and two side-stripes with figures -of parrots. Sicilian, early 13th century. - - Though seemingly so slight and insignificant, these two pieces will - richly repay a close examination, exhibiting, as they do, great beauty - of design. - - -8246. - -Piece of Border, of silk and gold thread, pale purple ground, with -pattern of animals and flower (?) ornament. Sicilian (?). 10½ inches -by 1¼ inches. - - From age, the design of the pattern is so very indistinct that it - becomes almost a puzzle to make it out. - - -8247. - -Three Pieces of Silk, orange-red ground, with yellow pattern, -apparently composed in part of grotesque animals. Oriental, 13th -century. 6 inches by 4½ inches; 3 inches by 2½ inches; 4½ -inches by 2 inches. - - This last piece shows signs of having been waxed, and probably is the - fragment of a cere-cloth for the altar, to be placed immediately on - the stone table, and under the linen cloths. - - -8248. - -Piece of Tissue, woven of silk and linen; ground, Tyrian purple, with a -Romanesque pattern in white. Moresco-Spanish, 13th century. - - The design of this specimen is very effective; and, as the materials - of this stuff are poor and somewhat coarse, we may perceive that, even - upon things meant for ordinary use, the mediæval artisans bestowed - much care in the arrangement and sketching of their patterns. - - -8249. - -Piece of Silk; purple ground, and yellowish pattern in lozenge forms, -intersected by interlaced knots. Byzantine, end of the 12th century. -6½ inches by 5 inches. - - The knots in this piece are somewhat like those to be found upon - Anglo-Saxon work, in stone, and in silver and other metals; and the - lozenges powdered with Greek crosses, and stopped at each of the - four corners of the lozenge by a three-petaled flower ornament--not, - however, a fleur-de-lis,--make this piece of stuff remarkable. - - -8250. - -Piece of Broad Border of Gold Tissue, portion of a vestment. Sicilian, -13th century. 6 inches by 5 inches. - - This was once part of the orphrey of some liturgical garment, and is - figured with lions rampant combatant, and foliage in which a cross - flory may be discovered. - - -8250A. - -Piece of Silk; green ground, with a stripe diapered in silver. -Byzantine, end of 12th century. 4¾ inches by 2 inches. - - The design of the stripe not only shows the St. Andrew’s cross, or - saltire, but, in its variety of combination, displays other forms of - the cross, that make this stuff one of the kind known among Greek - writers as “stauracinus” and “polystauria,” and spoken of as such by - Anastasius Bibliothecarius in very many parts of his valuable work. - - -8251. - -Portion of a Maniple, linen web with an interlaced diamond-shaped -diapering, in silk. 12th century. Byzantine. 1 foot 9 inches by 2¾ -inches. - - This curious remnant of textiles, wrought on purpose for liturgical - use, shows in places another combination of lines, or rather of - a digamma, so as to form a sort of cross: and stuffs so diapered - were called by Greek, and after them by Latin, Christian writers, - “gammadia.” It was a pattern taken up by the Sicilian and South - Italian looms, whence it spread so far north as England, where it may - be found marked amid the ornaments designed upon church vestments - figured in many graven brasses. From us it got the new name of - “filfod” through the idea of “full foot,” which by some English - mediæval writers was looked upon as an heraldic charge, and is now - called “cramponnée.” During the 13th century, in this country, - ribbon-like textiles, for the express purpose of making stoles - and maniples to be worn at the altar, were extensively wrought, - and constituted one of the articles of trade in London, for a - distinguished citizen of hers, John de Garlandia, or Garland, tells - us:--“De textis vero fiunt cingula, et crinalia divitum mulierum et - stole(ae) sacerdotum.” These “priests’ stoles,” in all likelihood, - were figured with the gammadion or filfod pattern; and, perhaps, many - of them which are to be found in foreign sacristies to this day came - from London. - - The piece before us is figured in Dr. Bock’s “Geschichte der - Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 4 Lieferung, pt. iii. fig. 3. - - -8252. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue, lilac-purple with fleur-de-lis diapering -in gold. South Italian, end of 14th century. 5 inches by 4½ inches. - - This stuff seems to have been made expressly for French royalty, - perhaps some member of the house of Anjou. - - -8253. - -Piece of Dark Blue Silk, with pattern in yellow, consisting of centre -ornaments surrounded by four crowned birds like parrots. South Italian, -14th century. 9 inches by 7 inches. - - -8254. - -Piece of Silk Net, embroidered with crosslets and triangular ornaments -charged with chevrons in lilac and green. North Italian, 14th century. -7 inches by 5 inches. - - This is a good specimen of a kind of cobweb weaving, or “opus - araneum,” for which Lombardy, especially its capital, Milan, earned - such a reputation at one time. - - -8255. - -Piece of Silk, crimson ground, with pattern in violet and green, -consisting partly of wyverns. Sicilian, end of 13th century. 10 inches -by 5 inches. - - Another good specimen of the Sicilian loom, and very likely one of - those “cendals” for which Palermo was once so famous. - - -8256. - -Piece of Silk, pink-buff colour, with pattern, in green, of vine-leaves -and grapes. South Italian, middle of 14th century. 8 inches by 5½ -inches. - - The design of this silk is remarkably elegant, and exemplifies the - ability of the weaver-draughtsmen of those times. - - -8257. - -Piece of Crimson Silk, damasked with a pattern in which occur leopards -and eagles pouncing upon antelopes. Sicilian, end of 13th century. - - The design of this piece of what must have been such a beautiful stuff - is very skilfully imagined, and the whole carried out in a spirited - manner. The leopards are collared, and from the presence of, as well - as mode of action in, the eagles stooping on their prey, a thought may - cross the mind that some political or partisan meaning is hidden under - these heraldic animals. - - -8258. - -Piece of Silk; ground, lilac-purple; pattern, in bright yellow, -composed of stags, parrots, and peacocks, amid foliage. Italian, 14th -century. 10 inches by 4½ inches. - - A pretty design, in cheerful colours, and a pleasing example probably - of the Lucca loom towards the close of the 14th century. - - -8259. - -Piece of Tissue, with hemp warp and silk woof; ground, dark blue; -pattern, yellowish, representing a tree imparked, with eagles, and -leopards having tails noued or tied in a knot. Italian, early 15th -century. 1 foot 7 inches by 1 foot. - - Though somewhat elaborate, the design of this piece is rather heavy. - - -8260. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue, lilac-purple ground, with a green -pattern, showing eagles statant regardant, with wings displayed. -Sicilian, 14th century. 7 inches by 4¾ inches. - - The design is very good. - - -8260A. - -Piece of Silk, lilac-purple ground with green pattern, and gold woven -border, exhibiting an antelope courant regardant. Sicilian, early 14th -century. 6½ inches by 3½ inches. - - Good in design. - - -8260B, C. - -Two Pieces of Silk, green ground and lilac-purple pattern, with dragons -and cranes. Sicilian, early 14th century. 4½ inches by 4 inches; and -4½ inches by 2½ inches. - - A pleasing design. - - -8261. - -Portion of an Orphrey embroidered in silk and gold, with figures of two -Apostles beneath crocketed canopies. German, early 14th century. - - -8262. - -Piece of Silk, rose-coloured ground, with pattern of eagles rising from -trees, both green, and wild beasts spotted (perhaps leopards) in gold, -and lodged in a park, paled green. South Italian, 14th century. 2 feet -by 10½ inches. - - -8263. - -Piece of Silk, rose-coloured ground, pattern in green and gold, of two -female demi-figures addorsed, gathering date-fruit with one hand, with -the other patting a dog rampant and collared with bells, and other two -female demi-figures holding, with one hand, a frond of the palm-tree -out of which they are issuing, and with the other hand clutching the -manes of lions rampant regardant and tails noued. Sicilian, 14th -century. 1 foot 9 inches by 1 foot 2 inches. - - This valuable and important piece displays an intricate yet - well-managed and tastefully arranged pattern. One must be struck with - the peculiar style of assortment of pink and green in its colours, the - somewhat sameness in the subjects, and the artistic and heraldic way - in which these silks (very likely wrought at Palermo) are woven. Dr. - Bock has given a fine large plate of this stuff in his “Dessinateur - pour Etoffes,” &c. Paris, Morel. - - -8264. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue; the ground black, with pattern, in gold, -of a rayed star, with eagles statant and swans naiant (swimming) upon -water on a foliated scroll. Sicilian, early 14th century. 1 foot 2 -inches by 1 foot 1½ inches. - -[Illustration: 8264 - -SILK AND GOLD TISSUE, - -Sicilian, 14th century. - - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith. - -] - - The design of this piece is as easy and flowing as it is bold; and the - specimen affords us a very choice example of fine manufacture. - - -8265. - -Piece of Linen and Silk Textile; the ground, dark blue; the pattern, -yellow, consisting of arcades beneath which are rows of parrots and -hawks alternately, both gardant, and perched upon a vine; the initial M -surmounted by a crown or fleur-de-lis in gold thread is inserted in the -alternate range of arches. Southern Spanish, late 14th century. 1 foot -6 inches by 10 inches. - -[Illustration: 8265 - -LINEN AND SILK TEXTILE, - -Spanish, 14th century. - - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith.] - - As a specimen of the Andalusian loom, and wrought by Christian hands, - perhaps at Granada, while that part of Spain was under Moorish rule, - this piece has a peculiar interest about it. - - -8266. - -Maniple, embroidered in silk, inscribed in Gothic letters with “Gratia -+ plena + Dom ...” German, end of 14th century. 3 feet 10 inches by 2 -inches. - - -8267. - -Piece of Tissue, of cotton warp, of silk and gold woof, with pattern -of birds and stags amid foliated ornamentation. Spanish, 14th century. - - - -8268. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue; the ground, lilac-purple; the pattern in -gold, symmetrically arranged and partly composed of birds, upon which -hounds are springing. Sicilian, 14th century. 2 feet 3½ inches by 11 -inches. - -A very effective and well-executed design. - - -8269. - -Piece of Silk; ground, blue, diapered in yellow with mullets of eight -points and eight-petaled flowers, within lozenges. Sicilian, early 15th -century. 6 inches by 4¼ inches. - - -8269A. - -Piece of Silk and Cotton Border; ground, crimson, now much faded; -pattern, a diaper of the fleur-de-lis within a lozenge, both yellow; -the stuff which it edged has a deep blue ground powdered with -fleurs-de-lis, and eight-petaled flowers within lozenges, both yellow. -South Italian, late 13th century. 4 inches by 2½ inches. - - Though from its pattern we may assume that this stuff was made for - the requirement of the Sicilian Anjou family or one of its adherents, - the poorness of its materials forbids us from thinking it could have - served for any other than common use. - - -8270. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue; pattern, consisting of diaper and leaves -interspersed with small circles, within each of which is a conventional -flower expanded. South Italian, 14th century. 11 inches by 10 inches. - - -8271. - -Piece of Silk, with portions of the pattern in gold; ground, green, -on which are parrots (?) and little dogs, amid a sprinkling of -quatrefoils. Sicilian, beginning of 14th century. 10½ inches by 4 -inches. - - -8272. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue; ground, green; the pattern in gold seems -to have been divided by bars, and consists of an interlaced knot, on -which rest birds. Southern Spanish, early 14th century. 8½ inches by -4¼ inches. - - The knots in this piece are somewhat like our own Bouchier one; but - the four ends of the English badge are not shown in this Andalusian - ornament, perhaps meant to be really an heraldic charge peculiar to - Spanish blazon. - - -8273. - -Piece of Silk; ground, lilac-purple; pattern, yellow, diapered with -crescents, within the horns of which are two very small wyverns -addorsed. Sicilian, late 13th century. 7½ inches by 4½ inches. - - The design is so indistinct that it requires time to unpuzzle it. - - -8274. - -Portion of an Orphrey, embroidered on parchment with glass, coral, -gold beads, and seed pearls, having also small bosses and ornaments in -silver-gilt. The ground is dark blue, on which is figured the B. V. -Mary nimbed and crowned within an oblong aureole terminated by scrolls -ending in trefoils and cinquefoils. Venetian, late 12th century. - - That this curious and elaborate piece of bead embroidery must have - been part of an orphrey for a chasuble, and not a maniple, is evident - from the pointed shape in which it ends. From its style, and the - quantity of very small beads and bugles which we see upon it, it - would seem to have been wrought either at Venice itself, in some of - its mainland dependencies, or in Lower Styria. Then, as now, the - Venetian island of Murano wrought and carried on a large trade in - beads of all kinds; and the silversmith’s craft was in high repute - at Venice. Finding, then, this remnant of a liturgical vestment so - plentifully adorned with beads, bugles, and coral, besides being so - dotted with little specks of gold, and sprinkled with so many small - but nicely worked silver-gilt stars, we are warranted in taking this - embroidery to have been wrought somewhere in North East Italy or - South West Germany, upon the borders of the Adriatic. Those fond of - ecclesiastical symbolism will look upon this old piece of needlework - with no small interest, and observe that it was by intention that - the ground was blue. It is figured in Dr. Bock’s “Geschichte der - Liturgischen Gewänder Mittelalters,” 1 Band, 2 Lieferung, pt. x. s. - 275. - - -8275. - -Piece of Linen Tissue, with pattern woven in gold; the design consists -of bands curving to a somewhat lozenge form and inclosing an ornament -composed of intersecting circles with a three-pointed or petaled kind -of conventional flower (not a fleur-de-lis) radiating from the centre. -Sicilian, 14th century. 5 inches by 4½ inches. - - -8276. - -Piece of Silk; ground, pinkish purple; pattern in dark blue, or rather -green, divided by four-sided compartments and formed of conventional -flowers and salamanders, the borders of a running design. Sicilian, -14th century. 10½ inches by 6 inches. - - Most likely woven at Palermo, but no good sample of dyeing, as the - colours have evidently changed; what is now a pinkish purple hue was - of a light cheerful crimson tone, and the dark blue pattern must have - originally been a warm green. - - -8277. - -Piece of Crimson Silk and Gold Tissue; the pattern, in gold, of -conventional ornaments and circles containing birds and animals; the -border consists of a repetition of a wyvern, an eagle displayed, and an -elephant and castle. Italian, early 14th century. 11 inches by 4 inches. - - This fine costly specimen of old silken stuff cannot fail in drawing - to itself a particular attention from the heedful observer, by its - gracefully elaborate design, so well carried out and done in such rich - materials, but more especially by the symbols figured on it. - - Though now unable to read or understand the meaning of all those - emblematic hints so indistinctly uttered in its curious border, made - up, as it is, of a wyvern, a stork embowed and statant on an elephant - and castle, and a displayed eagle, we hopefully think that, at no - far-off day, the key to it all will be found; then, perhaps, the piece - before us, and many other such textiles in this very collection, may - turn out to be no little help to some future writer while unravelling - several entanglements in mediæval history. - - Not for a single moment can we admit that through these heraldic - beasts and birds the slightest reference was intended to be made to - the four elements; heaven or the air, earth or its productions, fire - and water, were quite otherwise symbolized by artists during the - middle ages, as we may see in the nielli on a super-altar described - and figured in the “Church of Our Fathers,” t. i. p. 257. - - -8278. - -A SINDON or kind of Frontal, of Crimson Silk, on a linen or canvas -lining, embroidered in silk and silver thread, with a large figure of -our Lord dead, two standing angels, and, at each of its four corners, -a half-length figure of an evangelist; the whole enclosed in a border -inscribed with Sclavonic characters. Ruthenic work, middle of 17th -century. 4 feet 6½ inches by 2 feet 10 inches. - - In the centre of this curious ecclesiastical embroidery (for spreading - outside the chancel, at the end of Holy Week, among the Greek,) our - dead Lord, with the usual inscription, IC, XC, over Him, is figured - lying full length, stretched out, as it were, upon a slab of stone - which a sheet overspreads. His arms are at His sides as far as the - elbows, where they bend so that His hands may be folded downward - cross-wise upon His stomach, from which, to His knees, His loins are - wrapped in a very full-folded cloth done in silver thread, but now - nearly black from age. His skin is quite white, His hair and beard - of a light brown colour, and His right side, His hands and feet are - marked each with a blood-red wound; and the embroidery of His person - is so managed as to display, in somewhat high relief, the hollows and - elevations of the body’s surface; all around and beneath His head - goes a nimbus marked inside with a cross very slightly pattee, the - whole nicely diapered and once bright silver, but now quite black. Two - nimbed angels, beardless and, in look, quite youthful, are standing, - one at His head, the other at His feet, each, like the other, vested, - as is the deacon at the present day, for mass, according to the Greek - and Oriental rites; they wear the “chitonion” or alb, over that the - “stoicharion” or dalmatic, and from the right--though it should have - been from the left--shoulder falls the “orarion” or stole, upon which - the Greek word “agios,” or holy, is repeated, just as a Greek deacon - is shown in “Hierurgia,” p. 345; in his right hand each holds extended - over our Lord, exactly as Greek deacons now do, at the altar, after - the consecration of the Holy Eucharist, a long wand, at the end of - which is a large round six-petaled flower-like ornament, having within - it a cherub’s six-winged face; this is the holy fan, concerning which - see the “Church of our Fathers,” iv. 197; and each has his left hand - so raised up under his chin as to seemingly afford a rest for it. At - each of the four corners of the frontal is the bust of an evangelist - with a nimb about his head; in the upper left, “Agios o Theologos,” - for so the Greeks still call St. John the Evangelist: in the lower - left, St. Luke; in the upper right, St. Matthew; in the lower right, - St. Mark; each is bearded, and the hair, whether on the head or chin, - is shown in blue and white as of an aged man. While the heads and - faces of all four evangelists are red, with the features distinguished - by white lines, the angels have white faces and their hair is deep red - with strokes in white to indicate the curly wavings of their locks. - There are two crosses, rather pattee, done in silver thread, measuring - 2½ inches, one above, the other below our Lord, in the middle of - the ground, which is crimson, and wrought all over with gracefully - twined flower-bearing branches; and each evangelist is shut in by - a quarter-circle border charmingly worked with a wreath of leaves - quite characteristic of our 13th century work. All the draperies, - inscriptions, and ornamentation, now looking so black, were originally - wrought in silver thread that is thus tarnished by age. - - Among the liturgical rarities in this extensive and precious - collection of needlework, not the least is the present Russo-Greek - “sindon,” or ritual winding-sheet, used in a portion of the Eastern - Church service on the Great Friday and Great Saturday, as the - Orientals call our Good Friday and Holy Saturday. - - The colour itself--purplish crimson--of the silk ground upon which our - Lord’s dead body lies, as it were, outstretched upon the winding-sheet - in the grave, is not without a symbolic meaning, for amongst the - Greeks, up to a late period, of such a tint were invariably the - garments and the stuffs employed on every occasion any wise connected - with the dead, though now, like the Latins, the Muscovites at least - use black for all such functions. - - All around the four borders of this sindon are wrought in golden - thread, now much tarnished, sentences of Greek, but written, as the - practice is among the Sclaves, in the Cyrillian character, thus named - from St. Cyrill, the monk, who invented that alphabet a thousand years - ago, as one of the helps for himself and his brother St. Methodius, - in teaching Christianity to the many tribes of the widely-spread - Sclavonian people, as we noticed in our Introduction, § 5. - - Beginning at the right-hand side, from that portion of the silk being - somewhat torn, the words are not quite whole, but those that can - be read, say thus:--“Pray for the servant of God, Nicolaus....and - his children. Amen;” here, no doubt, we have the donor’s name, and - the exact time itself of this pious gift was put down, but owing to - the stuff being, at this place too, worn away, the date is somewhat - obliterated, but seems to be the year 1645. - - All the other sentences are borrowed from the Greek ritual-book known - as the Ὡρολόγιον or Horologium, in the service for the afternoon - on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Along the lower border runs this - “troparion,” or versicle:-- Ὁ εὐσχήμων Ἰωσὴφ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου καθελὼν - τὸ ἄχραντόν σου Σῶμα, σινδόνι καθαρᾷ εἰλήσας καί ἀρώμασιν ἐν μνήματι - καινῷ κηδεύσας ἀπεθέτο. “The comely Joseph (of Arimathea) having taken - down from the wood (of the cross) the spotless body of Thee (O Jesus), - and having wrapped it up in a clean winding-sheet together with - aromatics, taking upon himself to afford it a becoming burial, laid - it in a new grave.” Upon the left hand side comes this versicle:-- - Ταῖς μυρόφοροις γυναιξὶ παρὰ τὸ μνῆμα ἐπιστάς, ὁ Ἄγγελος ἐβόα: Τὰ - μύρα τοῖς θνητοῖς ὑπάρχει ἁρμόδια, Χριστὸς δὲ διαφθορᾶς ἐδείχθη - ἀλλότριος--Τροπάρια τοῦ Τριαδίου. Τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ μεγάλῳ Σαββάτῳ. “Seeing - at the grave the women who were carrying perfumes, the Angel cried - out, ‘The ointments fitting (to be used in the burial) for mortal - beings are lying here, but Christ, having undergone death, has shown - Himself (again) after another form.’” - - According to the rite followed by the Russians and Greeks, on the - afternoon of Good Friday, as well as that of Holy Saturday, a sindon - or liturgical winding-sheet, figured just like the one before us, - is brought into the middle of the church, and placed outside the - sanctuary, so that it may be easily venerated by all the people in - turn. First come the clergy, making, as they slowly advance, many - low and solemn bows, and bendings of the whole person. Reaching the - sindon, each one kisses with great devotion the forehead of our Lord, - and the place of the wounds in His side, His hands, and feet. Then - follow the congregation, every one approaching in the same reverential - manner, and going through the same ceremonial like the clergy; all - this while are being sung, along with other versicles, the ones - embroidered round this piece of needlework. But this is not all, at - least in some provinces where the Greek ritual obtains. As soon as it - is dark on Good Friday evening, upon a funeral bier is laid the figure - of our Lord, either wrought in low relief, painted on wood or canvas, - or shown in needlework like this sindon. Lifted up and borne forwards, - it is surrounded by a crowd carrying lights. Then follow the priests - vested in chasubles and the rest of the garments proper for mass; - after them walk the lower clergy, and the lay-folks of the place come - last. Then the procession goes all through and about the streets of - the town, singing the cxviiith Psalm, the “Beati immaculati in via,” - &c. of the Vulgate, or cxixth of the authorized version, between each - verse of which is chanted a versicle from the Horologium. Everywhere - the populace bow down as the bier comes by, and many times it halts - that they may kiss the figure of our dead Saviour, whose image is - overspread by the flowers sprinkled upon it as it is carried past, and - afterwards these same flowers are eagerly sought for by the crowd, who - set much store by them as the bringers of health to their bodies and - a blessing on their homesteads all the after year. Now it should be - observed that, even in the present piece, what is the real sindon or - white linen winding-sheet shown open and spread out quite flat - beneath our Lord’s body, is put upon a mourning pall of red silk, - which is worked all over with flowers, doubtless in allusion to this - very custom of showering down upon it flowers as it is carried by. - -Very like, in part, to the Greek ceremony, is the Latin rite still -followed on Good Friday of kissing the crucifix as it lies upon a -cushion on the steps going up to the altar, and known of old in England -as creeping to the cross, the ritual for which among the Anglo-Saxons, -as well as later, according to the use of Salisbury, may be seen in the -“Church of Our Fathers,” t. iv. pp. 88, 241. Those who have travelled -in the East, or in countries where the Greek rite is followed, may have -observed that, almost always, the cupola of the larger churches is -painted with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy; and among the crowd -of personages therein shown are usually six angels reverently bearing -one of these so-figured sindons, as was noticed in the Introduction, § -5. - - -8279. - -Portion of an Orphrey for a Chasuble; border woven in silk, with a -various-coloured diapering. German, late 14th century. 3 feet. - - Such textiles (for they are not embroideries) as these were evidently - wrought to serve as the orphreys for liturgical garments of a less - costly character, and made, as this example is, out of thread as well - as silk, fashioned after a simple type of pattern. - - -8279A. - -Linen Napkin, for a Crozier; of very fine linen, and various -embroideries. German, late 14th century. 2 feet 10 inches by 6 feet. - - Such napkins are very great liturgical curiosities, as the present - one, and another in this collection, are the only specimens known in - this country; and perhaps such another could not be found on any part - of the Continent, the employment of them having been for a very long - time everywhere left off. Its top, like a high circular-headed cap, - 4¾ inches by 4 inches, is marked with a diapering, on one side - _lozengy_, on the other _checky_, ground crimson, and filled in with - the gammadion or filfot in one form or another. On the lozenges this - gammadion is parti-coloured, green, yellow, white, purple; in the - checks, all green, yellow, white, and purple. Curiously enough, the - piece of vellum used as a stiffening for this cap is a piece of an - old manuscript about some loan, and bears the date of the year 1256. - The slit up the middle of the linen, 11 inches long, is bordered on - both edges with a linen woven lace, 1½ inches broad, embroidered - on one side of the slit with L, one of the forms of the gammadion; - on the other with the saltire, or St. Andrew’s cross; the gammadion - and saltire are wrought in purple, green, crimson (faded), or yellow, - each of one colour, and not mixed, as in one part of the cap. These - two edgings brought together, and thus running up for the space of 6 - inches, are stopped by a piece of woven silk lace, 3¼ inches by 2 - inches, and figured with the filfot or gammadion. The linen is very - fine, and of that kind which, in the middle ages, was called “bissus;” - tent-like in shape, and closed, it hung in full folds. Its gold and - silken cords, of various colours, as well as those large well-platted - knobs of silk and gold by which it was strung to the upper part of - the crozier, are all quite perfect; and an account of this ornament - is given in the “Church of Our Fathers,” t. ii. p. 210. Dr. Bock has - given a figure of the present one in his “Geschichte der Liturgischen - Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 4 Lieferung, pl. xiv. fig. i; and another - specimen will be found here, No. 8662. - - -8280. - -Piece of Net, of coarse linen thread, with an interlaced lozenge -pattern, and a border. Very likely German, 16th century. 3 feet 10 -inches by 3 feet 8 inches. - - Those who amuse themselves by netting will find in this specimen a - good example to follow, both in design and accurate execution. It must - have been wrought for domestic, and not for Church use. - - -8281. - -Portion of an Orphrey, in red and purple silk, figured in gold, with a -fleur-de-lis, inscriptions, and armorial bearings. German, late 15th -century. 12¾ inches by 2¾ inches. - - This piece is woven throughout, and the letters, as well as the - heraldry, are the work, not of the needle, but of the shuttle. On a - field _gules_ is shown a fleur-de-lis _argent_, which device, not - being upon a shield, may have been meant for a badge. On a field _or_ - is a cross _purpure_, and over it, another cross of the field. Though - the words given may possibly be intended to read “Pete allia (alia),” - there are difficulties in so taking them. It is imagined that these - heraldic bearings refer to the archiepiscopal sees and chapters of - Cologne and Treves. - - -8282. - -Piece of Silken and Linen Texture. Upon a yellow thread ground are -figured, in green silk, trees, from the lower right side of which darts -down a pencil of sunbeams, and just over these rays stand birds like -cockatoos or hoopoes, and six-petaled flowers and eagles stooping, both -once in gold, now dimmed; the flowers and eagles well raised above the -rest of the design. Made in North Italy, during the middle of the 14th -century. - - When bright and fresh, this stuff must have been very effective; and - a play of light could not fail in well showing off its golden eagles - and flowers, that are made to stand out somewhat boldly amid the green - foliage of the trees. - - -8283. - -Piece of Lilac-purple Silk, with a delicate diapering of vine-branches -and birds. Italian, late 14th century. - - Though everything is small in the design of this piece, it is - remarkably pleasing. The way in which the boughs are twined is quite - graceful, and the foliage very good. - - -8284. - -Piece of Light Crimson Silk and Gold Tissue. This small bit of a large -pattern shows a crested bird plucking a bell-shaped flower. Italian, -early 15th century. - - Unfortunately this scrap is so small as not to exhibit enough of the - original design to let us know what it was; but, to judge by the ends - of some wings, we have before us sufficient to see that, when entire, - it must have consisted of large birds, and have been bold and telling. - - -8285. - -Piece of Light Crimson Silk and Gold Tissue; the pattern is a -diapering, all in gold, formed of a tree with a lioness sejant -regardant beneath it, and a bird alighting on a flower, the centre of -which is spotted with stamens of blue silk. North Italian, beginning of -the 15th century. - - This specimen is valuable both for its rich materials and the - effective way in which the design is brought out. - - -8286. - -Piece of Dark Purple Silk and Silver Tissue, relieved with crimson -thrown up in very small portions. The pattern is a bold diapering of -grotesque animals and birds, together with inscriptions affecting to be -in Arabic. Very likely from the South of Spain, at the beginning of the -15th century. 24 inches by 19 inches. - - Alike conspicuous for the richness of materials, as for the exuberance - in its design, this specimen deserves particular attention. Spotted - leopards and shaggy-haired dogs, all collared, and separated by - bundles of wheat-ears; birds of prey looking from out the foliage, - hoopoes pecking at a human face, dragon-like snakes gracefully - convoluted amid a Moorish kind of ornamentation, and imitated Arabic - letters strung together without a meaning, show that the hand of the - Christian workman was guided somewhat by Saracenic teachings, or - wrought under the set purpose of passing off his work as of Oriental - produce. But in this, as in so many other examples, a strong liking - for heraldry is displayed by those pairs of wings conjoined and - elevated, in the one instance eagle’s, in the other wyvern’s. - - -8287. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue, on a red ground; a design in green, -relieved by bands of scroll-pattern, with an eagle’s head and neck in -gold and flowers in white and dark purple. Sicilian, 15th century. -12¼ inches by 12 inches. - - When new this tissue must have been very showy, but now the whole of - its pattern is somewhat difficult to trace out. The way in which the - large eagle’s head and neck are given, resting upon a broad-scrolled - bar, is rather singular; so, too, is the listing or border, on one - side charged with a small but rich ornamentation, amid which may be - detected some eaglets. - - -8288. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue, the ground of which is gold banded with -patterns in blue, red, and green, divided by narrowed stripes of black; -on one golden band is an Arabic word repeated all through the design. -Syrian. 16½ inches by 16 inches. - - The value of this fine rich specimen will be instantly appreciated - when it is borne in mind that it is one of the few known examples of - real Saracenic weaving which we have. - - Its ornamentation has about it, in the checkered and circular portions - of its design, much of that feeling which shows itself in Saracenic - architecture; and those who remember the court of lions, in the - Alhambra at Granada, will not be surprised at seeing animals figured - upon this piece of stuff so freely. - - The broad bands are separated by very narrow black ones, on which are - shown, in gold, short lengths of thick foliage like strawberry-leaves, - and an animal, which, from the tuft of hair on its ears, seems a lynx, - chased by the hunting-leopard, of which our celebrated travelling - countryman, Sir John Mandeville, in his “Voiage,” written in the reign - of Edward III, speaks thus: “In Cipre men hunten with Papyonns that - ben lyche Lepardes, and thei taken wylde bestes righte welle and thei - ben somedelle more than Lyonns; and thei taken more scharpely the - bestes and more delyverly than don houndes.” Ed. Halliwell, p. 29. - This sort of leopard, the claws of which are not, like the rest of its - kind, retractile, is, to this day, employed in Asia, more especially - in the East Indies, like dogs for hunting, and known by the name of - “Cheetah.” - - Each of these lengths is studded with those knots, found so often upon - eastern wares of all sorts, and formed by narrow ribbons interlacing - one another at right angles so as to produce squares or checks; these - knots are alternately large--of three rows of checks, and small--of - two rows. Upon one of the large bands, gold in its ground, is, all - along it, woven a sentence in Arabic letters in dusky white, of which - tint is the circular ornament which everywhere stands between this - writing; very likely these characters, as well as the dividing flower, - were once of a crimson colour, which is now faded. The inscribed - sentence itself being figured without the distinctive points, may be - understood various ways. That it is some well-known Oriental saying or - proverb is very likely, and, to hazard a guess, reads thus: “Injury, - hurt, reception,”--meaning, perhaps, that the individual who has done - you, behind your back, all the harm he can, may, when next he meets - you, utter the greetings and put on all the looks of friendship. Such - was its meaning, as read by the late lamented Oriental scholar, Dr. - Cureton. - - Upon the next broad band, on a ground once crimson, are figured, in - gold, the before-mentioned “papyonns,” or hunting-leopards, collared - and in a sitting position under foliage, swans swimming, and an animal - of the gazelle or antelope genus, heraldically lodged regardant, with - a flower-bearing stem in its mouth, and another animal not easily - identified. The remaining two broad bands, one blue, the other green, - are figured, in gold, with squares filled up by checks of an Oriental - character, alternating with quatrefoils sprouting all over into - flowers. - - -8289. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue; the ground, lilac; the pattern, green -and white, of flowers, beneath which couch two animals, and under them -stand two eagles. Italian or Sicilian, late 14th century. 15½ inches -by 15¼ inches. - - One of those well-balanced designs thrown off so freely by the looms - of Italy and Sicily during the whole of the 14th century. What those - two animals collared, couchant and addorsed regardant, may be meant - for it is hard to imagine. Rays, like those from the sun, dart down - beneath these dog-like creatures, and looking upward to those beams - stand two eagles. Some of the flowers and the two animals are wrought - in gold. - - -8290. - -Piece of Silk; ground, dark blue; pattern, yellow, in zigzag arabesque. -Moorish work of the South of Spain, 14th century. 12½ inches by -8½ inches. - - Though of such simple elements in its design, this Moresco stuff is - not unpleasing. - - -8291, 8291A. - -Two Pieces of Silk and Gold Tissue, having a pattern in bands diapered -with arabesques, birds, and animals. Syrian, 14th century. 5 inches by -4 inches, and 5 inches by 3½ inches. - - Although but mere rags, these two specimens are interesting. They - tell, of their country and time, by the management of their design, - and have a near relationship to the specimen No. 8288. - - -8292. - -Piece of Silk; ground, red with pattern, in violet, of vine-leaves, -conventional foliage, and animals. Sicilian, early 14th century. 12½ -inches by 6 inches. - - This very pretty produce of the Italian loom, like No. 8283, commends - itself to our admiration by the graceful manner in which the design - is carried out. Though small in its parts, the pattern is attractive. - Those stags, tripping and showing heads well attired, are not - uncommon, about the period, upon stuffs, but those wild boars--like - the deer, in pairs--segeant face to face, are somewhat new. - - -8293. - -Piece of Linen embroidered in red silk, with an open diaper of -crosslets leaving circular and lozenge spaces, the former now empty, -the latter ornamented with cross-crosslets in yellow, purple, and green -silk. Late 14th century. 15 inches by 12½ inches. - - In all likelihood the round spaces were filled in with heraldic - animals, and the piece served as the apparel to an alb, resembling the - one shown on the fine Wensley brass, figured by the brothers Waller, - and also given in the “Church of our Fathers,” t. i. p. 325. - - -8294. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue, the ground red with a pattern in green -and white, forming a large lozenge, enclosing, in one instance, a bunch -of foliage and two eagles, in the other, a bough and two dogs. South -Italian, late 14th century. 21½ inches by 11½ inches. - - In this rich pattern there are certain portions that, at first sight, - might be taken for attempts to represent Oriental letters; they - are, however, no forms of any alphabet, and, least of all, bear any - likeness to the Cufic. - - -8295. - -Piece of Silk and Cotton Tissue; ground, deep red mixed with green, -blue, white, and gold; the pattern consists of loosely branched stems -with large flower-heads, and monsters alternately blue and gold, -bearing in their hands a white flower. Italian, late 14th century. -27½ inches by 9½ inches. - - The so-called sphinxes in this piece are those monster figures often - found in art-work during the middle ages, and are formed of a female - head and waist joined on to the body of a lioness passant cowed, that - is, with its tail hanging down between its legs. In this specimen may - be detected an early form of the artichoke pattern, which afterwards - became such a favourite. - - -8296. - -Piece of Silk; ground, dark red; pattern, a yellow diapering of -somewhat four-sided figures enclosing an ornament of a double ellipsis. -South Spanish, 15th century. 10¾ inches by 7 inches. - - -8297. - -Piece of Crimson Silk; pattern, in green, of open arabesque spread -in wide divisions. Southern Spain, late 14th century. 18 inches by 7 -inches. - - The design of this valuable piece is very good, and must have had a - pleasing effect. From the way in which the cross is introduced by - combinations of the ornamentation and slight attempts at showing the - letter M for Maria--the Blessed Virgin Mary, it would seem that it was - the work of a Christian hand well practised in the Saracenic style of - pattern-drawing. - - -8298. - -Piece of Silk; ground, crimson; pattern, a yellow diapering of a rather -peculiar form. Spanish, late 14th century. 18 inches by 12 inches. - - Rich in its tones, this specimen may have been designed under the - influence of Moorish teachings; it is, however, very agreeable. - - -8299. - -Piece of Silk Tissue; the pattern, a large raised diaper, which -consists of a centre, in red silk, representing the web of the -geometric spider, with the insect resting in the middle, enclosed -within the branches of a conventional tree, in silver thread. Italian, -early 15th century. 12 inches by 6 inches. - - Though the silk ground of this elegant stuff must have been once of a - bright crimson tinge, almost the whole of the colour has flown; and - the silver thread, of which the beautifully arranged tree is formed, - has become so tarnished as to look as if it had been from first a - dull olive-green. Such events give a warning to manufacturers about - the quality of their dyes, and the purity as well as sort of the - metals they may choose to employ. The manner in which the tree and - its graceful branches are made to stand well out and above the red - grounding is remarkably good; and, altogether, the pattern, composed - as it is of a spider in its web, hanging so nicely between the - outspread limbs of the tree, is as singular as it is pleasing. Of old, - a Lombard family bore, as its blazon, a spider in its web. - - -8300. - -Piece of very rich Crimson Silk and gold Tissue; the large pattern -represents a palm-tree rising from a close palisade, within which is a -lion seated; from one side shoots a slender branch, to which clings a -bird. Italian, late 14th century. 31 inches by 14 inches. - - A fine bold pattern, but the gold so tarnished that it looks as if - the threads had always been brown. The down-bent eagles, and the - shaggy-maned lion couchant regardant at the foot of a palm-tree in a - park palisaded, make this heraldic design very pleasing. - - -8301. - -Portion of Linen; border, probably of an altar-cloth, stamped in red -and yellow with a geometric pattern composed of circles and leaves. -Flemish, 15th century. - - The design and colouring of this old piece of printed cloth are so - very like those employed upon the glazed paving tiles of the mediæval - period, that the idea of the potter’s work immediately suggests - itself; though of such poor material, it is a valuable link in the - history of textiles. - - -8302. - -Piece of Purple Silk and Gold Tissue; the pattern is formed of angels -holding a monstrance, beneath which is a six-winged cherub’s head. -Florentine, 14th century. 18 inches by 16 inches. - - This is one of the most elaborate and remarkable specimens of - the mediæval weavers’ works, and shows how well, even with their - appliances, they could gear their looms. The faces of the six-winged - cherubic heads, as well as the hands and faces of the seraphim, - vested in long albs, were originally shaded by needlework, most of - which is now gone. The Umbrian school of design to be seen in the - gracefully floating forms of the angels, is very discernible. This - rich stuff must have been purposely designed and woven for especial - liturgical use at the great Festival of Corpus Christi, and its solemn - processions. It may have been employed for hanging the chancel walls, - or for altar-curtains; but most likely it overspread the long wooden - frame-work or portable table upon which stood, and was thus carried - all about the town by two or four deacons, the Blessed Sacrament - enclosed in a tall heavy gold or silver vessel like the one shown in - this textile, and called a “monstrance,” because, instead of shutting - up from public gaze, it displayed the consecrated host as it was - borne about among the people. Dr. Bock has figured this stuff in his - “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters.” - - -8303. - -Piece of Linen; pattern, stamped in black with a central stem of -conventional branches and flowers, at either side of which are hawks -crested, regardant; at one side is a running border of detached -portions of scroll-foliage. Flemish, very late 14th century. 13 inches -by 6¾ inches. - - Any specimen of such printed linen has now become somewhat a rarity, - though there are other pieces here, Nos. 7022, 8615. - -8304. - -Linen Towel, for use at the altar, with deep border embroidered in -various coloured silk, with a geometrical pattern interspersed with -small figures of birds. Beginning of 15th century. 3 feet by 1 foot 1 -inch. - - -8305. - -A Diaconal Stole, embroidered in linen thread and various-coloured -silk, with a pattern somewhat like the “gammadion” ornaments, the ends -of gold tissue, fringed with silk and linen. German, 14th century. 8 -feet 8 inches by 2¾ inches. - - For the distinction of the priest’s and the deacon’s stole, and the - manner in which either wears it in the celebration of the liturgy, see - Hierurgia, p. 434, 2nd edition. - - -8306. - -Piece of Dark brown raised Velvet and Gold Tissue; portion of the robe -in which the Emperor Charles IV. was buried at Prague, as it is said. -Italian, 14th century. 7 inches by 6½ inches. - - -8307. - -Linen Amice, with its “apparel” of crimson silk, to which are sewed -small ornaments in silver and silver-gilt. German, 15th century. 4 feet -2 inches by 1 foot 11 inches. - - The example of linen in this amice will, for the student of mediæval - antiquities and manufactures, be of great service, showing, as it - does, what we are to understand was the kind of stuff meant by canvas - in old accounts which speak of that material so often as bought - for making albs, surplices, and other linen garments used in the - ceremonial of the Church. The crimson ornament of silk sprinkled with - large spangle-like plates of silver gilt, and struck with a variety of - patterns, is another of various instances to show how the goldsmith’s - craft in the middle ages was brought into play for ornaments upon silk - and other textiles; and the liturgical student will be glad to see in - this specimen an instance, now so very rare, of an old amice, with its - strings, but more especially its apparel, in its place; about which - see “Church of our Fathers,” t. i. 463. - - -8308. - -Piece of Embroidery in Silk, on linen ground; the subject, partly -needlework, and partly sketched in, represents the Adoration of the -three Kings. German, 14th century. 12 inches square. - - Though in the style of that period, it is roughly done, and by no - means a good example. - - -8309. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue; the ground, lilac-blue; the pattern, -in gold, represents the Annunciation. Florentine, late 14th century. -17¾ inches by 12 inches. - - This is another of those many beautiful and artistic exemplars of - the loom given to the world, but more especially for the use of - the Church, by North Italy, during the 14th and 15th centuries. - The treatment of the subject figured on this fragment--the - Annunciation--is quite typical, in its drawing and invention, of the - feelings which spread themselves all over the sweet gentle Umbrian - school of painting, from the days of its great teacher the graceful - Giotto. The lover, too, of ecclesiastical symbolism will, in this - small piece, find much to draw his attention to it: the dove, emblem - of the Holy Ghost, is in one place flying down from heaven with an - olive-branch, and hovers over the head of the Blessed Virgin Mary; in - another place, it stands at rest behind her, and bearing in its beak a - lily-like flower; the angel Gabriel, clothed in a full, wide-flowing - alb, carrying in his left hand a wand--the herald’s sign--tipped with - a fleur-de-lis, to show not only that he was sent from God, but for an - especial purpose, is on his bended knee before the mother of our Lord, - while, with his right hand uplifted in the act of blessing according - to the Latin rite, he utters the words of his celestial message. - The colour, too, of the ground--lilac-blue, emblematic of what is - heavenly--must not be overlooked. - - -8310. - -Fragment of a Vestment for Church use; embroidered in silk and gold, -on a dark blue linen ground, with figures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, -and Infant, our Saviour, and St. John. German, 15th century. 3 feet 6 -inches by 10 inches. - - This fine example of the German needle, in its design and treatment, - calls to mind the remarkably painted folding altar-piece by Master - Stephen Sothener, A.D. 1410, in the chapel of St. Agnes, at the east - end of Cologne Cathedral. - - -8311. - -The Apparel for an Amice; the ground, crimson, embroidered in silk; the -centre pattern is edged at both sides with inscriptions done in letters -of the mediæval form. German, 15th century. 15¼ inches by 3¾ -inches. - - This apparel for an amice is embroidered in sampler-stitch and - style with the names of St. Odilia and St. Kylianus, and the first - line of the hymn in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “Ave Regina - celorum,” as well as the inscription “Mater Regis,” having, except - in one instance, a crowned head between each word in the lettering. - St. Kilian or Kuln was an Irishman born of a noble house: with - two companions, he went to Germany to preach to the unbelieving - Franconians, and being made bishop by Pope Conon, he fixed his see at - Wurtzburg, where he was martyred, A.D. 688. Dr. Bock has figured it - in his “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” iv - Lieferung, pl. iii. fig. 4. - - -8312. - -Piece of Raised Velvet; ground, crimson; pattern, flowers and foliage -in green, white, and purple. North Italian, middle of 15th century. -Attached is a piece of dark blue plush lining of the same date and -country. 14¼ inches by 13¼ inches. - - As a specimen of a pattern in raised velvet upon a plain silk ground, - this fragment is valuable; and the occurrence of roses, both white and - red, seeded and barbed, would, at first sight, lead to the thought - that its designer had in his mind some recollection of the English - Yorkist and Lancastrian strife-stirring and direful badges; but it - must have been woven some years before the war of the Roses raged in - all its wildness through the length and breadth of this land. - - -8313. - -Purse with cords; white lattice-work on crimson ground, with crimson -and yellow pattern in the spaces, four of which on each side are -ornamented with gold thread. German, latter half of the 14th century. -5½ inches by 5 inches. - - Not only is this little bag nicely embroidered, but it has a lining - of crimson sarcenet, and is supplied with platted silken strings of - several colours for drawing its mouth close, as well as another silk - string made after the same fashion, for carrying it in the hand. In - church inventories of the period mention is often found of silk bags - holding relics, and from Dr. Bock we learn that in the sacristy of St. - Gereon’s, at Cologne, may yet be seen just such another bag, which - served, if it does not still serve, as a sort of reliquary. For taking - to the sick and dying, the holy Eucharist shut up in a small silver or - ivory box, such little bags were and yet are employed, but then they - were borne slung round the neck of the priest, which in this instance - could not be done, as the cord is too short. Bags for prayer-books are - often figured, but this one is too small for such a purpose; its most - probable use was that of a reliquary. - - -8314. - -Piece of Velvet; ground of crimson, bordered with green, brown, white, -and purple, and striped with bands of gold thread, probably for secular -use. Spanish, beginning of the 16th century. 13½ inches by 5 inches. - - The pile of this velvet is good, but so bad was the gold, that it has - turned black. - - -8315. - -Two Pieces of Embroidery, in silk and gold thread upon white linen; the -one shows our Saviour bearing His cross; the other, an inscription with -the date 1442. These pieces have been mounted on a piece of crimson -damask of a much later date. The embroideries, German, middle of 15th -century; the crimson silk, Lyons, late 17th century. 6 inches square. - - To all appearance, this figure of our Lord carrying His cross to - Calvary, as well as the inscription above it, formed part of the - orphrey of a chasuble, and to preserve it, was mounted upon the - crimson silk which is stiffened by a thin board; and from the black - loop at top it seems it was hung as a devotional picture upon the - wall, most likely, of a private oratory or bed-room. As a work of art, - the figure of our Lord is beautiful. The head, hands, and feet, as - well as the crossed nimbus in gold, the cross, and the ground strewed - with flowers, are worked with the needle; while the folds of the - white linen garment are all, with but a very few strokes, marked by - brown lines put in with the brush. The inscription, quite a separate - piece, done in gold upon thin brown silk lined with canvas, reads - thus:--Wyderoyd Pastor S. Jac(obi) Colon(iensis). 1442. - - In its original state it must have been, as now, “applied,” and not - wrought upon the vestment itself, and affords a good hint to those who - are striving to bring back the use of such a mode of embroidery in cut - work. - - -8316. - -Piece of Silk Embroidery on green silk ground. The pattern is in -branches decorated with glass beads, and gilt spangles, flowers in -white and red silk, and leaves in red and yellow. German, middle of -15th century. 6 inches square. - - Remarkable for the freedom of its design and beautiful regularity - of its stitches. The thin green sarcenet upon which the embroidery - was originally made is nearly all gone, and scarcely anything like a - grounding is to be seen beside the thick blue canvass, which is backed - by a lining of the same material, but white. Those small opaque white - beads, in all likelihood, came from Venice, where Murano, to this day, - is the great manufactory for Africa of the same sort of ornament. - - -8317. - -Napkin, or Towel, in White Linen Diaper, with patterns woven in blue -and brown. German, beginning of the 15th century. 19½ inches by 9 -inches. - - Though not conspicuous for the richness of its material, this linen - textile is somewhat a curiosity, as such specimens have now become - rare; and it shows how, even in towels, the ornamentation of colour, - as well as the pattern in warp and weft, were attended to in the - mediæval period. - - -8318. - -Piece of Silk Damask, green, with pattern of pomegranates, crowns, and -wreaths of flowers. Flemish, middle of 16th century. - - The tastefully-arranged design of this silk would seem to have been a - favourite, as we shall again meet it in other specimens, especially at - No. 8332. - - -8319. - -Piece of Silk Damask, slate blue ground, with winding borders of -cinnamon colour, enclosing pomegranates wrought in gold thread and -white silk. Flemish, middle of 16th century, 2 feet 6½ inches by 2 -feet. - - Though elaborate in design and rich in gold, this piece is not happy - in its colours. Its use must have been for the court and palace, but - not for the church, and the whole is loom-wrought, and nothing about - it done by the needle. - - -8320. - -Orphrey, woven of crimson wool and white linen thread. The pattern is -of flowers and leaves on a trellis of branches, in which appear the -names of “Jhesus,” “Maria.” German, end of 15th century. 2 feet 8½ -inches by 2¾ inches. - - In this textile the warp is of white strong linen thread, the woof of - crimson wool; and stuffs of such cheap materials were wrought to serve - as orphreys to tunicles and dalmatics worn by deacon and sub-deacon - at high mass, and in processions, as well as for trimming other - adornments for church use; the liturgical girdle neither is, nor ever - was made, according to the Latin rite, of so broad a width, nor after - such a fashion; in the Greek ritual, broad girdles are in use. - - The weavers of laces for carriage-trimming, or the adornment of state - liveries, will in this specimen see that, more than three hundred - years ago, their craft was practised in Germany; and Cologne appears - to have been the centre of such a loom production. - - -8321. - -Piece of Satin Damask, ground of golden yellow, covered with a rich -pattern in rose-colour. French (?), middle of the 16th century. 2 feet -10½ inches by 11 inches. - - In this specimen we observe how the designs for textiles were - gradually losing the conventional forms of the mediæval period. - - -8322. - -Piece of Velvet, dark blue, figured with a pomegranate kind of pattern. -Italian, end of the 15th century. 17¾ inches by 14½ inches. - - Lucca seems to be the place where this specimen of a deep-piled and - prettily designed velvet was produced; and a mediæval conventionality - hung about the pencil of its designer, as we may observe in the - scrolls or featherings stopped with graceful cusps which go round - and shut in those modifications of the so-called pine, really an - artichoke, and the pomegranate pattern. - - Though equally employed for secular as well as sacred purposes, such - velvets, in their latter use, are often found in the remains of copes, - chasubles, &c. and altar-frontals. - - -8323. - -Portion of a Chasuble, in figured velvet; the ground, purple, with a -pomegranate pattern in yellow, green, and white, with a broad yellow -scroll. Genoese, middle of 16th century. 2 feet 3¼ inches by 1 foot -9 inches. - - Genoa had earned for itself a notoriety, about this period, for its - velvets, wrought in several colours, and the present piece seems no - bad specimen of the style. By the warp of cotton and the thin low pile - of its silken woof we learn that Genoese velvets varied much in the - richness of their materials, and, in consequence, in their cost. This - piece was once in a chasuble, as we may see by the bend, to fit the - neck, in the upper part. - - -8324. - -Piece of Silk and Linen Tissue; pattern, white crosses on ground of -crimson, barred with purple, yellow, and green. German, 16th century. 4 -inches square. - - This specimen of German trimming, like the one No. 8320, seems to have - been made at Cologne, and for the same ecclesiastical uses. - - -8325. - -Piece of Silk-Velvet Damask; green, with pattern of large and small -pomegranates in gold. Lucca, latter half of the 15th century. 3 feet 10 -inches by 11½ inches. - - Among the remarkable specimens of velvet in this collection, not the - least conspicuous is the present one, being velvet upon velvet, that - is, having, in a portion of it, a pattern in a higher pile than the - pile of the ground. By looking narrowly at the larger pomegranate in - golden thread within its heart-shaped oval, with featherings bounded - by trefoiled cusps, the eye will catch an undulating pattern rising - slightly above the rest of the pile; such examples, as distinguished - from what is called cut or raised velvet, are very rare. The tone, - too, of the fine green, as well as the goodness of the gold, in the - ornamentation, enhance the value of this piece, which was once the - back part of a chasuble. - - -8326. - -Piece of Silk Damask; white, with the rose and pomegranate pattern -woven in gold thread. Spanish, latter half of the 15th century. - - This piece, from the looms of Spain, for the beauty of design and the - thick richness of its silk, is somewhat remarkable. - - -8327. - -Box covered with crimson raised velvet, having, round the lid, a -many-coloured cotton fringe. It holds two liturgical pallæ, both of -fine linen and figured--one mounted on pasteboard and measuring 7¾ -inches by 7¼ inches, with an altar and two figures; the other, with -the Crucifixion and St. Mary and St. John, measuring 9½ inches by -9¾ inches. Inside the lid of this box is an illuminated border of -flowers, and the central design is effaced. Velvet, Italian, 16th -century, all the paintings very late 15th century, and German. Box, 10 -inches by 9½ inches. - - As a case for holding “corporals” and “palls,” this box is a - curiosity, in its way, of rare occurrence. It must be carefully - distinguished from a square sort of case for the “corporal,” and - called the “burse.” The corporal is a large square piece of fine - linen; and at one time the chalice at mass not only stood upon it - but was covered too by its inward border; but for a long period, the - usage has been and is to put upon the chalice, instead of any part - of the corporal, a much smaller separate square piece of fine linen, - often stiffened, the better to serve its purpose, with card-board, - like this example; such is a pall, and the one before us is figured, - we may say illuminated, with what used to be called, in England, St. - Gregory’s Pity; “Church of our Fathers,” i. 53. Upon an altar, around - which are the instruments of the Passion, and on one side St. Peter, - known by the key in his hand, and on the other the cock on the column, - crowing, stands our Lord all bleeding, with the blood trickling into - a chalice between His feet. At the foot of the altar kneels, veiled - for mass, St. Gregory the Great, behind whom we see, holding a book in - both hands, St. Jerome, robed as a cardinal; the whole is framed in a - floriated border. The other, and unstiffened “pall,” is illuminated - with the Crucifixion after the usual conventional manner, in all - respects, that prevailed at the time it was done, that is, somewhere - about the year 1490. As specimens on linen these two palls are rather - rare. The border of flowers, on vellum, attached to the inside of the - lid, is a free, well-coloured, and pleasing example of the Flemish - school late in the 15th century. The raised velvet is of a rich - crimson tone, and from Lucca or Genoa. - - Though, in later times, employed as an ordinary case for the cleanly - keeping after service of the corporals or pieces of fine linen, - always spread out in the middle of the altar-stone for the host and - chalice to rest upon, at mass, its first use seems to have been for - reservation of the Blessed Sacrament consecrated on Maundy Thursday to - serve at the celebration of the divine office on Good Friday morning, - as we have fully set forth in the Introduction § 5, and again while - describing a similar box, No. 5958. - - In the present specimen all that remains of the vellum illumination, - once upon the inside of the lid, is a wreath of painted flowers, - within which stood the missing Crucifixion. The absence of that scene - is, however, well supplied by the other kind of art-work wrought in - colours of the same subject; done, too, after a broad bold manner, - upon a square piece of very fine linen, which, as it is moveable, - serves now as a lining for the lower inside of this case. - - Such ecclesiastical appliances are rare, so much so, that, besides the - two in this collection, none is known to be in this country; while - very few, even on the Continent, are to be seen at the present day. - - -8328. - -Amice of Linen; with its apparel of crimson velvet, on which are three -hexagonal roses woven in gold. Spanish, middle of the 15th century. 3 -feet 9 inches by 1 foot 9 inches. - - The velvet of the apparel is of a fine rich pile, and the tone of - colour light ruby. The flowers, seeded and barbed, are not put in by - the needle but woven. Such a liturgical appliance is not now often to - be met with in its original state; but, in this instance, it ought to - be noticed, that while the amice itself--that is, the linen portion of - this vestment--is remarkable for its large size, the velvet apparel - sewed on it is broader and shorter than those which we find figured - on English ecclesiastical monuments during the mediæval period. The - narrow green ferret which hems the apparel is usually found employed - as a binding in crimson liturgical garments anciently made in - Flanders. Though the velvet was woven in Spain, this linen amice seems - to have once belonged to some Flemish sacristy: at one period the - connection between the two countries was drawn very close. - - -8329. - -Linen Cloth or Corporal, with an edge on all its four sides; 2¼ -inches broad, embroidered in blue, white, and yellow silks. German, -late 15th century. 22 inches by 21 inches. - - To the student of ecclesiastical antiquities this liturgical appliance - will be a great curiosity, from its being so much larger than the - corporals now in use; but its size may be easily accounted for. - From being put over the altar-cloth, on the middle of the table of - the altar, so that the priest, at mass, might place the host and - chalice immediately upon it before and after the consecration of the - Eucharist, it got, and still keeps the name of “corporale,” about - which the reader may consult “Hierurgia,” p. 74, 2nd edition. - - The embroidery, seemingly of a vine, is somewhat remarkable from - being, like Indian needlework, the same on both sides, and was so done - for a purpose to be noticed below. Its greater size may be easily - explained. During the middle ages, as in England, so in Germany, - the usage was to cover the chalice on the altar, not with a little - square piece of linen called a “palla,” two specimens of which are - mentioned, No. 8327, but with the corporal itself, as shown in those - illuminations copied and given as a frontispiece to the fourth volume - of the “Church of our Fathers.” To draw up for this purpose the inner - edge of the corporal, it was made, as needed, larger than the one - now in use. Moreover, as the under side of the embroidery would thus - be turned upwards and conspicuously shown, even on the consecrated - chalice, to a great extent; and as anything frayed and ragged--and - this single embroidery always is on the under side--would, at such - a time, in such a place, have been most unseemly; to hinder this - disrespect the embroidery was made double, that is, as perfect on the - one side as on the other, giving the design clear and accurate on - both, so that whichever part happened to be turned upwards it looked - becoming. - - -8330. - -Piece of Silk Damask; green, with pattern of crowns connected by wavy -ribbons, in each space is a rose. North Italian, 15th century. 22 -inches by 21 inches. - - This fine and valuable piece of damask exhibits a very effective - design, which is thoroughly heraldic in all its elements. Of these, - the first are roselettes--single roses having five petals each--seeded - and barbed, and every petal folds inward very appropriately; all about - each roselette roves a bordure nebulé, significative in heraldry - of a cloud-wreath, above which and just over the flower rests an - open crown, the hoop of which is studded with jewels, and bears on - the upper rim two balls--pearls--on pyramidal points, and three - fleurs-de-lis. To take these roselettes for the Tudor flower would - be a great mistake, as it was not thought of at the period when - this stuff was manufactured, besides which, it is never shown as a - roselette or single rose, but as a very double one. It is not - unlikely that this damask was, in the first instance, ordered from - Italy, if not by our Edward IV, at least by one of the Yorkist party - after the Lancastrian defeat at Mortimer’s Cross: the crown with its - fringe of clouds seems to point to the curious appearance in the - heavens that day. When once his loom was geared the Lombard weaver - would not hesitate to work off stuffs after the same pattern ordered - by his English customer and sell them in the Italian markets. - - -8331. - -Piece of Lace in Open Work. The pattern, oblong and octagonal spaces -framed in gold thread, and containing stars in silver and flowers in -gold, upon a black silk ground. Milanese, end of the 16th century. -14¼ inches by 4½ inches. - -[Illustration: 8331. - -LACE EMBROIDERY, - -Milanese---- 16th century.] - - During a long time Milan, the capital of rich and manufacturing - Lombardy, stood conspicuous among its neighbouring cities for the - production of its gold thread, and beautifully wrought laces in that - material; and the specimen before us is a pleasing example of this - far-famed Milanese handicraft. To all appearance, it once served as - the apparel to an amice to be used in religious services for the - dead. It seems the work of the loom; and the piece of stout black - silk under it was meant, though quite apart from it, to be, as it - were, a grounding to throw up more effectively its gold and silver - ornamentation. - - -8332. - -Piece of Silk, formerly crimson, but much faded, with elaborate pattern -of pomegranates, crowns and wreaths of flowers. Flemish, middle of the -16th century. 19 inches by 17½ inches. - - In this piece, though so faded, we have a good specimen of the Bruges - loom about the second half of the 16th century, and seemingly from the - same workshop which sent forth No. 8318. - - -8333. - -Hood of a Cope, with figures embroidered on a very rich ground of red -and gold velvet. Velvet, Florentine; the embroidery Flemish, late 15th -century. 16 inches by 15½ inches. - - About this period, Florence was noted for its truly rich and beautiful - crimson velvets of a deep pile and artistically flowered in gold, - and profusely sprigged, or rather dotted, with small loops of golden - thread standing well up from the velvet ground; and in this production - of Florentine contrivance we have a good example of its speciality. - - The needlework is a very favourable specimen of Flemish embroidery, - and the management of the three subjects shows that the hand that - wrought them was quickened with a feeling love for the school of Hans - Memling, who has made Bruges to be the pilgrimage of many an admirer - of the beautiful in Christian art. The holy woman, who, according to - the old tradition, gave a napkin to our Lord on His way to Calvary, is - figured, at top, holding, outstretched before her to our view, this - linen cloth showing shadowed on it the head of our Redeemer crowned - with thorns and trickling with blood: the Saint became known as St. - Veronica, and the handkerchief itself as the “Varnicle.” Just below, - we have the Blessed Virgin Mary seated and holding on her knees the - infant Saviour, before whom kneels St. Bernard, the famous abbot - of Clairvaux, in the white Cistercian habit which he had received - from our fellow-countryman, St. Stephen Harding, the founder of the - Cistercian Order, about the year 1114. The group itself is an early - example of a once favourite subject in St. Bernard’s life, thus - referred to by Mrs. Jameson, in one of her charming books:--“It was - said of him (St. Bernard) that when he was writing his famous homilies - on ‘The Song of Songs which is Solomon’s,’ the Holy Virgin herself - condescended to appear to him, and moistened his lips with the milk - from her bosom; so that ever afterwards his eloquence, whether in - speaking or in writing, was persuasive, irresistible, super-natural.” - (Legends of the Monastic Orders, p. 142). Lower still, St. Bernard, - with his abbot’s pastoral staff, cast upon the ground by his side, is - praying, on bended knees, before a crucifix, from off of which our - Redeemer has loosened Himself to fall into the arms of the saint, who - was so fond of meditating on all the throes of our Lord upon the cross. - - -8334. - -Piece of Crimson Velvet, spangled with gold and silver stars, and -embroidered with leaves and flowers in gold thread, once dotted with -precious stones. North Italian, end of the 15th century. 14½ inches -by 5¼ inches. - - The Genoese velvet of this piece is of a very deep ruby tone, deeper - than usual; but the way in which it is ornamented should not be passed - over by those who wish to learn one among the very effective styles of - embroidering. The design consists chiefly of branches gracefully bent - in all directions and sprouting out, here and there, with leaves and - variously fashioned flowers which, from one example that still holds - its tiny round-headed piece of coloured glass set in a silver gilt - socket, bore in them mock precious stones, and perhaps seed-pearls. - These branches themselves are made of common hempen string, edged on - both sides with a thread of gold of a smaller bulk, and the flowers - are heightened to good effect by the bright red stitches of the - crimson silk with which the gold that forms them is sewed in; and the - whole of the design appears to have been worked, first upon a strong - canvas, from which it was afterwards cut and appliqué upon its velvet - ground. All the space between the boughs is sprinkled rather thickly - with six-rayed stars of gold and silver, but the latter ones have - turned almost black. This piece was once the apparel for the lower - border of an alb. - - -8335. - -Piece of Silk Damask; upon a light blue ground, an elaborate pattern -of pomegranates and flowers in pale yellow. Flemish, end of the 16th -century. 24½ inches by 21 inches. - - Like, in many respects, to another piece of the looms of ancient - Bruges, it shows that the Flemings were unfortunate in their mode of - dyeing, for this, as well as No. 8332, has faded much in colour, but - the pattern is very rich and graceful. This textile is figured by Dr. - Bock, in his “History of Liturgical Robes,” vol. i. - - -8336. - -Piece of Silk Net-Work, formerly crimson. The design is evidently -circular, and consists of a lozenge filled in with two other very much -smaller lozenges touching each other lengthwise. Milanese, end of the -16th century. - - This curious little piece of frame-work seems to be another specimen - of the lace of Milan, concerning which a notice has been given under - No. 8331. Some would take it to be crochet, but it looks as if it came - from a loom. To our thinking, it was either the heel or the toe part - of a silk stocking. Though of a much finer texture, it much resembles, - in pattern, the yellow silk pair of stockings belonging now to the - Marquis of Salisbury, but once presented by Lord Hunsdon to Queen - Elizabeth, and said to be the first ever made in England. - - -8837. - -Piece of Crimson Raised Velvet, with pattern of pomegranates, flowers -and scrolls embroidered in gold thread and coloured silks. Genoese, -beginning of the 16th century. - - This piece affords a very instructive instance of how velvet textiles - were not unfrequently treated. The pattern was first wrought in the - weaving, and made the fabric what is now known as cut or raised - velvet. Then those parts left bare of the silken pile were filled - in by hand-embroidery, done in gold, silver, and silks of various - colours, as the fancy of the individual might like, and produced a - mixed work similar to the one before us. The velvet itself of this - specimen is poor in colour and thin in substance, but the gold thread - is of the finest, and admirably put together; and those little specks - of the crimson silk employed in sewing it on, help, in no small - manner, to heighten its brilliancy and effect. - - -8338. - -Part of an Orphrey; ground, gold thread, with ornamentation, in silk, -of a rosette, a tree with flowers, and the inscriptions--“Ave Regina -Celorum,” and “Jhesus.” Cologne work, late 15th century. 22½ inches -by 3¾ inches. - - Much, in style, like No. 8320. - - -8338A. - -Part of an Orphrey, woven in silk upon linen; ground, red; pattern, in -gold thread upon blue silk. Cologne work, 15th century. 15½ inches -by 4½ inches. - - This and the piece immediately preceding afford us one of the - peculiarities of the German loom, and, in all likelihood, were woven - at Cologne, the great manufacturing centre of Germany in the middle - ages. Such webs were wrought for the orphreys of chasubles, copes, - and dalmatics, &c. The design is stiff, and wanting in much of the - elegance to be found in earlier works of the loom, and, from its - sampler-like look, might, at first sight, be taken for needlework. - - -8339. - -Piece of Silk and Linen Damask; pattern, rich, broad and flowing, in -crimson, on a gold ground. Genoese, late 16th century. 2 feet 4 inches -by 1 foot 11½ inches. - - This gives us a fine specimen of Italian weaving in the middle - or latter portion of the 16th century. So rich, and so solid in - materials, it is as bold as it is, at first sight, attractive in its - design, and shows indications of that strap-shaped ornamentation which - soon afterwards became so conspicuous in all cut-work, especially so - in bookbindings, all over Western Europe. Such stuffs were mostly used - for hangings on the walls of state-rooms and the backs of the stalls - in churches, as well as for curtains at the sides of altars. - - -8340. - -Piece of Silk Damask; pattern, of the 16th century revival character, -in crimson upon a yellow ground; probably a border to some other stuff. -Florentine, end of the 16th century, 10½ inches by 5½ inches. - - -8341. - -Piece of Linen and Woollen Damask, white and green; the pattern, birds, -oak-leaves, and acorns. North Italian, end of the 16th century. 7 -inches by 5 inches. - - Though made out of such humble materials as linen-thread and worsted, - this charming little piece of stuff cannot fail in drawing upon itself - the eye of the observer, by the beauty and elegance which it has about - it. - - -8342. - -Linen Napkin, or rather Sindon or Pyx-cloth, the borders embroidered -with coloured silks and silver-thread. Perhaps Flemish, 16th century. -18½ inches by 16½ inches. - - In more senses than one this small linen cloth is of great value, - being, in the first place, a liturgical appliance of the mediæval - period, now unused in this form, certainly unique in this country, and - hardly ever to be met with on the continent, either in private hands - or public collections. According to ancient English custom, the pyx - containing particles of the Blessed Eucharist for giving, at all hours - of day or night, the Holy Communion to the dying, and kept hanging up - over the high altar of every church in this land, was overspread with - one of such fine linen and embroidered veils, as may be seen in an - illumination from the “Life of St. Edmund, King and Martyr,” in the - Harley Collection, British Museum, and engraved in the “Church of our - Fathers,” t. iv. p. 206. - - The readers of English history will, no doubt, feel an interest in - this specimen, when they learn that, with such a linen napkin, Mary - Queen of Scots had her face muffled just before she laid her head upon - the block: “Then the maid, Kennedy, took a handkerchief, edged with - gold, in which the Eucharist had formerly been enclosed, and fastened - it over her eyes.” “Pict. Hist. of England, ed. Knight,” t. ii. p. - 671. Knight is wrong in saying that the Holy Eucharist had ever been - immediately enclosed in this cloth, which is only the veil that used - to be cast over the pyx or small vessel in which the consecrated hosts - were kept, as we observed in the introduction, § 5. - - -8343. - -Piece of Linen Damask; pattern, of the pomegranate type, with a border -of an armorial shield repeated, and the initials C. L. An edging of -lace is attached to one end. Flemish, middle of the 16th century. -17¼ inches by 13 inches. - - The shield is party per pale; in the first, two bars - counter-embattled; in the second, a chevron charged with three - escallop shells. - - Most likely this small piece of Flemish napery served as the - finger-cloth or little napkin with which, when saying mass, the priest - dried the tips of his fingers after washing them, the while he said - that prayer, “Munda me, Domine,” &c. in the Salisbury Missal; “Church - of our Fathers,” t. iv. p. 150. By the rubrics of the Roman Missal, - the priest was, and yet is, directed to say, at the ritual washing - of his hands, that portion of the 25th Psalm, which begins, verse - 6, “Lavabo manus meas,” &c. “Hierurgia,” p. 21; hence these small - liturgical towels got, and still keep, the name of Lavabo cloths or - Lavaboes, especially in all those countries where the Roman Missal is - in use. - - -8344. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, blue and yellow; pattern, a large -conventional flower, with heraldic shields, helmets, and crests. -Italian, late 16th century. 1 foot 8½ inches by 13 inches. - - The shields show a pale; the helmets are given sidewise with the - beaver closed; and the crests, a demi-wyvern segeant, but with no - wreath under it, doubtless to show the armorial bearings of the - esquire or gentleman of blood, as, according to the readings of - English blasonry, he could have been of no higher degree, for whom - this stuff had been woven. - - -8345. - -Fragment of an Ecclesiastical Vestment; ground, cloth of gold, diapered -with an elaborate flower-pattern. French, middle of the 16th century. 2 -feet 1¼ inches by 1 foot 9 inches. - - This valuable specimen of cloth of gold is figured, in small red - lines, with a free and well-designed pattern, and shows us how much - above modern French and Italian toca and lama d’oro were those fine - old cloth of gold stuffs which, in the 16th century, became so - variously employed for secular purposes. Let the reader imagine a - vast round royal tent of such a textile with the banner of a king - fluttering over it, and then he may well conceive why the meadow upon - which it stood was called “the field of the cloth of gold.” - - -8346. - -Piece of Silk and Linen Damask, green and yellow; pattern, a small -conventional flower, probably a furniture stuff. Italian, late 16th -century. 10 inches by 7½ inches. - - -8347. - -Piece of Silk Damask, blue and yellow; pattern of flowers. French, late -16th century. 8 inches square. - - In the design of the pattern there is evidently a wish to indicate the - national fleur-de-lis. - - -8348. - -Portion of a Housing or Saddle-cloth, grey velvet, embroidered with -interlaced patterns in silver and gold thread. In one corner is an -armorial shield in silver and coloured silks. Spanish, middle of the -16th century. 1 foot 8½ inches by 6½ inches. - - Very probably the blazon of the shield on this curious horse-furniture - may be the canting arms of its primitive owner; and it is _argent_, a - hoopoe _gules_ on a mount _vert_. - - -8349. - -Piece of Silk Damask; green, with the pomegranate pattern. French, end -of the 16th century. 2 feet 7 inches by 1 foot 7 inches. - - -8350. - -Embroidered Girdle; pattern, rectangular, in gold and silver threads -and crimson silk; there are long gold tassels at the ends. French, late -16th century. 6 feet 3 inches by ⅞ inch. - - Most likely a liturgical girdle, for the use of which see “Hierurgia,” - p. 426, 2nd edition, and “Church of our Fathers,” t. i. p. 448. Such - ecclesiastical appliances are now become great rarities, and though - this one is very modern, it is not less valuable on that account. The - only other good example known in England is the very fine and ancient - one kept, in Durham Cathedral Library, among the remains of those rich - old vestments found upon the body of a bishop mistaken, by Mr. Raine, - for that of St. Cuthbert. Flat girdles, whenever used in the Latin - rite, were narrow; while those of the Greek and Oriental liturgies are - much broader. - - -8351. - -Linen Cloth; pattern, a white diaper lozenge. Flemish, end of the 16th -century. Shape, oval, diameters 22 inches and 17 inches. - - Though of so simple a pattern the design is pleasing, and well brought - out. - - -8352. - -Piece of Silk Damask, sky-blue and white; pattern, intersecting ribbons -with flowers in the spaces. French, late 16th century. 9¾ inches by -4¾ inches. - - A very agreeable specimen of the taste of the period and country, as - well as grateful to the eye for the combination and management of its - two colours in such a way that neither overmatches the other--a beauty - often forgotten by the designers of textiles, but to be found in - several other examples of the mediæval loom in this collection. - - -8353. - -Dalmatic of Yellow Silk, damasked with a pattern of the pomegranate -form, in raised velvet, of a lightish green tint. The tissue, Italian, -late 15th century; the embroidery and inscriptions, German, late 15th -century. 7 feet 8 inches by 4 feet 3 inches. - - This fine dalmatic--for the liturgical use of which the reader may - consult the “Church of our Fathers,” t. i. p. 375--is rather curious - for the way in which the two very singular tassels hanging on the back - from the shoulders are ornamented. These usual appendages are in this - instance made of remarkably long (15 inches) flakes of white, red, - and deep-brown silken thread, and, instead of silk nobs at the end of - the cords, have large round balls of rock crystal. The orphreys, or - stripes, down both sides, before and behind, are 2½ inches broad, - woven in gold and charged with squares of flower-bearing trees, and - inscribed in blue with “Jhesus,” “Maria.” The fringes on the two - lower borders of the dalmatic, 3½ inches deep, are alternately - red, green, white, and blue, and those on the sides and around the - sleeves are much narrower. The sleeves themselves from being 18 inches - wide at the shoulder become as narrow as 12 inches towards the wrist. - The two apparels on the upper part, before and behind, are woven - in gold, and measure 16½ inches in length, and 5¼ inches in - breadth; the one on the back just under the neck is figured with three - golden-grounded squares, the centre one ornamented with a crimson - quatrefoil, barbed, and enclosing a various-coloured conventional - flower; the other two, with a green tree blossomed with red flowers: - the apparel across the breast is inscribed with the names, in large - blue letters, of “Jhesus,” “Maria.” Half way down the back hangs, - transversely, a shield of arms quarterly, one and four _gules_, two - bars _argent_, between seven fleurs-de-lis, _or_, three, two, and two; - two and three, _sable_ two bars, _argent_: as a crest, a full-forward - open-faced helmet, with six bars all gold, surmounted by a pair of - horns barred _sable_ and _argent_, with mantlings of the same. This - blazon, according to English heraldry, would indicate that the giver - of this splendid vestment--and very likely it was only one of a large - set--could boast, by showing the golden five-barred full-forward - helmet, of royal blood in his pedigree, and was not lower than a Duke - in title. Dr. Bock has figured this finely-preserved dalmatic in his - “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 4 Lieferung, - pt. vii. fig. 1. - - -8354. - -A Cope of Crimson Raised Velvet; pattern of the so-called pomegranate -design. The orphreys and hood embroidered on a golden ground; the -latter with the death of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the former, with -various saints. Velvet, Spanish, the embroidery, German, both of the -end of the 15th century. 10 feet 8 inches by 5 feet 8 inches. - - The velvet, both for its ruby tone and richness of pile, is - remarkable, while its design of the pattern is efficiently shown. - - The hood which, it should be observed by those curious in liturgical - garments, runs right through the orphreys quite up to the neck, is an - elaborate and well-wrought piece of needlework; and strongly reminds - one of the picture of the same subject--the death-bed of the Mother - of our Lord--by Martin Schön, now in the National Gallery. All the - Apostles are supposed to be gathered round her; to the right of the - spectator stands St. Peter sprinkling her with holy water from the - silver sprinkle in his right hand; next to this chief celebrant is St. - John, the acolyte, with the holy water stoop in his left hand, and in - his right the lighted taper, which he is about to put into the hand of - his adopted mother--an emblem of the lighted lamp with which each wise - virgin in the Gospel awaited the coming of the bridegroom. Behind him - again, and with his back turned, is another apostle, blowing into the - half-extinguished thurible, which he is raising to his mouth; the rest - of the Apostles are nicely grouped around. The ground of this hood - is of rich gold thread, and the figures of the scene are separately - wrought and afterwards “applied.” The orphreys, that are rather - narrow, measuring only 5½ inches in breadth, are of a golden web - and figured, on the right hand side, with St. Mary Magdalen, carrying - a box of ointment in her hands; St. Bernadin of Siena, holding a - circular radiated disc inscribed with I.H.S. in his right hand, and - in his left a Latin cross; St. Bicta--for so the inscription seems - to read--bearing the martyr’s branch of palm in her right hand, and - a sword thrust through her throat; and St. Kymbertus in a cope, with - a crozier in his right hand, and in his left a closed book: on the - left hand orphrey, St. Elizabeth, the Queen of Hungary, with a child’s - article of dress in one hand, and a royal crown upon her head; St. - Severinus, wearing a mitre and cope, and holding in his right hand - a crozier, in his left a church; St. Ursula, with the martyr’s palm - in one hand; in the other a long large silver arrow, and having six - of her martyred virgins at her sides; and St. John Baptist, with the - “Lamb of God” on the palm of his left hand, and the forefinger of the - right outstretched as pointing to it. The heads of all these figures - are done in silk and “applied,” but the hands and diapering of the - garments, as well as the emblems, are wrought by the needle, in gold - or in silk, upon the golden web-ground of these orphreys. At the lower - part of the hood is “applied” a shield--no doubt the armorials of - the giver of this fine cope--party per pale--_gules_ two chevronels - _argent_, a chief _or_--_azure_ three garbs (one lost), _argent_, two - and one. - - -8355. - -Chasuble of Damask Cloth of Gold; the orphreys figured with arabesques -in coloured silk upon a golden ground, and busts of saints embroidered -in coloured silks within circles of gold. There is a shield of arms on -the body of the vestment, on the left side. French, 17th century. 7 -feet 3 inches by 2 feet 4 inches. - - The cloth of gold is none of the richest, and may have been woven - at Lyons; but the orphreys are good specimens of their time: that - on the back of this vestment, 4¾ inches in width, and made in a - cross, shows a female saint holding a sword in her right hand, and in - her left a two-masted boat--perhaps St. Mary Magdalen, in reference - to her penitence and voyage to France; St. John with a cup, and the - demon serpent coming up out of it; the Empress Helen carrying a - cross (?). The orphrey in front, three inches broad, gives us, in - smaller circles, St. Simon the apostle with his saw; a female saint - (Hedwiges?) holding a cross; and two prophets, each with a rolled-up - scroll in his hand. On the back, and far apart from the orphrey, is - a shield _argent_ (nicely diapered), a chevron _sable_ between three - leaves slipped _vert_, hanging as it does on the left hand, it may be - presumed there was another shield on the right, but it is gone. This - chasuble, small as it is now, must have been sadly reduced across the - shoulders, from its original breadth. - - -8356. - -Piece of Carpet, of wool and hemp; ground, red; pattern, boughs, and -flowers, in blue, and the so-called pomegranate, blue with a large -yellow flower in the middle; border, two stripes blue barred with -yellow, one stripe yellow barred red. Spanish, 16th century. 3 feet 10 -inches by 3 feet 7 inches. - - In every way like the following specimen of carpeting, with its warp - of hempen thread; and originally employed for the same purpose of - being spread up the steps leading to the altar, but more especially - upon the uppermost or last one for the celebrant to stand on. - - -8357. - -Piece of Carpet; ground, dark blue; pattern, a large so-called -pomegranate design in light blue, spotted with flower-like circles, -white and crimson (now faded). At each end it has a border in red, -blue, green, white, and yellow lines. Spanish, 16th century. 9 feet 3 -inches by 8 feet 6 inches. - - The warp, as in the foregoing example, is of hempen thread, the woof - of worsted; and this textile was woven in breadths 4 feet 3 inches - wide. In all likelihood this piece of carpeting, valuable because - very rare now, served as the covering for the steps that led up - to the altar, and corresponded to what in some old English church - inventories were called pedalia, or pede-cloths:--“Church of our - Fathers,” i. 268. Finer sorts were spread on high feast days upon the - long form where sat the precentor with his assistant rulers of the - choir, or upon the stools which they separately occupied. Ib. ii. 202. - - -8358. - -Liturgical Cloth of grey linen thread, figured all over with subjects -from the New Testament, angels, apostles, flowers, and monsters. -Rhenish, end of the 14th century. 10 feet by 3 feet. - - This curious and valuable piece, of the kind denominated “opus - araneum,” or spider-web, is very likely the oldest as well as one - among the very finest specimens yet known of that peculiar sort of - needlework. The design is divided into two lengths, one much shorter - than the other, and reversed; thus evidently proving that its original - use was to cover, not the altar, but the lectern, upon which the - Evangeliarium, or Book of the Gospels, is put at high mass for the - deacon to sing the gospel from: judging by the subjects wrought upon - it, and in white, it appears to have been intended more especially for - the daily high mass, chaunted in many places every morning in honour - of the Blessed Virgin Mary. - - Beginning at the lower part of the longer length, we see an angel, - vested like a deacon, in an appareled and girded alb, playing the - violin, then six apostles--St. Simon with the fuller’s bat in his - hand, St. Matthias with sword and book, St. James the Greater with - pilgrim’s bourdon or staff, St. Jude, or Thaddeus, with club and - book, St. Andrew with book and saltire cross, St. Thomas with spear; - then another like vested angel sounding a guitar--all of which - figures are standing in a row amid oak boughs and flowery branches. - Higher up, and within a large quatrefoil encircled by the words:--☩ - “Magnificat: Anima: mea: Dominum;” the Visitation, or the Blessed - Virgin Mary and St. Elizabeth, both with outstretched hands, one - towards the other, the first as a virgin with her hair hanging down - upon her shoulders, the second having her head shrouded in a hood - like a married woman; they stand amid lily-bearing stems (suggested - by the lesson read on that festival from Canticles ii.); in each of - the north and south petals of the quatrefoil is a kneeling angel, - deacon-vested, holding in each hand a bell, which he is ringing, - while in the east and west petals are other like-robed angels, both - incensing with a thurible. Outside the quatrefoil are represented - within circles at the south-west corner the British St. Ursula--one of - the patron saints of Cologne--standing with a book in one hand, and - an arrow in the other; at the south-east corner St. Helen (?), with - cross and book; at the north-west, St. Lucy with book and pincers; at - the north-east, a virgin martyr, with a book and a branch of palm. - At each of the angles, in the corners between the petals, is an open - crown. Above stands in the middle a double-handled vase, between two - wyverns, jessant oak branches. Over this species of heraldic border - is another large quatrefoil arranged in precisely the same manner: - the angels--two with bells, two with thuribles--are there, so too - are the corner crowns, within and encircled by the words ☩ Gloria: - in: exc(e)l(s)is: Deo: et: in: terr(a), we have the Assumption of - the Blessed Virgin Mary, after this manner: seated upon a throne is - our Lord in majesty, that is, crowned and holding the mund or ball - surmounted by a cross in His left hand; with His right He is giving - His blessing to His mother, who is seated also on the same throne, - crowned, with her hair about her shoulders, and with hands upraised - to Him as in the act of prayer. At the top, to the left, is St. - Catherine, with a sword in one hand, a wheel armed with spikes in the - other; to the right, St. Dorothy, with a blooming branch in one hand - and in the other a basket--made like a cup with foot and stem--full - of flowers; below, St. Barbara, with tower and palm-branch, in the - left side; on the other, St. Mary Magdalen, with an ointment box and - palm. Here the design is reversed, and very properly so, as otherwise - it would be, when thrown over the lectern, upside down; and curiously - enough, just at this place there is a large hole, caused, as is clear, - by this part of the needlework being worn away from the continual - rubbing of some boss or ornament at the top of the folding lectern, - which most likely was wrought in iron. This shorter length of the - design--that portion which hung behind--begins with the double-handled - vase and two wyverns, and has but one quatrefoil arranged like the - other two in the front part: within the circle inscribed ☩ Ecce: - ancilla: Domini: fiat: michi--we see the Annunciation; kneeling before - a low reading desk, with an open book upon it, is the Blessed Virgin - Mary, with the Holy Ghost under the form of a nimbed dove coming down - from heaven, signified by the nebulæ or clouds, upon her; and turning - about with arms wide apart, as if in wonderment, she is listening to - Gabriel on his knees and speaking his message in those words:--ave: - gracia: ple(na), traced upon the scroll, which, with both his hands, - he holds before him. In the corners of the petals are, at top, to - the left, a female saint, with a cross in one hand, a closed book in - the other; to the right, a female saint with palm-branch and book; - below, to the left, a female saint--St. Martina, V. M.--with book and - a two-pronged and barbed fork; on the right, a female saint with a - book, and cup with a lid. As the other end began, so this ends, with - a row of eight figures, of which two are angels robed as deacons, one - playing the violin, the other the guitar; then come six apostles--St. - John the Evangelist exorcising the poisoned cup; St. Bartholomew, with - book in one hand and flaying knife in the other; St. Peter, with book - and key; St. Paul, with book and sword held upwards; St. Matthew, with - sword held downwards, and book; St. Philip, with book and cross. - - The figures within the quatrefoils and of the apostles are about seven - inches high; those of the female saints--all virgins, as is shown by - the hair hanging in long tresses about their shoulders--measure six - inches. The spaces between are filled in with branches of five-petaled - and barbed roses, and at both ends there originally hung a prettily - knotted long fringe. All the female saints are dressed in gowns with - very long remarkable sleeves--a fashion in woman’s attire which - prevailed at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries. - - The exact way in which these now very rare specimens of mediæval - needlework used to be employed in the celebration of the liturgy, may - be seen, by a glance, on looking at any of those engravings in which - are figured a few of those old lecterns; made either of light thin - wood, or iron, or of bronze, so as they could be easily folded up: - they were thus with readiness carried about from one part to another - of the choir, or chancel, even by a boy. When set down the veil was - cast over them. Some of our own archæological works afford us good - examples of such lecterns; as fine, if not finer, are those two which - M. Viollet Le Duc has given in his instructive “Dictionnaire du - Mobilier Français,” t. i. pp. 162, 163, especially that from the Hotel - de Cluny. Speaking of the coverings for such lecterns, he tells that - in the treasury of Sens Cathedral there yet may be found one which - is, however, according to his admeasurements, much smaller every way - than this piece of curious needlework before us. Whether the one now - at Sens be of the 10th or 11th century assigned it, far too early date - to our thinking, it cannot, to judge from the coloured plate given by - M. Viollet Le Duc, be put for a moment in competition with the present - one, as an art-work done by the needle. In our own mediæval records - notices of such lecterns may be sometimes found; in the choir of - Cobham College, Kent, A.D. 1479, there was such an article of church - furniture, “Church of our Fathers,” ii. 201, and doubtless it was - usually covered with a veil. - - -8359. - -Chasuble of Silk Damask, green and fawn-coloured, freckled in white -with small flowers, inscriptions, and other ornaments; the pattern, -in bands, consists of a large fan-like flower-bearing plant, and -a double-handled vase, from which shoots up the thin stem of a -tree between two hunting leopards collared, and addorsed, with an -Arabic inscription beneath the vase, both plant and vase occurring -alternately; these bands are separated by a narrower set of bands -divided into squares enclosing birds of prey alternately gardant -segeant. Syrian, late 13th century. 9 feet 5 inches by 4 feet. - - This stuff betrays a few lingering traditions of the Persian style - of design, and some people will see in the little tree between those - hunting leopards the “hom,” or sacred tree of the olden belief of - that country. The material of it is thin and poor, and in width it - measures twenty-one inches. The characters under the vase holding - the leopards and “hom,” are but an imitation of Arabic, and hence we - may presume that it was woven by Jewish or Christian workmen for the - European market, and to make it pass better, as if coming from Persia, - inscribed as best they knew how, with Arabic letters, or imitations of - that alphabet. - - -8360. - -Back of a Chasuble, blue silk wrought all over with beasts and birds -in gold beneath trees. The orphrey of crimson silk is embroidered with -flowers and armorial shields. The blue silk, Italian, 14th century; the -orphrey, German, 15th century. 3 feet 8½ inches by 2 feet 5 inches. - - The birds that are shown on this blue-grounded piece of rather - shining silk are peahens, standing on green turf sprinkled with - white flowers, and three very much larger flowers stand high above - their heads; the beasts are leopards, with their skin well spotted, - and they seem to be, as it were, scenting and scratching the ground. - The orphrey, cross-shaped, and 5½ inches wide, is overspread with - gracefully intertwined rose-branches, the leaves of which are of gold - shaded green, and the flowers in silver, seeded and barbed. It is - blazoned all over with armorial bearings, seemingly of two houses, - of which the first is a shield, tincture gone, charged with a lion - rampant _or_, langued and armed _gules_; the second, a shield, barry - of twelve, _gules_ and _or_, with a lion rampant, _argent_, langued - and armed _azure_, in the dexter canton. There are three of each of - these shields, and all six are worked on canvas, and afterwards sewed - on. On the upright stem of the cross may be read in places the name - of “Lodewich Fretie,” the individual who bore those arms and gave the - chasuble. - - -8361. - -Dalmatic of blue silk damasked with gold; the pattern consists of -alternate rows of oxen, and pelican-like birds amid flowers and -foliage. North Italian, late 14th century. 7 feet 7½ inches by 4 -feet. - - A rather showy piece, and very effective in its pattern, though - the gold about the thread with which the design is brought out is - sparingly employed, so that it looks more yellow than metallic. The - sleeves now but eleven inches long, are slit quite up, and were very - likely shortened when the slitting was inflicted on them, and that, - within the last hundred years, in compliance with the somewhat modern - practice that took its rise in France. - - -8388. - -Piece of Embroidery of our Lord upon His mother’s lap. Florentine, 15th -century. 8¼ inches by 5½ inches. - - The Blessed Virgin Mary is robed in the usual crimson tunic, and - sky-blue flowing mantle, and bearing, as is customary in the Italian - schools of art, a golden star figured on her left shoulder. Sitting - upon a tasseled cushion, and holding a little bird in His left hand, - we have our Lord quite naked, with His crossed nimb about His - head. Those who bring to mind that lovely picture of Raphael’s, the - so-called “Madonna del Cardellino,” or our Lady of the gold-finch, - will see that such an idea was an old one when that prince of painters - lived. This piece of needlework was originally wrought for the purpose - of being applied, and shows on the back proofs that, in its last use, - it had been pasted on to some vestment or altar-frontal. - - -8561. - -Small Piece of Silk; ground, purple; pattern, boughs of green leaves -twining amid rosettes, green, some with crimson, some with yellow -centres. Sicilian, late 14th century. 6½ inches by 3 inches. - - Good in material and pretty in design, though the colours are not - happily contrasted. - - -8562. - -Piece of Silk; ground, purple; pattern, circles inclosing, some a tree -which separates beasts and birds, some a long stripe which seemingly -separates birds, all in yellow. Syrian, 14th century. 1 foot 1½ -inches by 7½ inches. - - The piece is so faded that with much difficulty its design can be - traced, but enough is discernible to show the Persian feelings in - it. No doubt the beasts are the cheetah or spotted hunting leopard - addorsed and separated by the traditional “hom,” and the birds over - them, put face to face, but parted by the “hom,” are eagles. - - -8563. - -Piece of Yellow Silk; pattern, a broad oval, filled in and surrounded -with floriations. Florentine, 15th century. 11 inches by 7½ inches. - - The once elaborate design, now indiscernible, was brought out not by - another coloured silk but by the gearing of the loom; some one, very - recently, has tried to show it by tracing it out in lead-pencil. - - -8564. - -Piece of White Silk; pattern, within circles, two birds addorsed, -regardant, and separated by a tree. Syrian, 14th century. 12¼ inches -by 9 inches. - - The satin-like appearance and the creamy tone of this piece make it - very pleasing, and in it we find, as in No. 8562, the same Persian - influences; here, too, we have the mystic “hom,” put in, no doubt, by - Christian hands. - - -8565. - -Piece of Silk Tissue; ground, red; pattern, embroidery in -various-coloured silks, gold thread, and coloured small beads. German, -14th century. 3-⅝ inches by 3¾ inches. - - In most of its characters this end of a stole is just like those - attached to the fine specimen noticed under No. 8588. - - -8566. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, red; pattern, squares filled in -alternately with a pair of animals and flower-like ornaments. Syrian, -13th century. 7 inches by 2 inches. - - The old Persian tradition of the “hom” may be seen here dividing the - two addorsed regardant lionesses, and the whole design is done with - neatness. - - -8567. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, red; pattern, two popinjays divided -by a bowl or cup looking much like a crescent moon, in an octagonal -frame-work, all yellow. Spanish, 13th century. 8½ inches by 6 inches. - - This stuff is of very light material, which has, however, kept its - colour very well. - - -8568. - -Piece of Gold Tissue, embroidered with the needle; ground, gold; -pattern, the Archangel Gabriel, with his head, hands, folds of his -dress, and lines in his wings done by needle in different coloured -silks. Italian, 14th century. 8½ inches by 5 inches. - - This beautiful and rare kind of textile, combined with needlework, - merits the particular attention of those occupied with embroidery. The - loom has done its part well; not so well, however, he or she who had - to fill in the lines, especially the spaces for the hands and head, on - which the features of the face are rather poorly marked. - - -8569. - -Two Portions (joined together) of Gold Tissue; ground, gold; pattern, -in various-coloured silks, of birds, beasts, monsters, and foliage. -English or French, 13th century. 13 inches by 2 inches. - - Among the monsters, we have the usual heraldic ones that so often - occur upon the textiles of that period; but the recurrence of the - unmistakable form of the fleurs-de-lis, though sometimes coloured - green, persuades us that this piece, entirely the produce of the - loom, came from French, very likely Parisian hands, and was wrought - for female use, as a band or fillet to confine the hair about the - forehead, just as we see must have been the fashion in England at - the time from the marked way in which that attire is shown in the - illuminations of MSS. and sepulchral effigies of our Plantagenet - epoch. Our countryman, John Garland, tells us, as we noticed in our - Introduction, that women-weavers, in their time, wove such golden - tissues, not only for ecclesiastical, but secular uses; and these two - pieces seem to belong to the latter class. - - -8570. - -Portion of an Orphrey; ground, crimson silk; pattern, foliage with -fruit and flowers in gold. German, 14th century. 9½ inches by 3¾ -inches. - - So sparingly was the gold twined about the yellow thread, and of such - a debased amalgamation that it has almost entirely disappeared, or - where it remains has turned black. - - -8571. - -Portion of Gold Tissue, figured with birds and beasts in gold upon a -crimson ground. French or English, late 12th century. 9 inches by 2⅛ -inches. - - When new this textile must have been very pretty; but so fugitive - was its original crimson, that now it looks a lightish brown. Within - circles, divided by a tree made to look like a floriated cross, stands - a lion regardant, and upon the transverse limbs of the cross, as upon - the boughs of a tree, are perched two doves; while the spandrils or - spaces between the circles are filled in with fleurs-de-lis growing - out of leafed stalks. Though, in after times, it may have been applied - to church use, it seems, like the specimen under No. 8569, to have - been at first intended for female dress, either as a girdle or head - attire. - - -8572. - -Two Portions of Embroidery (joined together), the one showing, on -a reddish purple silk ground, figures of birds and animals within -circles, all embroidered in gold; the other, a similar ground and -pattern within lozenges. German, 14th century. 2 feet 1½ inches by 2 -inches. - - The figures are heraldic monsters with the exception of the three - birds, and are all done with great freedom and spirit; like the - preceding piece, this looks as if it had originally been wrought for - a lady’s girdle. The present two portions seem from the first to have - formed parts of the same ornament, and to have been worked by the same - needle. - - -8573. - -Small Fragment of Red Silk, having a narrow border of purple with -lozenge pattern, in gold. English or French, 13th century. 2 inches by -¾ inch. - - Alike, in its original use, to the foregoing pieces. - -8574. - -Two Fragments (joined together) of Purple Silk, much faded, with a -cotton woof. Byzantine, 12th century. 2½ inches by 1¼ inches. - - -8575. - -Two Fragments (joined together) of Silk and Gold Tissue; ground, light -crimson, now quite faded, bordered green; pattern, an interlacing -strap-work, in gold. English or French, 13th century. 2 inches by 2 -inches. - - Like, for use, to the other similar specimens. - - -8576. - -Very small Fragment of Gold Tissue on a red ground. 13th century. 1⅜ -inches by ½ inch. - - This cloth of gold must have been showy from its richness. - - -8577, 8577A. - -Two small Pieces of Silk, Tyrian purple. Byzantine, 12th century. Each -1¼ inches square. - - -8578, 8578A. - -Two Rosettes, in small gold thread on deep purple silk, bordered by an -edging of much lighter purple. 14th century. 1½ inches square; 1 -inch square. - - -8579. - -Piece of Silk and Linen Damask; ground, green; pattern, a monster -animal within a circle studded with full moons, and a smaller circle -holding a crescent-moon studded in like manner. Syrian, 13th century. 1 -foot 8¼ inches by 1 foot 2 inches. - - This bold and effective design is somewhat curious, exhibiting, as it - does, a novel sort of monster which is made up of a dog’s head and - fore-paws, wings erect, and a broad turned-up bushy tail freckled with - squares, in each of which is an ornament affecting sometimes the shape - of an L, sometimes of an F, at others of an A. Around the neck of this - imaginary beast is a collar which, as well as the root of the wing, - shows imitations of Arabic characters. - - -8580. - -Portion of Gold Embroidery; ground, dark blue silk; pattern, large -griffins in gold. Early 13th century. 1 foot 4½ inches by 12½ -inches. - - Pity it is that we have such a small part, and that so mutilated, of - what must have been such a fine specimen of the needle. Though the - whole pattern may not be made out, enough remains to show that the - griffins, which were langued _gules_, stood in pairs and rampant, both - figured with two-forked tails ending in trefoils, all worked in rich - gold thread. - - -8581. - -Portion of an Orphrey; ground, crimson silk; pattern, stars of eight -points, within squares, both embroidered in gold. 14th century. 5½ -inches by 2 inches. - - This is one of the very few specimens which have pure gold, or perhaps - only silver-gilt wire, without any admixture of thread in it, employed - in the stars and narrow oblong ornaments in the embroidery, the - wire itself being stitched to its grounding by thin linen thread. - The large and small squares, as well as the borders, are executed in - gold-twisted thread, very poor of its kind. The glittering effect of - the pure metal-wire is very telling. - - -8582. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, crimson; pattern, conventional peacocks -and foliage, in yellow. Syrian, 13th century. 13 inches by 9½ inches. - - A good design bestowed upon very thin materials. - - -8583. - -Portion of Gold Tissue; ground, light crimson, now quite faded, edged -green; pattern, a diaper of interlacing strap-work. English or French, -13th century. 2½ inches by 1½ inches. - - -8584. - -Portion of Gold Tissue; ground, green, edged crimson; pattern, -lozenge-shaped diaper in gold. English or French, 13th century. 7½ -inches by 1 inch. - - -8585. - -Portion of Gold Tissue; ground, green, now quite faded; pattern, in -gold, almost all worn away, a lozenge diaper. English or French, 13th -century. 5 inches by 1½ inches. - - This, as well as the other two pieces immediately preceding, were - woven by female hands for the binding of the hair. - - -8586. - -Fragment of Silk Tissue; ground, purple; pattern, small squares, green -and black, enclosing a black disk voided in the middle. Byzantine (?), -12th century. 7 inches by 2 inches. - - This stuff, which was thin in its new state, is now very tattered and - its colours dimmed. - - -8587. - -Fragment of Silk Tissue; ground, purple; pattern, a rosette within a -lozenge, with a floral border. Italian, 14th century. 4 inches by 2 -inches. - - -8588. - -Stole of Gold Tissue, figured with small beasts, birds, and floriated -ornaments, bordered on one side by a blue stripe edged with white and -charged with ornamentation in gold, on the other, by a green one of a -like character, as well as by two Latin inscriptions. The ends, four -inches long, are of crimson silk, ornamented with seed-pearls, small -red, blue, gold, yellow, and green beads, pieces of gilt-silver, and -have a fringe three inches long, red and green. Sicilian, 13th century. -6 feet by 3¼ inches. - - As a piece of textile showing how the weavers of the middle ages - could, when they needed, gear the loom for an intricacy of pattern in - animals as well as inscriptions, this rich cloth of gold is a valuable - specimen. Among the ornaments on the middle band we find doves, harts, - the letter M floriated, winged lions, crosses floriated, crosses - sprouting out on two sides with fleurs-de-lis, four-legged monsters, - some like winged lions, some biting their tails, doves in pairs - upholding a cross, &c.; and above and below these, divided from them - by gracefully ornamented bars, one blue the other green, may be read - this inscription,--“O spes divina, via tuta, potens medicina ☩ Porrige - subsidium, O Sancta Maria, corp. (_sic_) consortem sancte sortis - patrone ministram. ☩ Effice Corneli meeritis (_sic_) prece regna - meri. ☩ O celi porta, nova spes mor. (_sic_) protege, salva, benedic, - sanctifica famulum tuum Alebertum crucis per sinnaculum (_sic_) morbos - averte corporis et anime. Hoc contra signum nullum stet periculum. ☩ O - clemen. (_sic_) Domina spes dese’erantibus una.” - - The ends of this stole, German work of the 14th century, widen like - most others of the period, and in their original state seem to have - been studded with small precious stones, the sockets for which are - very discernible amid the beads; and in each centre must have been - let in a tiny illumination, as one still is there showing the Blessed - Virgin Mary with our Lord, as a child, in her arms; and this appears - to have been covered with glass. Amid the beads are yet a few thick - silver-gilt spangles wrought like six-petaled flowers. As a stole, - the present one is very short, owing, no doubt, to a scanty length - of the gold tissue; in fact, it might easily be taken for a long - maniple. When it is remembered that the Suabian house of Hohenstaufen - reigned in Sicily for many years, till overthrown in the person of the - young Conradin, at the battle of Tagliacozzo, by the French Charles - of Anjou, A.D. 1268, we can easily account for Sicilian textiles of - all sorts finding their way, during the period, into Germany. In his - “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 4 Lieferung, - pt. xviii. fig. 3, Dr. Bock has given a figure of this stole. - - -8589. - -Piece of Silk and Linen Tissue; ground, yellow, with a band of crimson; -pattern, crowned kings on horseback amid foliage, each holding on his -wrist a hawk, and having a small dog on the crupper of his saddle. -Sicilian, early 13th century. 1 foot 4½ inches by 7 inches. - - From a small piece to the left, figured with what looks like an - English bloodhound or talbot, it would seem that we have not the full - design in the pattern of this curious stuff, which speaks so loudly - of the feudalism of mediæval Italy and other continental countries. - Seldom was a king then figured without his crown, besides carrying - his hawk on hand and being followed by his dogs, like any other lord - of the land. The little hound behind him is somewhat singular. To us - it appears curious that such an elaborate and princely design, meant - evidently for the hangings of some palace, should have been done in - the rather mean materials which we find. Parts seem to have been woven - in gold thread; but so thin and debased was the metal that it is now - quite black, and the linen warp far outweighs the thin silken woof. - - -8590. - -Piece of Silk Tissue; ground, green; pattern, a so-called pomegranate -of elaborate form, amid flowers of white and light purple, now faded, -both largely wrought in gold. Spanish, 15th century. 1 foot 11 inches -by 1 foot 2 inches. - - Not only is the design of the pattern very effective, but the gold, - in which the far larger part of it is done, looks bright and rather - rich; yet, by examining it with a powerful glass, we may discover an - ingenious, not to say trickish, way for imitating gold-covered thread. - Skins of thin vellum were gilt, and not very thickly; these were cut - into very narrow filament-like shreds, and in this form--that is, - flat with the shining side facing the eye--afterwards woven into the - pattern as if they were thread, a trick in trade which the Spaniards - learned from the Moors. - - The warp is of a poor kind of silk not unlike jute, and the woof is - partly of cotton, partly linen thread, so that with its mock gold - filaments we have a showy textile out of cheap materials; a valuable - specimen of the same sort of stuff from a Saracenic loom will be found - under No. 8639, &c. - - -8591, 8591A. - -Two Pieces of Silk Tissue; ground, a bright green; pattern, not -complete, but showing a well-managed ornamentation, consisting of the -so-called pomegranate with two giraffes below, the heads of which are -in gold, now so faded as to look a purplish black. Sicilian, early -14th century. 7½ inches by 4½ inches; 4½ inches by 4½ -inches. - - This is a specimen interesting for several reasons. When new and - fresh, this stuff must have been very pleasing; the elaborate design - of its pattern, done in a cheerful spring-like tone of green upon a - ground of a much lighter shade of the same colour, makes it welcome to - the eye. The giraffes, tripping and addorsed, with their long necks - and parded skins, have something like a housing on their backs. From - such a quadruped being figured on this stuff, he who drew the design - must have lived in Africa, or have heard of the animal from the Moors; - he must have been a Christian, too, for green being Mohammed’s own - colour, and even still limited, in its use, to his descendants, no - Saracenic loom would have figured this stuff with a forbidden form - of an animal. Yet, withal, there may be seen upon it strong traces - of Saracenic feeling in its pattern. That singular ornament, made up - of long zero-like forms placed four together in three rows, which we - find upon other examples in this curious collection (No. 8596, &c.), - seems distinctive of some particular locality; so that we may presume - this fine textile to have been wrought at the royal manufactory of - Palermo, where the giraffe might have been well known, where Saracenic - art-traditions a long time lingered; and people cared nothing for - the prohibition of figuring any created form, or of wearing green in - their garments, or hanging their walls with silks dyed green; in some - specimens the zero-like ornamentation takes the shape of our letter U; - moreover the large feathers in the bird’s long tail are sometimes so - figured. - - -8592. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, red; pattern, the castle of Castile and -fleur-de-lis, both in yellow. Spanish, 13th century. 10 inches by 6¼ -inches. - - Though of poor and somewhat flimsy silk, this stuff is not without - some merit, as it shows how exact were the workmen of those days to be - guided by rule in the choice of colour; for instance, the tinctures - here are correct, so far that metal _or_ is put upon colour _gules_. - It was woven in stripes marked by narrow blue lines. - - -8593. - -Portion of some Liturgic Ornament (?); ground, deep blue; pattern, -fleurs-de-lis embroidered in gold. French, 14th century. 7 inches by -3½ inches. - - Whether this fragment once formed a part of maniple, stole, or orphrey - for chasuble, cope, dalmatic, or tunicle, it is impossible to say; - heraldically it is quite correct in its tincture, and that is its only - merit. - - -8594. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; pattern, birds and beasts -amid foliage, all in green. Sicilian, early 14th century. 10¼ inches -by 4 inches. - - Though every part of the design in the pattern of this charming stuff - is rather small, the whole is admirably clear and well rendered, - and we see a pair of hawks perched, a pair of lions passant, a pair - of flags tripping, a pair of birds (heads reversed), a pair of - monster-birds (perhaps wyverns), and a pair of eagles (much defaced) - with wings displayed. The lions are particularly well drawn. - - -8595. - -Fragment of Silk Tissue; ground, crimson and gold, with three white and -green narrow stripes running down the middle, and an inscription on -each side the stripes. Spanish, 14th century. 7 inches by 6 inches. - - The warp is of thick cotton thread, the woof of silk and gold. Though - very much broken, the inscription is Latin, and gives but a very few - entire words, such as “et tui amoris in eis,” with these fragments, - “--tus. Re---- le tuoru--.” From this, however, we are warranted in - thinking this textile to have been wrought, not for any vestment--for - it is too thick, except for an orphrey--but rather for hangings about - the chancel at Whitsuntide. See Introduction, § 5. - - -8596. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, light crimson; pattern, in deep -brown, vine-leaves within an ellipsis which has on the outer edge a -crocket-like ornamentation, and on both sides a cluster as if of the -letter U, arranged four in a row, one row above the other. Sicilian, -14th century. 8½ inches by 6 inches. - - As we saw in Nos. 8591, 8591A, so here we see that very curious and - not usual ornamentation, in the former instances like an O or zero, - in the present one like another letter, U. The same crispiness in the - foliage may be observed here as there; and in all likelihood both - silks issued from the same city, perhaps from the same loom, but at - different periods, as the one before us does not come up, by any - means, in beauty with those fragments at Nos. 8591, 8591A. In some - instances the feathers in a bird’s tail are made in the shape of our - capital letter U. - - -8597. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, blackish purple; pattern, conventional -foliage in greyish purple. Italian, 14th century. 1 foot 8 inches by 1 -foot 6 inches. - - The foliage, so free and bold, is quite of an architectural character, - and shows a leaning to that peculiar scroll-form so generally to be - seen on Greek fictile vases. Perhaps this stuff was wrought at Reggio - in South Italy; but evidently for secular, not ecclesiastical use. - - -8598. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, purple; pattern, large monster birds, -and, within ovals, smaller beasts, all in gold thread, relieved with -green silk. Sicilian, 14th century. 2 feet 4 inches by 10 inches. - - The design is bold and very effective, and consists of an oval - bordered very much in the Saracenic style, within which are two - leopards addorsed rampant regardant. Above this oval stand two - wyverns with heads averted and langued green or _vert_. This - alternates with another oval enclosing two dog-like creatures rampant - addorsed regardant; above this two imaginary birds, well crested, - langued _vert_, with heads averted, and seem to be of the cockatoo - family. From the shape of this piece, as we now have it, no doubt its - last use was for a chasuble, but of a very recent make and period; and - sadly cut away at its sides. - - -8599. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, green; pattern, in light purple or -violet, an ellipsis filled in with Saracenic ornamentation, having -below two split pomegranates in gold, and above, two giraffes, which -alternate with a pair of long-necked gold-headed birds that are flanked -by an ornament made up of letters like U. Sicilian, 14th century. 1 -foot 10½ inches by 2 feet 2 inches. - - Though this specimen has been sadly ill-used by time, and made out of - several shreds, it evidently came from the hands that designed and - wrought other pieces (Nos. 8591, 8591A, 8596) in this collection. Upon - this, as upon them, we have the same elements in the pattern--the - ellipsis, the giraffes, and that singular kind of ornamentation, a - sort of letter U or flattened O, not put in for any imaginary beauty - of form, but to indicate either place or manufacturer, being a symbol - which we have yet to learn how to read and understand. That in time we - shall be able to find out its meanings there can be little or no doubt. - - Though of so pleasing and elaborate a design, the stuff, in its - materials, is none of the richest. - - -8600. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, yellow; the pattern, in violet, an -ellipsis filled in with Saracenic ornamentation. Sicilian, 14th -century. 10 inches by 2¼ inches. - - There can be little doubt that this inferior textile, showing, as it - does, the same feelings in its pattern, came from Palermo. - - -8601. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, yellow; pattern, a broad stripe of gold -with narrow stripes, two in green, two in blue, and yellow bands -charged with birds and flowers in gold. Spanish, late 14th century. 13 -inches by 8 inches. - - The narrow stripes running down the broad one, and constituting its - design, are ornamented with square knots of three interlacings and a - saltire of St. Andrew’s cross alternatingly. The bands display birds - of the waterfowl genus--a kind of crested wild-duck--very gracefully - figured as pecking at flowers, one of which seems of the water-lily - tribe. - - Here, as at No. 8590, we have the same substitution for gold thread, - of gilt vellum cut into thread-like filaments, and so woven up with - the silk and cotton of which the warp and woof are composed. This, - like its sister specimen, so showy, is just as poor in material; and, - from its thinness, if may have served not so much for an article of - dress as for hangings in churches and state apartments. - - -8602, 8602A, B, C, D, E. - -Six Fragments of Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; pattern, a floriated -ellipsis enclosing a pair of eagles, with foliage between the -elliptical figures. Sicilian, 14th century. Dimensions, all small and -various. - - In many respects these fragments of the same piece of tissue closely - resemble the fine stuff under No. 8594; the ground, fawn-colour, is - the same; the same too--green, and of the same pleasing tone--is the - colour of its pattern, which, however, gives us the peculiarity of a - knot of two interlacings plentifully strewed amid the foliage. It is - slightly freckled, too, with white. - - -8603. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; pattern, birds in pairs amid -foliage (all green) and flowers, some blue, some gold, now faded black. -Italian, 14th century. 18 inches by 12¾ inches. - - Not a satisfactory design, as the birds are in green and hard to be - distinguished from the heavy foliage in which they are placed. The - materials, too, are poor and thin, the warp being cotton. - - -8604. - -Fragment of Silk Damask; ground, deep fawn-colour; pattern, birds -pecking at a flower-stem amid foliage, all yellow, occasionally shaded -deep green. Sicilian, 14th century. 6½ inches by 4½ inches. - - As far as it goes, the design is neat and flowing, with the - peculiarity of the deep green, now almost blue, shadings both in the - birds and foliage. The warp is fine cotton, and the whole speaks of a - Sicilian origin. - - -8605. - -Piece of Damask; ground, light purple; pattern, in yellow, a net-like -broad ribbon, within the meshes of which are eight-petaled conventional -flowers. Italian, 14th century. - - [Illustration: 8605 - SILK DAMASK. - Italian, 14th century. - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith.] - - The texture of the specimen is somewhat thin, but the tones of its - two harmonious colours are good, and its pattern, in all its parts, - extremely agreeable; upon those broad ribbon lines of the net, the - branches, sprouting out into trefoils, are gracefully made to twine; - and an inclination to figure a crowned M on every petal of the flower - inside the meshes is very discernible. Possibly Reggio, south of - Naples, is the town where this showy stuff was wrought, serviceable - alike for sacred and secular employment. - - -8606. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, black; pattern, not easily discernible, -though evidently elaborate. Italian, 14th century. 10 inches by 6¼ -inches. - - So much has damp injured this piece that its original black has - become almost brown, and its pattern is well nigh gone. In its fresh - state, however, the design, traces of which show it to have been - sketched in the country and about the time mentioned, was thrown up - satisfactorily, for it was woven in cotton from the silken ground of - the piece. - - -8607. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; pattern, trefoils and -vine-leaves, in green. Sicilian, 14th century. 8¾ inches by 4½ -inches. - - [Illustration: 8607. - SILK DAMASK. - Sicilian, 14th century. - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith.] - - Like all the other specimens of this kind, the present one is pleasing - in its combination of those favourite colours--fawn and light - green--as well as being remarkable for the elegance with which the - foliage is made to twine about its surface; the materials, too, are - thick and lasting. - - -8608. - -Fragment of Silk Damask; ground, dark blue; pattern (very imperfect in -the specimen), an ellipsis filled in with ornamentation and topped by a -floriation, out of which issue birds’ necks and heads, all in lighter -blue, edged with white, and two conventional wild animals in gold, but -now black with tarnish. Sicilian, 14th century. 6 inches by 6 inches. - - -8609. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; pattern, wreaths of white -flowers, green boughs bearing white flowers, forming part of a design -in which an ellipsis in green constitutes a leading portion; and a -broad band figured with scroll-work and an Arabic sentence, all in -gold. Sicilian, 13th century. 1 foot 5½ inches by 5¾ inches. - - Probably in the sample before us we behold a work from the royal - looms or “tiraz”--silk-house--of Palermo, when Sicily was under the - sway of France, in the person of a prince belonging to the house of - Anjou. In the first place, we have the fawn--a tone of the murrey - colour of our old English writers--and the light joyous green; in - the second place, the ellipsis was there, though our specimen is too - small to show it all. Those narrow borders that edge the large golden - lettered band present us with a row of golden half-moons and blue - fleurs-de-lis on one side; on the other, a row of golden half-moons - and blue cross-crosslets: on the band itself we find, alternating with - foliage, an oblong square, within which is written a short sentence - in Arabic--a kindly word, a wish of health and happiness to the - wearer--such as was, and still is, the custom among the Arabs. Sure is - it that this textile, if wrought by Saracenic hands, was done under a - Christian prince, and that prince a Frenchman. - - -8610. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; pattern, birds and dogs in -green. Sicilian, 14th century. 1 foot 4½ inches by 10¼ inches. - - Like so many other specimens of the Palermitan loom, both in colours - and design, this piece is rather poor in its silk, which is harsh and - somewhat thin. The birds are a swan ruffling up its feathers at the - presence of an eagle perched just overhead, amid branches and foliage - in which the trefoil abounds. - - -8611. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, red; pattern, foliage in green, wild dogs -in blue, gold, and white. South Italian, 14th century. 15 inches by -12½ inches. - - The wild dogs are segeant face to face, in pairs; one blue, the other - gold; one white, the other gold: and below are flowers blue, gold, - and white, alternating like the animals. The warp is cotton, the woof - silk, and altogether the stuff is coarse. - - -8612. - -Fragments of Silk Damask; ground, black; pattern, a tower surrounded -by water and a figure holding a hawk, and hawks perched, in pairs, on -trees. Italian, 15th century. 9 inches by 5½ inches; 9 inches by -4½ inches. - - Pity that this curious piece is so fragmental and decayed that its - singular design cannot, as in another specimen of the very same - tissue, all be made out. Whether it be man or woman standing on - high outside the tower with a bird at rest on the wrist is here - hard to say. The castle is well shown, with its moat, and its - draw-bridges--for it has more than one--all down. Like No. 8606, it - shows its pattern by the difference of material in the warp and woof. - All over it has been thickly sprinkled with thin gilt trefoils that - were not sewed but glued on; many have fallen off, and those remaining - have turned black. See No. 7065. - - -8613. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, black; pattern, in gold thread, birds -amid foliage. Italian, 14th century. 14 inches by 7¼ inches. - - The bold and facile pattern of this piece is very conspicuous, with - its eagles stooping upon long-necked birds perched on waving boughs; - to much beauty in design it adds, moreover, richness in material. - - -8614. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, light brown; pattern, the same colour, -palmettes and rosettes, with Arabic sentences repeated. Attached is a -piece of green silk wrought with gold. Sicilian, 14th century. 16¼ -inches by 15½ inches. - - A quiet but rich stuff, and especially noticeable for its Arabic or - imitated Arabic inscriptions, one within the rosettes, the other all - round the inner border of the palmettes or elliptical ornamentations. - The cloth of gold is plain. - - -8615. - -Piece of Linen, block-printed in a pattern composed of birds and -foliage. Flemish, late 14th century. 1 foot 9 inches by 3 inches. - - Of this kind of block-printed linen, with its graceful design in - black upon a white ground, there are other good examples (Nos. 7027 - and 8303) in this collection. From the marks of use upon its canvas - lining, this long narrow strip would seem to have once served as an - apparel to an amice in some poor church. - - -8616. - -Portions of Crimson Silk, brocaded in gold; the pattern, angels holding -crescents beneath crowns, from which come rays of glory, and hunting -leopards seizing on gazelles. Italian, end of 14th century. 2 feet -8¾ inches by 2 feet. - - This rich stuff betrays in its design an odd mixture of Asiatic - and European feeling; we have the eastern hunting lion spotted and - collared blue, pouncing on the gazelle or antelope, which is collared - too; so far we have the imitation, but without lettering, of a Persian - or Asiatic pattern. With this we find European, or at least Christian, - angels, clothed in white, but with such curious nebule-nimbs about - their heads as to make their brows look horned, more like spirits of - evil than of good. The open crowns are thoroughly after a western - design; and the head and shoulders of a winged figure, to the left, - show that we have not the entire design before us. From the graceful - way in which the figures are made to float, as well as from several - little things about the scrolls, we may safely conclude that the - designer of the pattern lived in upper Italy, and that this costly and - elegant brocade was wrought at Lucca. Of the Oriental elements of this - pattern we have said a few words at No. 8288. - - -8617. - -Stole of deep purple silk, brocaded in gold and crimson; pattern, -a long flower-bearing stem, and large flowers. Italian, early 15th -century. 9 feet 6 inches by 4 inches. - - Like all the old stoles, this is so long as almost to reach down to - the feet, and is rather broader than usual, but does not widen at the - ends, which have a long green fringe. The stuff is of a rich texture, - and the pattern good. - - -8618. - -Part of a Linen Cloth, embroidered with sacred subjects, and inscribed -with the names, in Latin, of the Evangelists. German, end of the 14th -century. 6 feet by 4 feet. - - Unfortunately, this curious and very valuable sample of Rhenish - needlework is far from being complete, and has lost a good part of - its original composition on its edges, but much more lamentably on - the right hand side. Not for a moment can we think it to have been - an altar-cloth properly so-called, that is, for spreading out over - the table itself of the altar; but, in all likelihood, it was used - as a reredos or ornament over but behind the altar, as a covering - for the wall. Another beautiful specimen of the same kind has been - already noticed under No. 8358, for throwing over the deacon’s and - subdeacon’s lectern at high mass; and, from the fact that, in both - instances, the subjects figured are in especial honour of the B. V. - Mary, it would seem that, in many German churches, and following a - very ancient tradition that the Blessed Virgin wrought during all her - girlhood days ornaments for the Temple of Jerusalem with her needle, - the custom was to have for the “Mary Mass,” and for altars dedicated - under her name, as many liturgical appliances as might be of this sort - of white needlework, and done by maidens’ hands. - - In the centre we have the coronation of the B. V. Mary, executed after - the ordinary fashion, with her hair falling down her shoulders, and a - crown upon her head; she is sitting with arms uplifted in prayer, upon - a Gothic throne, by her Divine Son, who, while holding the mund in - His left, is blessing His mother with raised right hand; over-head is - hovering an angel with a thurible; at each of the four corners is an - Evangelist represented, not only by his usual emblem, but announced by - his name in Latin. At first sight the angel, the emblem of St. Matthew - might be taken for Gabriel announcing the Incarnation to the B. V. - Mary. Above and around are circles formed of the Northern Kraken, four - in number, put in orb, and running round an elaborately floriated - Greek cross, symbolizing the victory of Christianity over heathenism. - In many places, within a gracefully twining wreath of trefoil leaves - and roses barbed, is the letter G, very probably the initial of the - fair hand who wrought and gave this beautiful work to our Lady’s - altar; and the spaces between the subjects are filled in with - well-managed branches of the oak bearing acorns. To the left is seen a - hind or countryman hooded, carrying, hung down from a long club borne - on his shoulder, a dead hare; and further on, still to the left, an - old man who with a lance is trying to slay an unicorn that is running - at full speed to a maiden who is sitting with her hair hanging about - her shoulders, and stroking the forehead of the animal with her left - hand. The symbolism of this curious group, not often to be met with, - significative of the mystery of the Incarnation, is thus explained - by the Anglo-Norman poet, Phillippe de Thaun, who wrote his valuable - “Bestiary” in England for the instruction of his patroness, Adelaide - of Louvaine, Queen to our Henry I:--“Monoceros is an animal which has - one horn on its head; it is caught by means of a virgin: now hear in - what manner. When a man intends to hunt it and to take and ensnare it, - he goes to the forest where is its repair, there he places a virgin - with her breast uncovered, and by its smell the monoceros perceives - it; then it comes to the virgin and kisses her breast, falls asleep on - her lap, and so comes to its death: the man arrives immediately, and - kills it in its sleep, or takes it alive and does as he likes with - it.... A beast of this description signifies Jesus Christ; one God - he is and shall be, and was and will continue so; he placed himself - in the virgin, and took flesh for man’s sake: a virgin she is and - will be, and will always remain. This animal in truth signifies God; - know that the virgin signifies St. Marye; by her breast we understand - similarly Holy Church; and then by the kiss it ought to signify that a - man when he sleeps is in semblance of death; God slept as a man, who - suffered death on the cross, and His destruction was our redemption, - and His labour our repose,” &c.--“Popular Treatises on Science written - during the Middle Ages, &c., and edited for the Historical Society of - Science by T. Wright,” pp. 81, 82. - - The figure of the countryman carrying off the hare is brought forward - in illustration. As the rough coarse clown, prowling about the lands - of his lord, wilily entraps the hare in his hidden snares, so does the - devil, by allurements to sin, strive to catch the soul of man. These - interesting symbolisms end the left-hand portion of the reredos. Going - to the right, we find that part torn and injured in such a way that it - is evidently shorn of its due portions, and much of the original so - completely gone that we are unable to hazard a conjecture about the - subject which was figured there. - - -8619. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, rose-coloured; pattern, peacocks, eagles, -a small nondescript animal, and a lyre-shaped ornament, all in green, -touched with white. Italian, late 14th century. 11 inches by 10½ -inches. - - A curious design, in which the birds are boldly and freely drawn. Each - horn of the lyre-shaped ornament ends, bending outwardly with what to - herald’s eyes seems to be two wings conjoined erect. - - -8620. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Damask; ground, dark blue, in some places -faded; pattern, a band charged with squares in gold, every alternate -one inscribed with the same short Arabic word, lions in gold beneath a -tree in light blue shaded white, and cockatoos in gold. Syrian, 14th -century. 19 inches by 13½ inches. - - So strong is the likeness between this and the stuff at No. 8359, both - in the texture of the silk and the treatment of the beasts and birds, - that we are led to suppose them to have come from the same identical - workshop. That tree-like ornament, under which the shaggy long-tailed - lion with down-bent head is creeping, seems the traditionary form of - the Persians’ “hom.” The gold is, in most parts, very brilliant, owing - to the broadness of the metal wrapped round the linen thread that - holds it; and, altogether, this is a rich specimen of the Syrian loom. - - -8621. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; pattern, foliage in green, -flowers, some white, some in gold, and lions in gold. Sicilian, late -14th century. 22½ inches by 10 inches. - - The warp is of linen, and the silken woof is thin; so sparingly was - the gold bestowed, that it has almost entirely faded; altogether, this - specimen shows a good design wasted upon very poor materials. In the - expanding part of the foliage there seems to be a slight remembrance - of the fleur-de-lis pattern, and the lions are sejant addorsed - regardant. - - -8622, 8623. - -Two Portions of Silk Damask; in both, the ground, fawn-colour; the -pattern, in the one, ramified foliage, amid which two lions sejant -regardant, in gold; in the other, two eagles at rest regardant, in -green, divided by a large green conventional flower, including another -such flower in gold. Sicilian, 14th century. 11 inches by 5¼ inches; -9½ inches by 4¾ inches. - - Very likely from the same loom as No. 8621, and every way - corresponding to it. - - -8624. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, pale brown; pattern, in a lighter tone, -stags and sunbeams, and below eagles within hexagonal compartments. -Sicilian, late 14th century. 18 inches by 14 inches. - - The stags, well attired, are in pairs, couchant, chained, with heads - upturned to sunbeams darting down on them, with spots like rain coming - amid these rays; beneath these stags are eagles. The material is very - thin and poor for such a pleasing design. In a much richer material - part of this same pattern is to be seen at No. 1310. - - -8625. - -Piece of very fine Linen. Oriental. 2 feet 4 inches by 1 foot 5 inches. - - This is another of those remarkably delicate textiles for which - Egypt of old was, and India for ages has been, so celebrated. A fine - specimen has been already noticed at No. 8230; but to indicate the - country or the period of either would be but hazarding a conjecture. - Surplices were often made of such fine transparent linen, as is shown - by illuminated MSS. See “Church of our Fathers,” t. ii. p. 20. - - -8626. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; pattern, flowers and birds, -both in green. Italian, end of 14th century. 11 inches by 8½ inches. - - [Illustration: 8626 - SILK DAMASK. - Italian, 14th century. - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith.] - - The birds are in two pairs, one at rest, the other on the wing darting - down; between them is an ornament somewhat heart-shaped, around which - runs an inscription of imitated Arabic. Most likely this silk is of - Sicilian work. - - -8627. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, dark blue; pattern, lozenge-shaped -compartments, filled in with quadrangular designs varying alternately. -Spanish, late 14th century. 10½ inches by 8 inches. - - There is a Moorish influence in the design, which leads to the - supposition that this stuff was wrought somewhere in the South of - Spain. - - -8628, 8628A. - -Two Fragments of Silk Damask; ground, light yellow; pattern, flowers -and birds, with the letters A and M crowned, all in pale red. Italian, -late 14th century. 6 inches by 5 inches; 6 inches by 3½ inches. - - A very pleasing design, in nicely toned colours, and evidently wrought - for hangings, or perhaps curtains, about the altar of the B. V. - Mary, as we have the whole sprinkled with the crowned letters A M, - significative of “Ave Maria.” - - -8629. - -Fragment of Silk Damask; ground, purple; pattern, four green hares in -a park walled, with conventional flowers, yellow. Italian, late 14th -century. 5 inches by 4¾ inches. - - The colours, both of the ground and design, of this piece are much - faded, so that it becomes hard, at first sight, to make out the - pattern, especially the four green hares tripping within a park, - which, instead of being shown with pales, has a wall round it. - - -8630. - -Fragment of Silk Damask; ground, red; pattern, foliage and flowers in -green, with animals, alternately in gold and dark blue. Italian, late -14th century. 5 inches by 4 inches. - - Though the materials be thin, the design is interesting and displays - taste. The animals, seemingly fawns, are lodged, but so sparingly was - the gold bestowed upon its cotton thread that it has almost entirely - disappeared from the would-be golden deer. - - -8631. - -Fragment of Silk Damask; ground, deep purple; pattern, a circle -inclosing a heart-shaped floral ornament, in red, with an indistinct -ornament, once gold. South of Spain, 14th century. 6¼ inches by -5½ inches. - - The colours of what may have been a rich stuff, as well as the - brightness of the gold, are much dulled. - - -8632. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, pale yellow; pattern, vine-leaves and -grapes, with the letter A, all in light purple. Italian, late 14th -century. 11¾ inches by 3 inches. - - One of those cheerful designs which are to be found in this - collection; and had the specimen been larger, very likely an M would - have been shown under the A. - - -8633. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, purple; pattern, within interlacing -strapwork forming a square, two parrots addorsed alternating with -two dogs addorsed, all yellow, with ornamentations of small circles -and flowers, once gold, but now so tarnished that they look black. -Sicilian, 14th century. 5½ inches by 5 inches. - - One of those specimens which will be sought by those who want examples - of stuffs figured with animals. This stuff is shewn in Dr. Bock’s - “Dessinateur pour Etoffes,” &c. 3 Livraison. - - -8634. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, fawn and green; pattern, small squares -enclosing leaves, birds, and beasts alternately. Italian, 14th century. -7½ inches by 3 inches. - - Though small, the pattern is good and comes from either a Sicilian or - a Reggio loom. Lions, and stags with branching horns, eagles, parrots, - and undecipherable birds, in braces with necks crossing one another, - are to be found upon it; among the foliage the vine-leaf prevails. - - -8635. - -Altar Frontal of Linen, embroidered with the filfot in white thread -freckled with spots in blue and green silk, and lozenge-shaped -ornaments in blue, green, and crimson silk. German, 14th century. 3 -feet 10 inches square. - - There can be little doubt but this piece of needlework was originally - meant for an altar frontal, and its curious but coarser lining, may - have been wrought for the same separate but distinct purpose. The - filfot or gammadion, a favourite object upon vestments, is its chief - adornment, while its lining, a work of a century later, is worked with - a palm-like design in thick linen thread. At a later time, it seems to - have been employed as a covering to the table itself of the altar, and - is plentifully sprinkled with spots of wax-droppings. - - -8636. - -Piece of Linen Cloth, embroidered with filfots, some in white, some in -blue silk. German, 14th century. 1 foot 11 inches by 9 inches. - - This handsome piece of napery was evidently woven for the service of - the church, and may have been intended either for frontals to hang in - front of the altar, or as curtains to be suspended away from, but yet - close to, the altar-table on the north and south sides. The favourite - gammadion appears both in the pattern of the loom-work and in the - embroideries wrought by hand, sometimes in blue, sometimes in white - silk, upon it. - - -8637. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Damask; ground, green; pattern, flower-bearing -stems, in gold, amid foliated tracery of a deep green tone, all -enclosed by a golden elliptical border. Italian, early 15th century, -11½ inches by 7½ inches. - - This rich and pleasing stuff is most likely from the loom of some - workshop in Lucca and was manufactured for secular purposes, and - deserves attention not only for the goodness of its materials, but for - the beauty of its design. - - -8638. - -PIECE of Thread and Silk Damask; ground, purple slightly mixed with -crimson; pattern, vine-branches bearing grapes and tendrils all in -green, amid which are wyverns in gold, langued green. South Italian, -15th century, 1 foot 1 inch by 9½ inches. - - The warp is of thread, and the woof of silk. Such was the poverty of - the gold thread in the wyverns, that it has almost entirely dropped - off or turned black. This specimen shows how, sometimes, a rich - pattern was thrown away upon mean materials. Its uses seem to have - been secular. - - -8639. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, gold; pattern, a circle showing, in its -lower half, a crescent moon and an eight-petaled flower, in the round -centre of which is an Arabic inscription, all in black, and the spaces -filled in with a Saracenic scroll in light blue, light green, and -crimson (now faded). Moresco-Spanish, 14th century. 1 foot 1¾ inches -by 5¾ inches. - - This unmistakeable specimen of a Saracenic loom would seem to have - been wrought somewhere in the south of Spain, may be at Granada, - Seville, or Cordova. - - As a sample of its kind it is valuable, showing, as it does, that the - same feelings which manifested themselves upon Moorish ornamentation - for architecture were displayed in the patterns of textiles among that - people. The fraud, so to say, of gilt shreds of parchment for threads - covered with gold is exemplified here; and hence we may gather that - the Spaniards of the mediæval period learned this trick from their - Saracenic teachers in the arts of the loom. As in No. 8590, &c., so - here, the gold ground is wrought, not in thread twined with gold foil, - but with gilt vellum cut into very narrow filaments, and worked into - the warp so as to lie quite flat. - - -8640. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, light blue; pattern, a circle elaborately -filled in with a wreath of leaves edged with a hoop of fleur-de-lis, -and enclosed in an oblong garland made up of boughs and flowers, in a -slightly deeper tone of the same blue. Italian, early 15th century. 1 -foot by 8½ inches. - - So very like in design to No. 8637, that we may presume it to have - been wrought at Lucca. - - -8641. - -Part of an Orphrey; ground, once crimson, but now faded to a light -brown colour; pattern, quatrefoils, with angles between the leaves, -embroidered with male saints in various colours upon a golden ground. -Each quatrefoil is separated by a knot of three interlacings, and the -sides filled in with a pair of popinjays, gold and green, and two -boughs of the oak bearing acorns, alternately. On both sides runs a -border formed of a scroll of vine-leaves, done alternately in gold and -silver, upon a green silk ground. North Italian, 15th century. 2 feet 7 -inches by 5½ inches. - - The whole of this elaborate piece of needlework has been done with - much care, and in rich materials; but as the saints have no peculiar - emblems given them, their identification is beyond hope. Whether for - cope or chasuble--for it might have served for either vestment--this - embroidery must have been very effective, from the bold raised nature - of much of its ornamentation. - - -8642, 8642A. - -Two Pieces of Silk Damask; ground, green and fawn; pattern, -intertwining branches of the vine, with bunches of grapes. Sicilian, -14th century. 9¾ inches by 4½ inches; 6 inches by 4 inches. - - Another of those graceful green and fawn-coloured silks almost - identical in pattern with others we have seen from the same country. - - -8643. - -Piece of Net-work; ground, reticulated pale brown silk; pattern, a sort -of lozenge, in green and in brown silk, hand-embroidered. German, 14th -century. 7 inches by 5 inches. - - From the circular shape of this piece it seems to have been a portion - of female attire, most likely for the shoulders. One of its ornaments - looks very like a modification of one form of the heraldic mill-rind, - with the angular structure. - - -8644. - -Portion of an Orphrey; ground, gold; pattern, a shield of arms, and an -inscription in purple letters, repeated. German, 15th century. 1 foot 9 -inches by 2¼ inches. - - This specimen of the German loom may have been woven at Cologne, - probably for the narrow orphreys of a whole set of vestments given - to the church by some Duchess of Cleves, of the name of Elizabeth - Vancleve, since, to such a lady, the blazon and the inscription - point. The shield is party per pale _gules_, an escarbuncle _or_; and - _purpure_, a lion rampant _argent_, barred _gules_, ducally crowned - and armed _or_. - - -8645. - -Piece of Linen; ground, light brown; pattern, small blue squares or -lozenges, separated into broad bands by narrow stripes, once ornamented -with green lozenges and bordered all along by red lines. German, 15th -century. 1 foot by 7 inches. - - The warp and woof are linen thread; the green of the narrow stripes, - from the small remains, appears to have been woollen. - - -8646. - -Fragment of a Piece of Silk and Gold Embroidery on Linen; ground, as -it now looks, yellow; pattern, interlacing strapwork, forming spaces -charged with the armorial bearings of England, and other blazons, -rudely worked. 14th century. 5 inches by 3½ inches. - - So faded are the silks, and so tarnished the gold thread used for - the embroidery of this piece, that, at first sight, the tinctures - of the blazon are not discernible. In the centre we have the three - golden libards or lions of England, and the silk of the ground or - field, on narrow examination, we find to have been scarlet or _gules_; - immediately below is a shield quarterly, 1 and 4 _or_, a lion rampant - _gules_, 2 and 3 _sable_, a lion rampant _or_; immediately above, a - shield _gules_, with three pales _azure_ (?), each charged with what - are seemingly tall crosses (St. Anthony’s) _or_; above, the shield of - England; but to the right hand, on a field barry of twelve _azure_ and - _or_, a lion rampant _gules_; below this shield, another, on a field - _or_, two bars _sable_; these two shields alternate on the other side. - The strapwork all about is fretty _or_, on a field _gules_. - - -8647. - -Piece of Silk and Gold Damask; ground, crimson, sprinkled with gold -stars; pattern, the Annunciation. Italian, 14th century. 1 foot 1¼ -inches by 8 inches. - - In this admirable specimen of the Florentine loom we have shown us - the B. V. Mary not quite bare-headed, but partly hooded and nimbed, - as queen-like she sits on a throne, with her arms meetly folded on - her breast, the while she listens to the words of the angel who - is on his knees before her, and uplifting his hand in the act of - speaking a benediction, while in his left he holds the lily-branch, - correctly--which is not always so in artworks--blooming with three, - and only three, full-blown flowers. Above the archangel the Holy Ghost - is coming down from heaven in shape of a dove, from whose beak dart - forth long rays of light toward the head of St. Mary. The greater part - of the subject is wrought in gold; the faces, the hands, and flowers - are white, and a very small portion of the draperies blue. The drawing - of the figures is quite after the Umbrian school, and, therefore, - not merely good, but beautiful. In his “Geschichte der Liturgischen - Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 1 Lieferung, pl. xiii. Dr. Bock has - figured it. - - -8648. - -An Embroidered Figure of St. Ursula, within a Gothic niche, which with -much of the drapery, was done in gold, on a ground now brown. Rhenish, -14th century. 8¾ inches by 3¾ inches. - - So sadly has the whole of this embroidery suffered, apparently from - damp, that the tints of its silk are gone, and the gold about it all - become black. That this is but one of several figures in an orphrey is - very likely; it gives us the saint with the palm-branch of martyrdom - in one hand, a book in the other, and an arrow slicking in her neck, - the instrument of her death; being of blood royal, she wears a crown; - emblem of heaven and paradise, the ground she treads is all flowery. - - -8649. - -Piece of Woollen Carpet; ground, red; pattern, a green quatrefoil -bearing three white animals. Spanish, late 14th century. 1 foot 11 -inches by 1 foot 1 inch. - - A most unmistakeable piece of mediæval carpeting; the lively tone - of its red is yet bright. The quatrefoils are quite of the period, - and look like four-petaled roses barbed, that is, with the angular - projection between the petals. So unlion-like are the animals, that we - may not take them as the blazon of the Kingdom of Leon. - - -8650. - -Piece of Silk Damask; ground, crimson; pattern, the so-called artichoke -in yellow and green, lined white, and foliage of green lined white. -Spanish, 15th century. 1 foot 9 inches by 1 foot 4½ inches. - - A good example of this showy pattern, once so much in favour, and of - which the materials are very good and substantial; much of the yellow - portions of the design was in gold thread, the metal of which has, - however, almost all gone. From the quantity of glue still sticking to - the hind part of this silk, its last destination would seem to have - been the covering of some state room. - - -8651. - -The “Vernicle,” embroidered in silk, and now sewed on a large piece of -linen. Flemish, middle of 15th century. 9½ inches by 7½ inches; -the linen, 2 feet 10½ inches by 2 feet 9 inches. - - To the readers of old English literature, especially of Chaucer, - the term of “Vernicle” will not be unknown, as expressing the - representation of our Saviour’s face, which He is said to have left - upon a napkin handed Him to wipe His brows, by one of those pious - women who crowded after Him on His road to Calvary. It is noticed, - too, in the “Church of our Fathers,” t. iii. p. 438. This piece of - needlework seems to have been cut off from another, and sewed, at a - very much later period, to the large piece of linen to which it is - now attached; for the purpose of being put up either in a private - chapel, or over some very small altar in a church, as a sort of - reredos; or, perhaps, it may have originally been one of the apparels - on an alb: never, however, on an amice, being much too large for such - a purpose. One singularity in the subject is the appearance of crimson - tassels, one at each corner of the napkin figured with our Lord’s - likeness, which is kept with great care still, at Rome, among the - principal relics in St. Peter’s, where it is shown in a solemn manner - on Easter Monday. It is one of those representations of a sacred - subject called by the Greeks ἀχειροποίητος, that is, “not made by - hands,” or, not the work of man, as was noticed in the Introduction to - the present Catalogue. - - -8652. - -Linen Towel, with thread embroidery; pattern, lozenges, some enclosing -flowers, others, lozenges. German, 15th century. 3 feet 11 inches by 1 -foot 6½ inches. - - Most likely this small piece of linen was meant to be a covering for - a table, or may be the chest of drawers in the vestry, and upon which - the vestments for the day were laid out for the celebrating priest - to put on. In the pattern there is evidently a strong liking for the - gammadion--a kind of figuration constructed out of modifications of - the Greek letter gamma. In England the gammadion became known as the - “filfot,” and seems to have been looked upon as a symbol for the name - Francis or Frances, and is of frequent occurrence in our national - monuments--especially in needlework--belonging to the 14th and 15th - centuries. From the presence of that large eight-petaled flower in - this cloth we are somewhat warranted in thinking that the same hand - that wrought the fine and curious frontal, No. 8709, worked this, and - that her baptismal name was Frances. - - -8653-8661A. - -Ten Fragments of Narrow Laces for edgings to liturgical garments, -woven, some in gold, some in silk, and some in worsted. 8658 is a -specimen of parti-coloured fringe; 8659 shows a two-legged monster as -part of its design; and in 8661 and 8661 A we find a knot much like -the one to which Montagu gives the names of Wake and Ormond, in his -“Guide to the Study of Heraldry,” p. 52. - - -8662. - -The Napkin for a Crozier, of fine linen ornamented with two -narrow perpendicular strips of embroidery of a lozenge pattern in -various-coloured worsteds, and having, at top, a cap-shaped finishing -made of a piece of green raised velvet, which is figured with a bird, -like a peacock, perched just by a well, into which it is looking. At -each corner of this cap is a small parti-coloured tassel, and, at the -top, the short narrow loop by which it hung from the upper part of the -crozier-staff. German, 15th century. 2 feet 2½ inches by 1 foot -8½ inches. - - This is another of those liturgical ornaments, valuable, because so - rare, of which we have spoken under No. 8279A. But in the specimen - before us we find it in much diminished form--half only of its usual - size. The design of the raised velvet, in its cap, is as unusual as - curious. - - -8663. - -Linen Cloth, embroidered in coloured silks with sacred emblems and -hagiological subjects, and inscribed with names amid trees and flowers. -German, 15th century. 1 foot 1¾ inches by 4 inches. - - In all likelihood this needlework was meant as the covering for a - table in the vestry of some church, or oratory in some lady’s room. On - the left is figured St. George slaying the dragon; next, the pelican - in its piety, above which is the “vernicle,” and over this the word - “Emont,” with a ducal coronet above it. Then the names “Ihs,” “Maria,” - and, above them, the word “Eva” crowned. In the middle of the cloth is - a cross with all the emblems of the Passion around it, as well as a - star and crescent. Then an animal spotted like a panther and chained - to a tree; this is followed by the name “Meltinich;” last of all we - find the name “Amelia,” and beneath, a half-figure of a woman having - long hair with a large comb in her right hand, altogether resembling a - mermaid. At bottom runs a narrow parti-coloured thread fringe. - - -8664. - -Frontlet to an Altar-Cloth, embroidered in coloured silks upon fine -linen, with flower-bearing trees and a shield of the Passion, along -with saints’ names, &c. German, 16th century. 1 foot 1¾ inches by 4 -inches. - - The shield in the middle is charged with a chalice and consecrated - host, and four wounds (hands and feet) of our Lord. Under one tree - occur the names “Jhesus,” “Maria;” under another, “Andreas,” “Anna.” - From amid the grass on the ground spring up tufts of daisies. - - -8665. - -Piece of Embroidery, done upon fine linen in coloured silks and gold -thread. German, middle of the 15th century. 7½ inches square. - - The subject of this piece is the death of the Blessed Virgin Mary, - figured according to the traditional manner much followed by the - mediæval schools of art in most parts of Christendom. It is, however, - to be regretted that this embroidery has been at some time mutilated; - in its original state it may have, perhaps, served as an apparel to an - alb, and occupied the place of one of those to be seen at No. 8710. - - -8666. - -Fragment of thin Silk Damask; pattern, a lozenge-shaped diaper; colour, -a much faded crimson. Oriental, 13th century. 8½ inches by 4½ -inches. - - Though small, the pattern is pretty, and much resembles a stuff of - silk and gold very lately found in the tomb of one of the Archbishops - of York, in that cathedral. - - -8667. - -Portion of an Orphrey, wrought partly in the loom, partly by the -needle, and figured with an angel-like youth holding before him -an armorial shield, as he stands within a Gothic niche, with an -inscription below his feet. German, very late 15th century. 10½ -inches by 5½ inches. - -[Illustration: 8667. - -EMBROIDERY, SILK & GOLD - -Under a Gothic canopy &c. __ German, late 15th century.] - - This instructive piece deserves the attention of those who study - embroidery. The loom was geared in such a manner that the spaces for - the head, face, neck, and hands were left quite empty, so that they - might be filled in by the needle. But this was not all the hand had to - do; the architectural features of the canopy, its shading in red, the - nimb, and nicely floriated diapering all over the angel’s golden alb, - were put in by the needle. - - The inscription, woven in, reads “Johā vā geyē,” and the piece is - figured in Dr. Bock’s “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des - Mittelalters,” 2 Lieferung, pl. xv. - - -8668. - -Part of an Orphrey, mostly loom-woven, and figured with the -Crucifixion, on one side of which stands the Blessed Virgin Mary, on -the other, St. John the Evangelist, German, late 15th century. 12¼ -inches by 5 inches. - - Like the preceding piece, the greater part is woven, even the body - itself of our Lord, so that in His figure, as in those of His mother - and the beloved disciple, the only embroidered portions are the - head and face, besides those blood-spots all over His person, the - tricklings from His five wounds, and the crossed nimb about His head. - - -8669. - -Portion of a Maniple, in much faded tawny silk; pattern, a rose-like -floriation. Flemish, 16th century. 1 foot 10½ inches by 3¼ inches. - - Though peculiar, the pattern in the design of this silken stuff is - very pretty; the piece of parti-coloured silken fringe that edges the - end of this maniple is older than the textile to which it is sewed. - - -8670. - -The hind Orphrey for a Chasuble, with embroidered figures applied upon -a ground red and gold. The figures are a knight bareheaded and kneeling -in prayer, with his helmet and shield before him, St. Catherine of -Alexandria, and St. Anthony of Egypt reading a book. German, middle of -the 15th century. 2 feet 11 inches by 5¼ inches. - - The figures are well done, and all show the varieties of process - then brought into use; they were worked on canvas, of which the - portions for the face and hands were left untouched, saving by the few - slight stitches required for indicating the hair and features of the - countenance and indications of the fingers. Some of the dress was cut - out of woven cloth of gold and sewed on; other parts worked with the - needle, as were such accessories as books, instruments of martyrdom, - and other such emblems. The knight, probably the giver of the - chasuble, is meant to be indicated by his blazon, which is a shield - _or_ charged with eight _torteaux_ in orle, and this is surmounted - by a golden helmet with mantling, and a crest, consisting of golden - horns fringed with four _torteaux_ each. The ground upon which the - embroideries are set is rich, and woven with golden wheel-like circles - with wavy, not straight, spokes upon a bright red field. - - -8671. - -Fragment of an Orphrey, woven in gold and coloured silks; pattern, -intertwining brambles of the wild rose, bearing flowers seeded and -barbed. German, beginning of the 16th century. 7¾ inches by 4½ -inches. - - Though the ground is, or rather was, of gold, so sparingly was the - precious metal bestowed upon the thread, that it has been almost - entirely worn away. The same may be said of the very narrow tape with - which, on one of its edges, it is still bordered. - - -8672. - -Part of an Orphrey, embroidered upon linen, in coloured silks, and -figured with St. Anthony and a virgin martyr-saint, both standing -beneath Gothic canopies. Rhenish, late 15th century. 1 foot 9 inches by -3¾ inches. - - Notwithstanding the embroidery be somewhat coarse, like much of the - same kind of work at the period, it is so far valuable as it instructs - us how three methods were practised together on one piece. The canvas - ground was left bare at the faces and hands, so that the features of - the one and the joints of the other might be shown by appropriate - stitches in silk. Pieces of golden web, cut to the right size, were - applied for the upper garments of the figures, and the folds shaded - by hand in red silk, and the borders of the robe edged with a small - cording, while all the rest of the work was filled in with needlework. - The closely fitting scull-cap, but more especially the staff ending - in a tau-cross, indicate St. Anthony, but the female saint cannot - be identified; her long hair flowing about her shoulders signifies - that she was a virgin, and the green palm-branch in her right hand - indicates that she underwent martyrdom. - - -8673. - -Piece of Raised Velvet; ground, yellowish pink, the raised velvet, -bright crimson; pattern, a large compound floriation within a circle -formed by small hooked lines having flowers at the cusps, and the round -itself springing out of a somewhat smaller floriation. Flemish, 16th -century. 2 feet 3 inches by 1 foot 1¾ inches. - - -8674. - -Piece of Raised Velvet; the ground, orange, the raised velvet, green; -the pattern, of pomegranate form, within crocketed circles, and -alternating with a large floriation. Flemish, 16th century. 2 feet -4½ inches by 11 inches. - - The raised pattern, from its rich pile, stands up well, and was hung - upon walls, or employed for curtains and other household appliances, - for which such stuffs were generally produced. - - -8675. - -Piece of Worsted Needlework; pattern, lozenges after several forms, and -done in various colours. Flemish, 16th century. 18½ inches by 12 -inches. - - Worked after the same fashion, and with the same materials, that our - ladies at this day employ upon their Berlin wool work. - - -8676. - -Piece of Linen Damask; pattern, artichoke and pomegranate forms. -Flemish, 16th century. 1 foot 3 inches by 1 foot 1¾ inches. - - The design is carefully elaborated; and the piece itself is evidence - of the beauty of old Flemish napery. - - -8677. - -A Small Cloth for an Oratory, of fine linen, embroidered with sprigs -of flowers in their proper colours, in silk, and with I. H. S. in red -gothic letters, within a thorn-like wreath in green. Flemish, 16th -century. 2 feet 6 inches by 1 foot 10 inches. - - That this cloth has been cut down is evident; the sacred monogram is - not in the middle, and the higher row of flowers is shortened. Though - hemmed with tape on one side, and edged on two sides by very narrow - strong lace, and on the fourth or front border by a broader lace, - its last use was as a covering for some sort of table, not an altar - properly so called; it is by far very much too small for any such - purpose. In all likelihood, this cloth was made to overspread the - top of a praying desk, or some little table strewed with devotional - objects in a bed-room or private oratory. - - -8678. - -Portion of Worsted Embroidery upon light brown linen; the pattern, a -scroll of flowers and foliage in colours German, late 16th century. 1 -foot 5¾ inches by 4¼ inches. - - The design is made to run along well, and the colours are nicely - contrasted. - - -8679. - -Piece of Silk Damask, of a light red and straw colour; pattern, two -varieties of the pomegranate mixed with large artichokes and small -crowns, and separated by thick branches, which are purpled with broad -ivy-like leaves. Italian, 16th century. 2 feet 10 inches by 1 foot 11 -inches. - - A bold pattern, remarkable for the originality of some parts of its - design. - - -8680, 8680A. - -Two Pieces of Raised Velvet, green and gold; pattern, a modification of -the favourite pomegranate and its accompanying intertwining foliage; -very large and incomplete. Florentine, early 16th century. 2 feet 1 -inch by 9½ inches; 1 foot 3 inches by 10½ inches. - - These two pieces give us specimens of those gorgeous stuffs so often - sent forth to the world from the looms of Tuscany, and afford, in - portions of the design, samples of velvet raised upon velvet so very - rarely to be found. The little short loops, or spots, of gold thread, - with which the velvet is in some parts freckled, ought not to go - unnoticed. - - -8681. - -Piece of Embroidery, wrought with a running pattern of leaves and -flowers in coloured threads upon a golden ground, now much tarnished. -German, 16th century, 1 foot 6 inches by 4½ inches. - - Embroidery in thread is of somewhat rare occurrence. - - -8682. - -Part of a Web for church use, wrought in thread and silk upon a golden -ground, now much faded. The pattern, trees bearing white flowers, -bunches of white lilies, wheels with stars, and the words “Jhesus, -Maria.” Cologne, late 15th century. 6 feet by 5 inches. - - That it once formed a frontlet or border to the front edge of an - altar-cloth is very likely, not only from the spots of wax with which - it is in some parts sprinkled, but more especially from the way in - which its pattern is wrought, so as to be properly seen when stretched - out horizontally. - - -8683, 8684. - -Two Specimens of Web for church use; woven in silks, upon a golden -ground; the first with the sacred name “Jhesus,” and a tree bearing -white and red flowers, with daisies at its foot, and the name “Maria,” -beneath which is a garland of white and red flowers twined about the -letter M; the second, with a round ornament, having red and gold -stars upon a tawny white ground between each of its eight radii, -and underneath the sacred name, in dark blue silk. German, late 15th -century. 1 foot 7½ inches by 2½ inches; 7 inches by 3¼ inches. - - Like several other examples of the same kind to be found in this - collection, and wrought for the same liturgical purposes. - - -8685. - -Piece of Raised Velvet, dark blue; pattern, one of the several -varieties of the pomegranate. Italian, 16th century. 1 foot 3½ -inches by 1 foot 3 inches. - - Rich neither in material nor design, this velvet may have been wrought - not for ecclesiastical but personal use. - - -8686. - -Piece of Silk Damask, purple; pattern, the pomegranate. Italian. 2 feet -5 inches by 11¾ inches. - - Like the preceding, meant for personal use, but exhibiting a much - more elaborate design, and the variety of the corn-flower (centaurea) - springing forth all round the pomegranate, which itself grows out of a - fleur-de-lis crown. - - -8687. - -Piece of Embroidery, on canvas; ground, figured with St. John the -Baptist and St. John the Evangelist. Rhenish, 16th century. 1 foot 4 -inches square. - - To the left is seen St. John the Baptist, clothed in a long garment of - camel-hair and his loins girt with a light-blue girdle, preaching in - the wilderness on the banks of the Jordan. In his left hand he holds - a clasped book, upon which rests the “Lamb of God,” and just over, - a flag, the white field of which is ensigned with a red cross; his - upraised right hand, with the first two fingers elevated as in the act - of blessing, is pointed to the lamb. To the right we have St. John - the Evangelist, holding a cup in one hand, while with the other he - makes the poisonous drug in it harmless by a blessing. - - The grounding has been filled in mostly with golden thread, but of - so poor a quality that the thin metal on it is scarcely discernible. - In both figures the whole of the person, the fleshes, as well as - clothing, are all done in woven white silk cut out, shaded, and - featured in colours by the brush, with some little needlework here and - there upon the garments and accessories. The figures of the saints are - “applied;” and one cannot but admire the effect which a few stitches - of rich green silk produce upon the canvas ground, while a piece of - applied silk, slightly shaded by the brush, is an admirable imitation - of a rocky cliff. The two tall trees and green garlands between - them are telling in their warm tones. Altogether this is a precious - specimen of applied work, and merits attention. It seems to have been - the middle piece of a banner used for processions, and may have once - belonged to some church at Cologne dedicated to the two SS. John. - - -8688. - -Portion of an Orphrey, crimson satin, embroidered with flowers in -coloured silk and gold thread. 17th century. 1 foot 3½ inches by 2 -inches. - - From what liturgical vestment this was taken it would be hard to - guess, but there is no likelihood that it ever ornamented a mitre. - The yellow flowers, of the composite kind, and heart’s-eases are very - nicely done, whether the work of an Italian, French, or German hand. - They have much about them that speaks of France. - - -8689. - -Piece of Raised Velvet, brown, with floriated pattern in gold thread. -North Italy, early 16th century. 1 foot 1½ inches by 6½ inches. - - Most likely from the looms of Lucca, and with a pretty diapering in - the gold ground where it is bare of the velvet pile. - - -8690. - -Piece of Green Velvet, spangled with gold, and embroidered with three -armorial shields in gold thread and coloured silks. German, 17th -century. 10 inches by 9¾ inches. - - All the shields are very German, especially in their crests. The - shield on the right hand will attract notice by its anomaly; on a - field _azure_ it gives a rose _gules_ barbed _green_, or colour upon - colour; the crest, too, is a curiosity, at least in English blazon, - displaying an Elector’s cap with very tall bullrushes, five in number, - and coloured proper, issuing from between the ermine and the crimson - velvet. - - -8691. - -Linen Napkin, for liturgic use, embroidered, in coloured silks, with -conventional flowers. German, end of the 16th century. 2 feet ½ inch -by 1 foot 11 inches. - - This is another of those liturgical rarities--Corpus Christi - cloths--of which we have spoken at No. 8342, under the name of - Sindons, or Pyx-cloths. Such appliances were employed for mantling - the pyx or ciborium when shut up in the tabernacle--that little - temple-like erection on the table, or rather step, on the wall-side - of the altar--when the custom ceased of keeping the pyx hanging up - beneath a canopy. - - -8692. - -Hood of a Cope, silk damask, red and yellow, with the subject of the -Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary woven in it. Florentine, late -15th century. 1 foot 5 inches by 1 foot 4½ inches. - - Uprising from her grave, and amid rays of glory and an oblong or - elliptic aureole, the Virgin Mary is being wafted to heaven by four - angels, who are not, as of yore, vested in long close albs like - deacons, but in flowing garments so slit up as to show their naked - arms, bare legs, and lower thighs. Upon the empty tomb, from out of - which are springing up lilies, is written “Assunta est;” and at one - corner kneels the apostle St. Thomas who, with head uplifted and both - his arms outstretched, is receiving from the mother of our Lord her - girdle, which she is holding in her hands and about to let drop down - to him. “La Madonna della cintola”--this subject--may often be met - with in Italian, more especially Florentine, art of the middle ages, - and is closely linked with the history of the fine old church of - Prato, as we gather from Vasari, in his “Vite dei Pittori,” t. i. p. - 279, Firenze, 1846; and the English translation, t. ii. p. 75. - - -8693. - -Linen Napkin, for liturgic use, embroidered in white, brown, and blue -thread, with figures of our Lord and the twelve Apostles. German, 4 -feet 8 inches by 1 foot 4½ inches. - - Like the valuable specimen of the needle described at No. 8358, the - example before us served the purpose of covering the lectern in the - chancel at the celebration of the liturgy. - - As in the usual representations of the Jesse-tree, the bust of each - of the thirteen figures is made to rest within a circular branch - upon its tip, where it sprouts out like a wide flower. At the top - of this tree we behold our Lord with His right hand uplifted in the - act of benediction, His left rested upon a mund, and, about His head - a scroll inscribed “Pax F(V)obis.” To the right is St. Peter--so - inscribed--holding a key; to the left, St. John, as a beardless - youth--inscribed “S. Johnis;” then St. Anderus (Andrew), with a cross - saltire-wise; and St. Jacob (James), with his pilgrim’s staff in - hand, and on his large slouched hat turned up in front he has two - pilgrim-staves in saltire; St. Jacobi (James the Less), with fuller’s - bat; St. Simonus (Simon), beardless, with a long knife or sword jagged - or toothed like a saw; St. Thomas, with his spear; St. Bartlyme - (Bartholomew), with the flaying knife; St. Judas Tadvs (Jude or - Thaddeus), with a knotted club; St. Matheus (Matthew), with a hatchet, - and beardless; St. Philippe, with a cross bottony, and beardless; - St. Mathias, with a halbert. At bottom is marked, in blue ink, 1574; - but it may be fairly doubted if this date be the true one for this - embroidery, of which the style looks at least fifty years older. - - -8694. - -Fragment of Silk and Cotton Tissue, green, with small flower pattern. -Italian, late 16th century. 6½ inches by 4¼ inches. - - A pleasing specimen, rich in material, and bright in its tones, very - likely from the South of Italy. - - -8695. - -Piece of Silk Damask, crimson and yellow; pattern, scroll and foliage. -French, end of 16th century. 1 foot 7¾ inches by 1 foot 9 inches. - - This piece, intended for household use, is not without effect in its - design. Though the warp is silk, in the woof there is linen thread, - though not easily perceived. - - -8696. - -Piece of Fine Linen, with broad border of flowers in coloured silks. -Syrian (?), 15th century. 12¼ inches by 1 foot 7 inches. - - This very fine linen has all the appearance of having been wrought - in some country on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, and - reminds us of those thin textures for which India was, and yet is, - so celebrated. The embroidery, too, is but a timid imitation of - flowers, and is so worked as to be equally good on both sides. To all - appearance it is she end of a woman’s scarf. - - -8697. - -Piece of Needlework in coloured worsteds, upon a canvas ground; -pattern, zig-zag lozenges, containing tulips and other liliacious -flowers. German, middle of 16th century. 1 foot 4¾ inches by 1 foot -1 inch. - - Seemingly, this is but a small piece of a foot-cloth for the upper - step of an altar. - - -8698. - -Linen Damask Napkin; pattern, scrolls enclosing a pomegranate -ornamentation; border, at two sides, rich lace. Flemish, 16th century. -4 feet 3 inches by 2 feet 3½ inches. - - This napkin probably served for carrying to the altar the Sunday “holy - loaf,” as it was called in England, the use of which is still kept up - in France, and known there as the “pain benit.” For an account of this - ancient rite, see the “Church of our Fathers,” i. 135. - - -8699. - -Small Bag, silk and linen thread, embroidered in quadrangular pattern. -German, 15th century. 3½ inches square. - - Very like the one under No. 8313. It may have been used as a - reliquary, or, what is more probable, for carrying the rosary-beads of - some lady. Concerning the form of prayer itself, see the “Church of - our Fathers,” t. iii. p. 320. - - -8700. - -Piece of Embroidery, upon an older piece of white silk, brocaded in -gold, three armorial shields in their proper tinctures, all within a -golden wreath. German, late 16th century. 4 inches square. - - -8701. - -Piece of Black Raised Velvet, with small flower pattern. Italian, 16th -century. 1 foot by 7 inches. - - A pleasing example of the Genoese loom. - - -8702. - -Piece of Damask, silk and linen, tawny and yellow; pattern, a -modification of the pomegranate within oblong curves, and other -floriations. Florentine, 16th century. 2 feet 11½ inches by 1 foot -1½ inches. - -[Illustration: 8702 - -DAMASK, SILK AND LINEN, - -Florentine, 16th century. - - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith. - -] - - Of a large bold design, though not rich in material. - - -8703. - -Piece of Damask, silk and linen, tawny and yellow; pattern, a slight -variation of the foregoing, No. 8702. Florentine, 16th century. 3 feet -4 inches by 9½ inches. - - So much alike are these two specimens, that at first sight they look - parts of the same stuff; a near and close inspection shows, however, - that for one or other there was a slight alteration in the gearing of - the loom. Both may have originally been crimson and yellow: if so, - the first colour has sadly faded. From the shape of this piece, its - last use must have been for a chasuble, but of a very recent period, - judging from its actual shape. - - -8704. - -Chasuble, cloth of gold, diapered with a deep-piled blue velvet, so -as to show the favourite artichoke pattern after two forms, with -embroidered orphreys and armorial shields. Flemish, very late 15th -century. 4 feet 4½ inches by 3 feet 10½ inches. - - [Illustration: 8704. - PART OF THE ORPHREY OF A CHASUBLE. - Flemish, 15th century. - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith.] - - This chasuble, rare, because not cut-down, has been lately but - properly repaired. The back orphrey, in the form of a cross, is - figured with the Crucifixion, the B. V. Mary fainting and upheld by - St. John; a shield _gules_, with chalice _or_, and host _argent_, at - top; another shield at bottom, _gules_, a column _argent_, twined with - cords _or_; the front orphrey is figured with the B. V. Mary crowned, - and carrying our infant Lord in her arms; beneath her, the words - inscribed in blue, “Salve Regina;” lower down, St. John the Evangelist - blessing a golden chalice, out of which is coming a dragon, - and having the inscription at his feet, “Sanctus Iohannes.” Lower - still, St. Catherine with a book in her right hand, and in the left a - sword resting on a wheel. - - The front orphrey is done in applied work; the back orphrey consists - of a web with a ground of gold, figured with green flower-bearing - boughs, and having spaces left for the heads and hands to be filled - in with needlework. The shield of arms _or_, with a chief _azure_, - charged with three square buckles _argent_, we may presume to be the - blazon of the giver of this gorgeous vestment. - - -8705. - -Frontlet to an Altar-Cloth of diapered linen. The frontlet itself -is the broad border of purple cloth on which is figured a Latin -inscription within wreaths of flowers done in white linen. German, late -15th century. 10 feet 9 inches by 6½ inches; the linen, 9 inches. - - This is another liturgical appliance, once so common everywhere, and - so often mentioned in English ecclesiastical documents, which has - now become a very great rarity. From the shred of the altar-cloth - itself to which it is sewed, that linen, with its fine diapering and - its two blue stripes, diapered, too, and vertically woven in, must - have been of a costly kind, and large enough to overspread the whole - table of the altar, so that this blue frontlet fell down in front. - The Latin inscription, each word parted by a wreath, from four parts - of which shoot sprigs of flowers, reads thus:--“O Gloriosum lumen - ec(c)lesiarum funde preces pro salute populorum.” The letters, as well - as all the floral ornamentation of this short prayer, are wrought in - pieces of linen stitched on with red thread; and below is a worsted - parti-coloured fringe, 1¾ inches deep. For the use of the frontlet - in England, during the mediæval period, the reader may consult the - “Church of our Fathers,” i. 238. - - -8706. - -An Altar-Frontal in very dark brown coarse cloth, on which are applied -armorial shields, and the ground is filled in with flower-bearing -branches, in worsted and silk. German, beginning of 16th century. 7 -feet 8 inches by 4 feet 1 inch. - - Though of so late a period, this altar-frontal can teach those - studious of such appliances how readily and effectively such works may - be wrought. The whole is divided into eight squares; in the middle of - each is put a shield alternating with another in its blazon, the first - being _or_, three hearts _gules_, two and one, between three bendlets - _sable_; the second, _argent_, an eagle _sable_ on an arched bough - raguly _azure_ in the dexter base. The ramifications twining all over - the ground are done in light brown broad worsted threads stitched on - with white thread; and the flowers, all seeded and barbed, some white, - some yellow, as if in accordance with the tints of the two shields, - are done in silk. At bottom this frontal has been edged with a deep - fringe, parti-coloured white and black. - - -8707. - -Chasuble, blue cut velvet; pattern, one of the pomegranate forms, with -orphreys. German, late 15th century. 9 feet 5 inches by 4 feet 9 inches. - - To the liturgical student fond of vestments in their largest, most - majestic shapes, this chasuble will afford great satisfaction, as it - is one of the few known that have not been cut down. The front orphrey - is a piece of narrow poor web, once of gold, but not much worn; the - hind orphrey is a long cross, raguly or knotted, with our Lord nailed - to it; above is the Eternal Father wearing an imperial crown of gold - lined crimson, and in the act of blessing, between whom and our - Saviour is the Holy Ghost in shape of a silver dove with outspread - wings. At foot is the group of the Blessed Virgin Mary fainting, and - hindered from falling by St. John. - - -8708. - -The Blue Linen Lining of a Dalmatic, with the parti-coloured fringe -bordering the front of the vestment, and some other fragments. 4 feet -1½ inches by 5 feet 7 inches. The silk Sicilian, 14th century. - - The silk is much like the specimen fully described under No. 8263. - - -8709. - -Altar-Frontal of grey linen, figured in needlework, with flowers, -stars, and heraldic animals, on alternating squares of plain linen and -net-work. German, 15th century. 9 feet 5½ inches by 4 feet 2½ -inches. - - This important piece of stitchery was never meant for a covering to - the table or upper part of the altar; it served as a frontal to it, - and was hung before, and at each corner of the altar so as to cover it - and its two sides down to the ground. From all its ornaments having - an armorial feeling about them, this elaborate piece of needlework - would seem to have been wrought by the hands of some noble lady, who - took the blazon of her house for its adornment. At the lower part, in - the middle, is a shield of arms _argent_, charged with two bars once - _gules_; high above, a star of eight points voided _gules_; below, a - fleur-de-lis barred _argent_ and _gules_; at each of the four corners - of the square a maneless lion rampant barred _argent_ and _gules_. To - the right, on the same level, a square filled in with fleurs-de-lis; - then a square with birds and beasts unknown to English heraldry: the - birds, natant, have heads of the deer kind, horned, and the beasts - a beaked head with a single arched horn coming out of the forehead - with the point of the bow in front; both birds and beasts are paled - _argent_ and _gules_. On the next square are stars of eight points, - and flowers with eight petals, within quatrefoils all _argent_, upon a - field (the netting) _gules_. The last square is separated into three - pales each charged with a flower-like ornament alternately _argent_ - and _gules_. Above this square is another of net _gules_, charged - with four flowers _argent_; and, going to the left, we have a square - showing two bears combatant barred _argent_ and _gules_; still to the - left, birds at rest, and stars alternating _argent_ upon a square of - net _gules_. Next to this a large antelope tripping paled _argent_ - and _gules_; then a square having lions rampant within lozenges with - a four-petaled flower at every point, all _argent_, on a field (of - net) _gules_. Following this is a large dog, maned and rampant barred - _argent_ and _gules_; to this succeeds a square of net _gules_ charged - with lozenges, having over each point a mascle, and within them stars - of eight points all _argent_. The last square to the left on this - middle row is charged with a heart-shaped ornament voided in the - form of a fleur-de-lis, and put in three piles of four with flowers - between. The only other square differing from those just noticed are - the two charged with an animal of the deer kind, with antlers quite - straight. The narrow borders at the sides are not the least curious - parts of this interesting specimen; that on the left hand is made up - of a dog running after a bearded antelope, which is confronted by a - griffin so repeated as to fill up the whole line. The border on the - right hand is made up of the beast with the one horn. - - -8710. - -Alb of White Linen appareled at the cuffs, and before and behind at the -feet, with crimson and gold stuff figured with animals and floriations -of the looms of Palermo. Sicilian, 14th century. 5 feet 7 inches long, -4 feet across the shoulders, without the sleeves. - - For those curious in liturgical appliances this fine alb of the - mediæval period will be a valuable object of study, though perhaps - not for imitation in the way in which it is widened at the waist. Its - large opening at the neck--1 foot 4½ inches--is somewhat scalloped, - but without any slit down the front, or gatherings, or band. On each - shoulder, running down 1 foot 3¾ inches, is a narrow piece of - crochet-work inscribed in red letters with the names “JESUS,” “MARIA.” - The full sleeves, from 1 foot 6 inches wide, are gradually narrowed - to 6¼ inches at the end of the apparels at the cuffs, which are 4 - inches deep and edged with green linen tape. At the waist, where it - is 3 feet 10 inches, it is made, by means of gatherings upon a gusset - embroidered with a cross-crosslet in red thread, to widen itself into - 6 feet, or 12 feet all round. Down the middle, before and behind, as - far as the apparels, is let in a narrow piece of crochet-work like - that upon the shoulders, but uninscribed. The two apparels at the - feet--one before, the other behind--vary in their dimensions, one - measuring 1 foot 1 inch by 1 foot 1¾ inches, the other, which is - made up of fragments, 1 foot by 11¾ inches. Very elaborate and - freely designed is the heraldic pattern on the rich stuff which forms - the apparels. The ground is of silk, now faded, but once a bright - crimson; the figures, all in gold, are an eagle in demi-vol, langued, - with a ducal crown, not upon, but over its head; above this is a - mass of clouds with pencils of sun-rays darting from beneath them - all around; higher up again, a collared hart lodged, with its park - set between two large bell-shaped seeded drooping flowers, beneath - each of which is a dog collared and courant. For English antiquaries, - it may be interesting to know that upon the mantle and kirtle in - the monumental effigy of King Richard II, in Westminster Abbey, - the hart as well as the cloud with rays form the pattern on those - royal garments, and are well shown in the valuable but unfinished - “Monumental Effigies of Great Britain,” by the late brothers Hollis. - This alb is figured, but not well with regard to the apparels, by Dr. - Bock, in his “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” - 4 Lieferung, pl. iii, fig. 1. - - -8711. - -Chasuble, Cloth of, now tawny, once crimson, silk; pattern, animals -amid floriations. Sicilian, 14th century. 4 feet 5 inches by 3 feet 6 -inches. - - Made of precisely the same rich and beautiful stuff employed in the - apparels of the alb just noticed, No. 8710, the elaborate design of - which is here seen in all its perfectness. The chasuble itself has - been much cut away from its first large shape. - - -8712. - -Part of a large Piece of Needlework, done upon linen in coloured -worsteds, figured with a king and queen seated together on a Gothic -throne, and a young princess sitting at the queen’s feet. All about are -inscriptions. German (?), 15th century. 5 feet 6½ inches by 3 feet -10 inches. - - Wofully cut as this large work has been, enough remains to make it - very interesting. The king,--whose broad-toed shoes, as well as the - very little dog at his feet, will not escape notice,--holds a royal - sceptre in his left hand, and around his head runs a scroll bearing - this inscription, “Inclitus Rex Alfridus ex ytalia Pacis amator.” - About the head of the queen, which is wimpled, the scroll is written - with, “Pia Hildeswit Fundatrix Peniten (?), A^o. M^o. XII^o.” Below - the princess, whose hair, as that of a maiden, falls all about - her shoulders, and whose diadem is not a royal one, nor jewelled - like those worn by the king and queen, runs a scroll bearing these - words, “Albergissa Abbatissa.” Just under the king, on a broad band, - comes--“o. dāpnacionis (damnationis) in &.” At top, on a broad bright - crimson ground, in large yellow letters, we read--“v (ex voto?) hoc - opus completum ē (est).” From droppings of wax still upon it, this - curious piece of needlework must have been used somewhere about an - altar--very likely as a sort of reredos; and from the inscription, it - would seem to have been wrought as an ex voto offering. - - -8713. - -Piece of Needlework, in silk, upon linen, figured with St. Bartholomew -and St. Paul, each standing beneath a round arch. German, early 12th -century. 2 feet 8 inches by 1 foot 6 inches. - - The linen upon which this venerable specimen of embroidery is done - shows a very fine texture; but the silk in which the whole is wrought - is of such an inferior quality that, at first sight, though soft to - the touch, it looks like the better sort of untwisted cotton thread. - Such parts of the design as were meant to be white are left uncovered - upon the linen, and the shading is indicated by brown lines. As - such early examples are scarce, this is a great curiosity. Dr. Bock - has figured it in his “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des - Mittelalters,” 2 Lieferung, pl. viii. - - -8942. - -Persian Tunic, crimson satin, embroidered in various-coloured silks -after shawl-patterns, with a double-mouthed long pocket in front. 4 -feet by 3 feet. - - -8973. - -Piece of Embroidered Silk; ground, blue silk; pattern, flowers in -coloured flos-silks and gold thread, and broad band figured with -wood-nymphs, syrens, boys, and an animal half a fish and half a lion. -Italian, 17th century. 6 feet ½ inch by 3 feet 1½ inches. - - No doubt this embroidery served as domestic decoration. It may have - been employed as the front to a lady’s dressing-table. - - -8975. - -Counterpane; ground, thread net, embroidered with foliage and flowers -in various silks. Italian, 16th century. 8 feet by 7 feet 10 inches. - - The flos-silks used are of a bright colour, and the whole was worked - in narrow slips sewed together in places with yellow silk; in other - parts the joinings were covered by a narrow silk lace of a pleasing - design. - - -8976. - -Frontal to an Altar; ground, crimson; pattern, sacred subjects and -saints, some in gold, some in yellow silk. Venetian, early 16th -century. 6 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 3½ inches. - - This frontal is made out of pieces of woven orphreys, and by the way - in which those pieces are put together we know that they must have - been taken from old vestments, some of which had been much used. It is - composed of nine stripes or pales of broad orphrey-web; and allowing - for the two end pales being brought round the ends of the altar when - hung there, it would then present seven stripes or pales to the eye. - Looking at it thus, we find the first pale of crimson silk, figured in - yellow silk, with the B. V. Mary holding our Lord as an infant on her - lap, with the mund or terraqueous globe surmounted by a cross in His - right hand, amid a strap-like foliation; the next pale of crimson silk - is figured in gold, with a saint-bishop vested in alb, stole crossed - over his breast, and cope, and wearing jewelled gloves, with his - pastoral staff in his right hand. The third pale, in yellow silk upon - a crimson ground, presents us our Lord’s tomb, with soldiers watching - it, and our Lord Himself uprising, with His right hand giving a - blessing, and in His left a banner, and by His side cherubic heads. - The fourth pale at top gives us the B. V. Mary and our infant Saviour - in her arms, very much worn away, and beneath, St. Peter with his - keys, in gold upon crimson. The other pales are but repetitions of the - foregoing. Altogether, this frontal, thread-bare as it is in places, - is well worth the attention of those who interest themselves in the - history of Venetian design, and the art of weaving. - - -8977. - -Hood to a Cope; ground, two shades of yellow silk; subject, the -Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Venetian, 16th century. 1 foot 4 -inches by 1 foot 3½ inches. - - Within an oval, upheld by four angels, and radiant with glory, - and having a cherubic head beneath her, the B. V. Mary is rising - heavenward from her tomb, out of which lilies are springing, and by it - St. Thomas on his knees is reaching out his hand to catch the girdle - dropped down to him. On an oval upon the face of the tomb is written - “Assunta est,” like what is shown in other pieces in this collection. - - -8978. - -Piece of Silk Orphrey Web; ground, crimson; pattern, the Coronation, in -heaven, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in yellow. Venetian, 16th century. -1 foot 7½ inches by 10¾ inches. - - This design, though treated after the tradition of the Italian - schools, has one peculiarity. On the royal diadem which our Lord, who - wears, as Great High Priest of the new law, a triple-crowned tiara, is - putting on the head of His mother a large star is conspicuously shown; - one of the titles of St. Mary is “stella maris,” star of the sea, - which would not be forgotten by a seafaring people like the Venetians. - - -8979. - -Tissue of Crimson Silk and Gold Thread; pattern, the Blessed Virgin -Mary in glory, amid cherubic heads, and having two angels, one on each -side, standing on clouds. Venetian, 16th century. 1 foot 4 inches by 1 -foot. - - The subject, a favourite one of the time, is the Assumption of the - B. V. Mary, and the tissue was woven entirely for the adornment of - liturgical furniture. - - -9047. - -Cushion, elaborately wrought by the needle on fine canvas, and figured -with animals, armorial bearings, flowers, and love-knots, as well as -with the letters I and R royally crowned. Scotch, 17th century. 11 -inches by 8 inches. - - We have on the first large pane a rose tree, bearing one red rose - seeded _or_, barbed _vert_, and at its foot, but separating them, - two unicorns _argent_, outlined and horned in silver thread; above - them, and separated by the red rose, two lions passant, face to face, - langued and outlined in gold thread; above the flower a royal crown - _or_, and two small knots _or_, and at each side a white rose slipped; - over each unicorn a gold knot, and a strawberry proper. Beneath this - larger shield are three small ones: the first, fretty _or_, and - _vert_ (but so managed that the field takes the shape of strawberry - leaves), charged with four true-love-knots _or_, and in chief _vert_, - a strawberry branch or wire _or_, bearing one fruit proper, and one - flower _argent_; the second shield gives us, on a field _azure_, and - within an orle of circles linked together on four sides by golden - bands, and charged with strawberry fruit, and leaf, and flower proper, - and alternating, a plume of Prince of Wales’s feathers _argent_, with - the quill of the middle feather marked red or _gules_, at each of - the four corners there is a true-love-knot in gold; the third small - shield is a series of circles outlined in gold, and filled in with - quatrefoils outlined green; below, on a large green pane, a white rose - slipped, with grapes and acorns; by its side, the capital letters, in - gold, I and R, with a strawberry and leaf close by each letter, and - above all, and between two love-knots, a regal crown. By the sides of - this device are several small panes, exhibiting fanciful patterns of - flowers, &c.: but in most of them the true-love-knot as well as the - strawberry plant, in one combination or another, are the principal - elements; and in one of the squares or panes the ornamentation - evidently affects the shape of the capital letter S; upon the other - side, with an orle of knots of different kinds, is figured a mermaid - on the sea, with a comb in one hand, and on one side of this pane is - shown a high-born dame, whose fan, seemingly of feathers, is very - conspicuous. Underneath the mermaid are shown, upon a field _vert_, - a man with a staff, amid four rabbits, each with a strawberry-leaf - in its mouth, and at each far corner a stag. As on the other side, - so here the larger squares are surrounded by smaller ones displaying - in their design true-love-knots, strawberries, acorns, roses, white - and red, and in one pane the combination, in a sort of net-work, of - the true-love-knot with the letter S, is very striking. In Scotland - several noble families, whether they spell their name Fraser or - Frazer, use, as a canting charge in their blazon, the frasier or - strawberry, leafed, flowered, and fructed proper; the buck, too, comes - in upon or about their armorial shields. And this may have been worked - by a member of that family. - - -9047A. - -Silk Damask; ground, white; pattern, wreaths of flowers and fruits, in -net-work, each mesh filled in with two peacocks beneath a large bunch -of red centaurea, or corn-flowers. Sicilian, late 15th century. 2 feet -3½ inches by 1 foot 8 inches. - - The garlands of the meshes, made out of boughs of oak bearing red and - blue acorns, have, at foot, two eagles red and blue; at top, two green - parrots beneath a bunch of pomegranates, the fruit of which is red - and cracked, showing its blue seed ready to fall out. The corn-flower - is spread forth like a fan. This stuff shows the mark of Spanish rule - over the two Sicilies. - - -9182. - -The Syon Monastery Cope; ground, green, with crimson interlacing barbed -quatrefoils enclosing figures of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the -Apostles, with winged cherubim standing on wheels in the intervening -spaces, and the orphrey, morse, and hem wrought with armorial bearings, -the whole done in gold, silver, and various-coloured silks. English -needlework, 13th century. 9 feet 7 inches by 4 feet 8 inches. - - [Illustration: 9182. - PART OF THE ORPHREY OF THE SYON COPE. - English, 13th century. - Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith.] - - This handsome cope, so very remarkable on account of its comparative - perfect preservation, is one of the most beautiful among the several - liturgic vestments of the olden period anywhere to be now found in - christendom. If by all lovers of mediæval antiquity it will be looked - upon as so valuable a specimen in art of its kind and time, for every - Englishman it ought to have a double interest, showing, as it does, - such a splendid and instructive example of the “Opus Anglicum,” or - English work, which won for itself so wide a fame, and was so eagerly - sought after throughout the whole of Europe during the middle ages. - - Beginning with the middle of this cope, we have, at the lowermost - part, St. Michael overcoming Satan; suggested by those verses of - St. John, “And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his - angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels; - ... and that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is - called the Devil and Satan,” &c.--Rev. xii. 7, 9, to which may be - added the words of the English Golden Legend: “The fourth victorye - is that that tharchaungell Mychaell shal have of Antecryst whan he - shall flee hym. Than Michaell the grete prynce shall aryse, as it - is sayd Danielis xii, He shall aryse for them that ben chosen as an - helper and a protectour and shall strongely stande ayenst Antecryst - ... and at the last he (Antichrist) shall mount upon the mount of - Olyvete, and whan he shall be ... entred in to that place where our - Lorde ascended Mychaell shall come and shall flee hym, of whiche - victorye is understonden after saynt Gregorye that whyche is sayd in - thapocalipsis, the batayll is made in heven,” (fol. cclxx. b.). As he - tramples upon the writhing demon, the archangel, barefoot, and clad - in golden garments, and wearing wings of gold and silver feathers, - thrusts down his throat and out through his neck a lance, the shaft - of which is tipped with a golden cross crosslet, while from his left - arm he lets down an _azure_ shield blazoned with a - silver cross. The next quatrefoil above this one is filled in with the - Crucifixion. Here the Blessed Virgin Mary is arrayed in a green tunic, - and a golden mantle lined with vair or costly white fur, and her head - is kerchiefed, and her uplifted hands are sorrowfully clasped; St. - John--whose dress is all of gold--with a mournful look, is on the - left, at the foot of the cross upon which the Saviour, wrought all - in silver--a most unusual thing,--with a cloth of gold wrapped about - His loins, is fastened by three, not four, nails. The way in which - the ribs are shown and the chest thrown up in the person of our Lord - is quite after old English feelings on the subject. In the book of - sermons called the “Festival” it is said, with strong emphasis, how - “Cristes body was drawen on the crosse as a skyn of parchement on a - harow, so that all hys bonys myght be tolde,” fol. xxxiii. In the - highest quatrefoil of all is figured the Redeemer uprisen, crowned - as a king and seated on a cushioned throne. Resting upon His knee, - and steadied by His left hand, is the mund or ball representing - the earth--the world. Curiously enough, this mund is distinguished - into three parts, of which the larger one--an upper horizontal - hemicycle--is coloured crimson (now faded to a brownish tint), but the - lower hemicycle is divided vertically in two, of which one portion is - coloured green, the other white or silvered. The likelihood is, that - such markings were meant to show the then only known three parts of - our globe; for if the elements were hereon intended, there would have - been four quarters--fire, water, earth, and heaven; instead, too, of - the upper half being crimsoned, it would have been tinted, like the - heavens, blue. Furthermore, the symbolism of those days would put, - as we here see, this mund under the sovereign hand of the Saviour, - as setting forth the Psalmist’s words, “The earth is the Lord’s, and - the fulness thereof, the world and all that dwell therein;” while its - round shape--itself the emblem of endlessness--must naturally bring - to mind that everlasting Being--the Alpha and the Omega spoken of in - the Apocalypse--the beginning and the end, Who is and Who was, and - Who is to come--the Almighty. Stretching forth His right arm, with - His thumb and first two fingers upraised--emblem of one God in three - persons--He is giving His blessing to His mother. Clothed in a green - tunic, over which falls a golden mantle lined with vair or white - fur, she is seated on the throne beside Him, with hands upraised in - prayer. It ought not to be overlooked, that while the Blessed Virgin - Mary wears ornamented shoes, our Lord, like His messengers, the angels - and apostles, is barefoot. To show that as He had said to those whom - He sent before His face, that they were to carry neither purse, nor - scrip, nor shoes, so therefore, is He Himself here and elsewhere - figured shoeless. Though already in heaven, still, out of reverence - towards Him, the head of His mother is kerchiefed, as it would have - been were she yet on earth and present at the sacred liturgy. John - Beleth, an Englishman, who, in A.D. 1162, a short century before this - cope was worked, wrote a book upon the Church Ritual, lays it down as - an unbending rule that, while men are to hear the Gospel bare-headed, - all women, whatever be their age, rank, or condition, must never be - uncovered, and if a young maiden be so her mother or any other female - ought to cast a cloth of some sort over her head;--“Viri, itaque - ... aperto capite Evangelium audire debent.... Mulieres vero debent - audire Evangelium tecto et velato capite etiamsi sit virgo, propter - pomum vetitum. Et si eveniat ut virgo capite sit aperto, ut velamen - non habeat, necesse est, ut mater, aut quævis alia mulier capiti ejus - pannum vel simile quippiam imponat.” Divin. Offic. Explic. c. xxxix. - p. 507. - - The next two subjects now to be described are--one, that on the right - hand, the death of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the other, to the left, - her burial. To fully understand the traditionary treatment of both, it - would be well to give the words of Caxton’s English translation of the - “Golden Legend,” from the edition “emprynted at London, in Fletestrete - at y^e sygne of y^e Sonne, by Wynkyn de Worde, in y^e yere of our - Lorde M.CCCCXVII,” a scarce and costly work not within easy reach. “We - fynde in a booke sente to saynt Johan the evangelys, or elles the boke - whiche is sayd to be apocryphum ... in what maner the Assumpcyon of - the blessyd vyrgyn saynt Marye was made ... upon a daye whan all the - apostles were spradde through the worlde in prechynge, the gloryous - vyrgyne was gretely esprysed and enbraced wyth desyre to be wyth her - sone Ihesu Cryste ... and an aungell came tofore her with grete lyghte - and salewed her honourably as the mother of his Lorde, sayenge, All - hayle blessyd Marie.... Loo here is a bowe of palme of paradyse, lady, - ... whiche thou shalte commaunde to be borne tofore thy bere, for thy - soule shall be taken from thy body the thyrde daye nexte folowynge; - and thy Sone abydeth thee His honourable moder.... All the apostles - shall assemble this daye to thee and shall make to thee noble exequyes - at thy passynge, and in the presence of theym all thou shalte gyve up - thy spyryte. For he that broughte the prophete (Habacuc) by an heer - from Judee to Babylon (Daniel xiv. 35, according to the Vulgate) may - without doubte sodeynly in an houre brynge the apostles to thee.... - And it happened as Saynt Johan the euangelyst preched in Ephesym the - heven sodeynly thondred and a whyte cloude toke hym up and brought - hym tofore the gate of the blessyd vyrgyne Marye at Jerusalem (who) - sayd to hym, ... Loo I am called of thy mayster and my God, ... I - have herde saye that the Jewes have made a counseyll and sayd, let us - abyde brethren unto the tyme that she that bare Jhesu Crist be deed, - and thenne incontynente we shall take her body and shall caste it in - to the fyre and brenne it. Thou therefore take this palme and bere - it tofore the bere whan ye shall bere my body to the sepulcre. Than - sayd Johan, O wolde God that all my brethren the apostles were here - that we myght make thyn exequyes covenable as it hoveth and is dygne - and worthy. And as he sayd that, all the apostles were ravysshed with - cloudes from the places where they preched and were brought tofore - the dore of the blessyd vyrgyn Mary.... And aboute the thyrde houre - of the nyght Jhesu Crist came with swete melodye and songe with the - ordre of aungelles.... Fyrst Jhesu Crist began to saye, Come my chosen - and I shall set thee in my sete ... come fro Lybane my spouse. Come - from Lybane. Come thou shalte be crowned. And she sayd I come, for in - the begynnynge of the booke it is wryten of me that I sholde doo thy - wyll, for my spyryte hath joyed in thee the God of helth; and thus in - the mornynge the soule yssued out of the body and fledde up in the - armes of her sone.... And than the apostles toke the body honourably - and layde it on the bere.--And than Peter and Paule lyfte up the bere, - and Peter began to synge and saye Israhell is yssued out of Egypt, - and the other apostles folowed hym in the same songe, and our Lorde - covered the bere and the apostles with a clowde, so that they were - not seen but the voyce of them was onely herde, and the aungelles - were with the apostles syngynge, and than all the people was moved - with that swete melodye, and yssued out of the cyte and enquyred what - it was.--And than there were some that sayd that Marye suche a woman - was deed, and the dyscyples of her sone Jhesu Crist bare her, and - made suche melodye. And thenne ranne they to armes and they warned - eche other sayenge, Come and let us slee all the dysciples and let us - brenne the body of her that bare this traytoure. And whan the prynce - of prestes sawe that he was all abashed and, full of angre and wrath - sayd, Loo, here the tabernacle of hym that hath troubled us, and our - lygnage, beholde what glorye he now receyveth, and in the saynge so he - layde his hondes on the bere wyllynge to turne it and overthrowe it - to the grounde. Than sodeynly bothe his hondes wexed drye and cleved - to the bere so that he henge by the hondes on the bere and was sore - tormented and wepte and brayed. And the aungelles ... blynded all the - other people that they sawe no thynge. And the prynce of prestes sayd, - saynt Peter despyse not me in this trybulacyon, and I praye thee to - praye for me to our Lorde.--And saynt Peter sayd to hym--Kysse the - bere and saye I byleve in God Jhesu Crist. And whan he had so sayd he - was anone all hole perfyghtly.--And thenne the apostles bare Mary unto - the monument (in the Vale of Josaphat outside Jerusalem) and satte - by it lyke as oure Lord had commaunded. And at the thyrde daye ... - the soule came agayne to the body of Marye and yssued gloryously out - of the tombe, and thus was receyved in the hevenly chaumbre, and a - grete company of aungelles with her; and saynt Thomas was not there; - and whan he came he wolde not byleve this; and anone the gyrdell - with whiche her body was gyrde came to hym fro the ayre, whiche he - receyved, and therby he understode that she was assumpte into heven; - and all this it here to fore is sayd and called apocryphum,” &c. ff. - ccxvi, &c. - - With this key we may easily unlock what, otherwise, would lie hidden, - not only about the coronation, but, in an especial manner, the death - and burial, as here figured, of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the former of - these two is thus represented on the right hand side. In her own small - house by the foot of Mount Sion, at Jerusalem, is Christ’s mother on - her dying bed. Four only of the apostles--there would not have been - room enough for showing more in the quatrefoil--are standing by the - couch upon which she lies, dressed in a silver tunic almost wholly - overspread with a coverlet of gold; she is bolstered up by a deep - purple golden fretted pillow. St. Peter is holding up her head, while - by her side stands St. Paul, clad, like St. Peter, in a green tunic - and a golden mantle; then St. Matthew, in a blue tunic and a mantle - of gold, holding in the left hand his Gospel, which begins with the - generation of our Lord as man, and the pedigree of Mary His mother; - while, in front of them, stands John, arrayed in a shaded light-purple - tunic, youthful in look, and whose auburn hair is in so strong a - contrast to the hoary locks of his brethren. On the left-hand side - we have her burial. Stretched full-length upon a bier, over which is - thrown a pall of green shot with yellow, lies the Virgin Mary, her - hair hanging loose from her head. St. Peter, known by his keys, St. - Paul, by his uplifted sword, are carrying on their shoulders one end - of the bier, in front; behind, in the same office, are St. Andrew - bringing his cross with him, and some other apostle as his fellow. - After them walks St. Thomas, who, with both his uplifted hands, is - catching the girdle as it drops to him from above, where, in the - skies, her soul, in the shape of a little child, is seen standing - upright with clasped hands, within a large flowing sheet held by two - angels who have come from heaven to fetch it thither. Right before the - funeral procession is a small Jew, who holds in one hand a scabbard, - and with the other is unsheathing his weapon. By the side of the bier - stand two other Jews also small in size--one, the high priest. One of - them has both his arms, the priest but one, all twisted and shrunken, - stretched forward on the bier, as if they wanted to upset it; while - the latter holds in one of his wasted hands the green bough of the - palm-tree, put into it by St. John. - - With regard to St. Thomas and the girdle, this cope, if not the - earliest, is among the earlier works upon which that part of the - legend is figured, though after a somewhat different manner to the one - followed in Italy, where, as is evident from several specimens, in - this collection, it found such favour. - - Below the burial, we have our Lord in the garden, signified by the - two trees (John xx. 17). Still wearing a green crown of thorns, and - arrayed in a golden mantle, our Lord in His left hand holds the banner - of the resurrection, and with His right bestows His benediction on - the kneeling Magdalene, who is wimpled, and wears a mantle of green - shot yellow, over a light purple tunic. Below, but outside the - quatrefoil, is a layman clad in gold upon his knees, and holding a - long narrow scroll, bearing words which cannot now be satisfactorily - read. Lowermost of all we see the apostle St. Philip with a book in - the left hand, but upon the right, muffled in a large towel wrought in - silver, three loaves of bread, done partially in gold, piled up one on - the other, in reference to our Lord’s words (John vi. 5), before the - miracle of feeding the five thousand. At the left is St. Bartholomew - holding a book in one hand, in the other the flaying knife. A little - above him, St. Peter with his two keys, one gold, the other silver; - and somewhat under him, to the right, is St. Andrew with his cross. - On the other side of St. Michael and the dragon is St. James the - Greater--sometimes called of Compostella, because he lies buried in - that Spanish city--with a book in one hand, and in the other a staff, - and slung from his wrist a wallet, both emblems of pilgrimage to his - shrine in Galicia. In the next quatrefoil above stands St. Paul with - his usual sword, emblem alike of his martyrdom, and of the Spirit, - which is the word of God (Ephes. vi. 17), and a book; lower, to the - right, St. Thomas with his lance of martyrdom and a book; and still - further to the right, St. James the Less with a book and the club from - which he received his death-stroke (Eusebius, book ii. c. 23). Just - above is our Saviour clad in a golden tunic, and carrying a staff - overcoming the unbelief of St. Thomas. Upon his knees that apostle - feels, with his right hand held by the Redeemer, the spear-wound in - His side (John xx. 27). - - As at the left hand, so here, quite outside the sacred history on the - cope, we have the figure of an individual probably living at the time - the vestment was wrought. The dress of the other shows him to be a - layman; by the shaven crown upon his head, this person must have been - a cleric of some sort: but whether monk, friar, or secular we cannot - tell, as his gown has become quite bare, so that we see nothing now - but the lower canvas with the lines drawn in black for the shading of - the folds. Like his fellow over against him, this churchman holds up a - scroll bearing words which can no longer be read. - - When new this cope could show, written in tall gold letters more than - an inch high, an inscription now cut up and lost, as the unbroken word - “Ne” on one of its shreds, and a solitary “V” on another, are all that - remains of it, the first on the lower right side; the second, in the - like place, to the left. Though so short, the Latin word leads us to - think that it was the beginning of the anthem to the seven penitential - psalms, “_Ne_ reminiscaris, Domine, delicta nostra, _v_el parentum - nostrorum; neque _v_indictam sumas de peccatis nostris,” a suitable - prayer for a liturgical garment, upon which the mercies of the Great - Atonement are so well set forth in the Crucifixion, the overthrow of - Antichrist, and the crowning of the saints in heaven. - - In its original state it could give us, not, as now, only eight - apostles, but their whole number. Even as yet the patches on the - right-hand side afford us three of the missing heads, while another - patch to the left shows us the hand with a book, belonging to the - fourth. The lower part of this vestment has been sadly cut away, and - reshaped with shreds from itself; and perhaps at such a time were - added its present heraldic orphrey, morse, and border, perhaps some - fifty years after the embroidering of the other portions of this - invaluable and matchless specimen of the far-famed “Opus Anglicum,” or - English needlework. - - The early writers throughout Christendom, Greek as well as Latin, - distinguished “nine choirs” of angels, or three great hierarchies, in - the upper of which were the “cherubim, or seraphim, and thrones;” in - the middle one, the “dominations, virtues, and powers;” in the lower - hierarchy, the “principalities, angels, and archangels.” Now, while - looking at the rather large number of angels figured here, we shall - find that this division into three parts, each part again containing - other three, has been accurately observed. Led a good way by Ezekiel - (i.), but not following that prophet step by step, our mediæval - draughtsmen found out for themselves a certain angel form. To this - they gave a human shape having but one head, and that of a comely - youth, clothing him with six wings, as Isaias told (vi. 2) of the - seraphim, and in place of the calf’s cloven hoofs, they made it with - the feet of man; instead of its body being full of eyes, this feature - is not unoften to be perceived upon the wings, but oftenest those - wings themselves are composed of the bright-eyed feathers borrowed - from the peacock’s tail. - - Those eight angels standing upon wheels, and so placed that they are - everywhere by those quatrefoils wherein our Lord’s person comes, may - be taken to represent the upper hierarchy of the angelic host; those - other angels--and two of them only are entire--not upon wheels, and - far away from our Lord, one of the perfect ones under St. Peter, the - other under St. Paul, no doubt belong to the second hierarchy; while - those two having but one, not three, pair of wings, the first under - the death, the other under the burial of the Virgin, both of them - holding up golden crowns, one in each hand, represent, we may presume, - the lowest of the three hierarchies. All of them, like our Lord and - His apostles, are barefoot. All of them have their hands uplifted in - prayer. - - For every lover of English heraldic studies this cope, so plentifully - blazoned with armorial bearings, will have an especial value, equal - to that belonging to many an ancient roll of arms. To begin with - its orphrey: that broad band may, in regard to its shields, be - distinguished into three parts, one that falls immediately about the - neck of the cleric wearing this vestment, and the other two portions - right and left. In this first or middle piece the shields, four in - number, are of a round shape, but, unlike the square ones, through - both the other two side portions, are not set upon squares alternately - green and crimson (faded to brown) as are the quatrefoils on the body - of the cope. Taking this centre-piece first, to the left we have-- - - 6. Checky _azure_ and _or_, a chevron _ermine_. WARWICK. - - 7. Quarterly 1 and 4 _gules_, a three-towered castle _or_; 2 and 3 - _argent_, a lion rampant _azure_. CASTILE AND LEON. - - 8. Vair _or_ and _gules_, within a bordure _azure_, charged with - sixteen horse-shoes _argent_. FERRERS. - - 9. _Azure_, three barnacles _or_, on a chief _ermine_ a demi-lion - rampant _gules_. GENEVILLE. - - These four shields are round, as was said before, and upon a green - ground, having nothing besides upon it. All the rest composing this - orphrey are squares of the diamond form, and put upon a grounding - alternately crimson and green; on the crimson are two peacocks and two - swans in gold; on the green, four stars of eight rays in gold voided - crimson. Now, beginning at the furthermost left side, we see these - blazons:-- - - 1. _Ermine_, a cross _gules_ charged with five lioncels statant - gardant _or_. EVERARD. - - 2. Same as 8. FERRERS. - - 3. _Gules_, the Holy Lamb _argent_ with flag _or_, between two stars - and a crescent _or_. BADGE OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. - - 4. Same as 2. FERRERS. - - 5. Same as 1. EVERARD. - - 10. Checky _azure_ and _or_, a bend _gules_ charged with three - lioncels passant _argent_. CLIFFORD. - - 11. Quarterly _argent_ and _gules_; 2 and 3 fretty _or_, over all a - bend _sable_. SPENCER. - - 12. The same as 3, but the Lamb is _or_, the flag _argent_. BADGE OF - THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. - - 13. Same as 11. SPENCER. - - 14. Same as 10. CLIFFORD. - - Just below the two middle shields are four nicely-formed loops, - through which might be buttoned on to the cope the moveable hood--or - different hoods, according to the festival, and figured with the - subject of the feast--now lost. On the other edge of the orphrey, to - the left, are seen other three loops, like the former, made of thick - gold cord, by which was made fast the morse that is also blazoned with - ten coats, as follows:-- - - 1. _Gules_, a large six-pointed star _argent_ voided with another star - _azure_ voided _argent_ voided _gules_, between four cross-crosslets - _or_. - - 2. _Gules_, an eagle displayed _or_. LIMESI or LINDSEY. - - 3. CASTILE AND LEON. - - 4. _Gules_, a fess _argent_ between three covered cups _or_. LE - BOTILER. - - 5. CASTILE AND LEON. - - 6. FERRERS. - - 7. _Azure_, a cross _argent_ between four eagles (?) displayed - _argent_ (?). - - 8. SPENCER. - - 9. Same as 2. LINDSEY. - - 10. GENEVILLE. - - The ground is checky _azure_ and _or_ upon which these small shields - in the morse are placed. - - On the narrow band, at the hem, the same alternation of green and - crimson squares, as a ground for the small diamond-shaped shields, is - observed, as in the orphrey; and the blazons are, beginning at the - left-hand side:-- - - 1. Barry of ten _azure_ and _or_ imbattled, a fess _gules_ sprinkled - with four-petaled flowers seeded _azure_. - - 2. _Or_, charged with martlets _gules_, and a pair of bars gemelles - _azure_. - - 3. FERRERS. - - 4. CASTILE AND LEON. - - 5. _Azure_, a cross _or_. SHELDON. - - 6. _Azure_, a lion rampant _or_, within a bordure _gules_ charged with - eight water-bougets _argent_. - - 7. WARWICK. - - 8. SPENCER. - - 9. _Azure_, a bend between six birds _or_. MONTENEY of Essex. - - 10. _Gules_, sprinkled with cross-crosslets _or_, and a saltire verry - potent _argent_ and _azure_. CHAMPERNOUN. - - 11. GENEVILLE. - - 12. ENGLAND. - - 13. Checky _argent_ and _azure_, on a bend _gules_, three garbs (?) or - escallop-shells (?) _or_. - - 14. _Or_, on a fess _gules_ between six fleurs-de-lis three and three - _gules_, three fleurs-de-lis _or_. - - 15. _Gules_, a lion rampant _argent_, within a bordure _azure_, - charged with eight water-bougets _or_. - - 16. Checky _or_ and _gules_, on a bend _azure_, five horse-shoes - _argent_. - - 17. Same as 1. - - 18. Same as 2. - - 19. Same as 3. FERRERS. - - 20. Same as 10. CHAMPERNOUN. - - 21. Same as 10 in the orphrey. CLIFFORD. - - 22. Same as 8. SPENCER. - - 23. _Azure_, between six escallop-shells (?) three and three, a bend - _or_. TYDDESWALL. - - 24. Same as 6. - - 25. Paly of ten _argent_ and _azure_, on a bend _gules_, three - escallop-shells (?) _or_. A coat of GRANDISON. - - 26. _Gules_, a lion rampant _or_. FITZ ALAN. - - 27. Barry _argent_ and _azure_, a chief checky _or_ and _gules_. - - 28. GENEVILLE. - - 29. Party per fess _azure_ and _or_, a cross fusil counterchanged. - - 30. _Argent_, four birds _gules_, between a saltire _gules_, charged - with nine bezants. HAMPDEN (?). - - 31. _Azure_, five fusils in fesse _or_. PERCY. - - 32. Same as 1, on the orphrey. EVERARD. - - 33. Same as 6, on the orphrey. WARWICK. - - 34. _Gules_, three lucies hauriant in fess between six cross-crosslets - _or_. LUCY. - - 35. Paly of ten _or_ and _azure_, on a fess _gules_, three mullets of - six points _argent_, voided with a cross _azure_. CHAMBOWE (?). - - 36. Party per fess _gules_, fretted _or_, and _ermine_. RIBBESFORD (?). - - 37. Same as 9. - - 38. _Or_, on a cross _gules_, five escallop-shells _argent_. BYGOD. - - 39. Barry, a chief paly and the corners gyronny, _or_ and _azure_, an - inescutcheon _ermine_. ROGER DE MORTIMER. - - 40. Same as 6. - - 41. Party per fess, _argent_ three eight-petaled flowers formed as it - were out of a knot made cross-wise, with two flowers at the end of - each limb, and _azure_ with a string of lozenges like a fess _argent_, - and three fleurs-de-lis (?) two and one _or_. - - 42. _Gules_, a fess checky _argent_ and _azure_, between twelve cross - crosslets _or_. Possibly one of the many coats taken by LE BOTILER. - - 43. _Azure_, three lucies hauriant in fess between six cross-crosslets - _or_. LUCY. - - 44. _Ermine_, on a chevron _gules_, three escallop-shells _or_. - GOLBORE or GROVE. - - 45. Gyronny of twelve _or_ and _azure_. DE BASSINGBURN. - - Besides their heraldry, squares upon which are shown swans and - peacocks wrought at each corner, afford, in those birds, objects of - much curious interest for every lover of mediæval symbolism under its - various phases. - - In the symbolism of those times, the star and the crescent, the - peacock and the swan, had, each of them, its own several figurative - meanings. By the first of these emblems was to be understood, - according to the words, in Numbers xxiv. 17, of Balaam’s prophecy,--“a - star shall arise out of Jacob,”--our Saviour, who says of His divine - self, Apocalypse xxii. 16, “I am the bright and morning star.” By - inference, the star not only symbolized our Lord Himself, but His - Gospel--Christianity--in contradistinction to Mahometanism, against - which the crusades had been but lately carried on. The star of - Bethlehem, too, was thus also brought before the mind with all its - associated ideas of the Holy Land. - - The crescent moon, on the shields with the Holy Lamb, represents the - Church, for the reason that small at first, but getting her light - from the true Sun of justice, our Lord, she every day grows larger, - and at the end of time, when all shall believe in her, will at last - be in her full brightness. This symbolism is set forth, at some - length, by Petrus Capuanus as quoted by Dom (now Cardinal) Pitra in - his valuable “Spicilegium Solesmense,” t. ii. 66. But for an English - mediæval authority on the point, we may cite our own Alexander Neckam, - born A.D. 1157 at St. Albans, and who had as a foster-brother King - Richard of the Lion-Heart. In his curious work, “De Naturis Rerum,” - not long since printed for the first time, and published by the - authority of Her Majesty’s treasury, under the direction of the Master - of the Rolls, Neckam thus writes:--“Per solem item Christus, verus - sol justiciæ plerumque intelligitur; per lunam autem ecclesia, vel - quæcunque fidelis anima. Sicut autem luna beneficium lucis a sole - mendicat, ita et fidelis anima a Christo qui est lux vera.” P. 53. - - Not always was the peacock taken to be the unmitigated emblem of - pride and foolish vanity. Osmont the cleric, in his “Volucraire, - or Book of Birds,” after noticing its scream instead of song, its - serpent-like shape of head that it carries so haughtily, but lowers - quite abashed as it catches a glimpse at its ugly feet, and its garish - plumage with the many bright-eyed freckles on its fan-like tail - which it loves to unfold for admiration, draws these comparisons. As - the peacock affrights us by its cry, so does the preacher, when he - thunders against sin startle us into a hatred of it; if the step of - the bird be so full of majesty, with what steadiness ought a true - Christian fearlessly tread his narrow path. A man may perhaps find a - happiness, nay, show a pride in the conviction of having done a good - deed, perhaps may sometimes therefore carry his head a trifle high, - and, strutting like the peacock, parade his pious works to catch the - world’s applause; as soon as he looks into Holy Writ and there learns - the weakness, lowliness, of his own origin, he too droops his head in - all humility. Those eye-speckled feathers in its plumage warn him that - never too often can he have his eyes wide open, and gaze inwardly upon - his own heart and know its secret workings. Thus spoke an Anglo-Norman - writer. - - About the swan an Englishman, our Alexander Neckam, says:--“Quid - quod cygnus in ætate tenella fusco colore vestitus esse videtur, - qui postmodum in intentissimum candorem mutatur? Sic nonnulli - caligine peccatorum prius obfuscati, postea candoris innocentiæ - veste spirituali decorantur.”--_De Naturis Rerum_, p. 101. Here our - countryman hands us the key to the symbolic appearance of the swan - upon this liturgical garment; for, as while a cygnet, its feathers - are always of a dusky hue, but when the bird has grown up its plumage - changes into the most intensely white, just so, some people who are at - first darkened with the blackness of sin, in after days become adorned - with the garb of white innocence. - - Besides their ecclesiastical meanings these same symbols had belonging - to them a secular significance. Found upon a piece of stuff quite - apart from that of the cope itself, and worked for the adornment of - that fine vestment after a lapse of many years, made up too of an - ornamentation the whole of which is heraldic and thus bringing to - mind worldly knights and their blazons and its age’s chivalry, it - is easy to find out for it an adaptation to the chivalric notions - and customs of those times. The Bethlehem star overtopping the Islam - badge of the crescent moon showed forth the wishes of every one who - had been or meant to be a crusader, or rather more, not merely of - our men at arms but of every true believer throughout Christendom - whose untiring prayers were that the Holy Land might be wrested from - the iron hand of the Mahometan. At great national festivities and - solemn gatherings of the aristocracy, not the young knight alone then - newly girt, but the grey-haired warrior would often, in that noble - presence, bind himself by vow to do some deed of daring, and swore - it to heaven, and the swan, the pheasant, or the peacock as the bird - of his choice, was brought with a flourish of trumpets, and amid a - crowd of stately knights waiting on a bevy of fair young ladies, and - set before him. This sounds odd at this time of day; not so did it - in mediæval times, when those birds were looked upon with favour on - account of the majestic gracefulness of their shape, or the sparkling - beauty of their plumage. It must not be forgotten that this orphrey - was blazoned by English hands in England, and while all the stirring - doings of our first Edward were yet fresh in our people’s remembrance. - That king had been and fought in the Holy Land against the Saracens. - At his bidding, towards the end of life, a scene remarkable even - in that period of royal festive magnificence, took place, when he - himself, in the year 1306, girded his son, afterwards Edward II, with - the military belt in the palace of Westminster, and then sent him to - bestow the same knightly honour, in the church of that abbey, upon the - three hundred young sons of the nobility, who had been gathered from - all parts of the kingdom to be his companions in the splendours of the - day. But that grand function was brought to an end by a most curious - yet interesting act; to the joyous sounds of minstrelsy came forwards - a procession, bearing along a pair of swans confined in a net, the - meshes of which were made of cords fashioned like reeds and wrought - of gold. These birds were set in solemn pomp before the king; and - there and then Edward swore by the God in heaven and the swans that he - would go forth and wage war against the Scots: Matthew Westminster, p. - 454. No wonder, then, that along with the star and crescent we find - the knightly swan and peacock mingled in the heraldry of the highest - families in England, wrought upon a work from English hands, during - the fourteenth century. A long hundred years after this elaborate - orphrey was worked we find that Dan John Lydgate, monk of Bury St. - Edmund’s, in his poem called “All stant in chaunge like a mydsomer - Rose,” upon the fickleness of all earthly things, while singing of - this life’s fading vanities, counts among them-- - - “Vowis of pecok, with all ther proude chere.” - MINOR POEMS, _ed. Halliwell for Percy Society_, p. 25. - - To the wild but poetic legend of the swan and his descendants, we have - already alluded in our Introduction. - - A word or two now upon the needlework, how it was done, and a certain - at present unused mechanical appliance to it after it was wrought, so - observable upon this vestment, lending its figures more effect, and - giving it, as a teaching example of embroidery, much more value than - any foreign piece in this numerous collection. - - Looking well into this fine specimen of the English needle, we find - that, for the human face, all over it, the first stitches were begun - in the centre of the cheek, and worked in circular, not straight - lines, into which, however, after the middle had been made, they fell, - and were so carried on through the rest of the fleshes. After the - whole figure had thus been wrought; then with a little thin iron rod - ending in a small bulb or smooth knob slightly heated, were pressed - down those spots upon the faces worked in circular lines, as well as - that deep wide dimple in the throat especially of an aged person. By - the hollows thus lastingly sunk, a play of light and shadow is brought - out that, at a short distance, lends to the portion so treated a look - of being done in low relief. Upon the slightly-clothed person of our - Lord this same process is followed in a way that tells remarkably - well; and the chest with the upper part of the pelvis in the figure of - our Saviour overcoming Thomas’s unbelief, shows a noteworthy example - of the mediæval knowledge of external anatomy. - - We must not, however, hide from ourselves the fact that the edges, - though so broad and blunt, given by such a use of the hot iron to - parts of an embroidery, expose it somewhat to the danger of being worn - out more in those than other portions which soon betray the damage by - their thread-bare dingy look, as is the case in the example just cited. - - The method for filling in the quatrefoils, as well as working much - of the drapery on the figures, is remarkable for being done in a - long zigzag diaper-pattern, and after the manner called in ancient - inventories, “opus plumarium,” from the way the stitches overlie each - other like the feathers on a bird. - - The stitchery on the armorial bearings is the same as that now - followed in so many trifling things worked in wool. - - The canvas for every part of this cope is of the very finest sort; - but oddly enough, its crimson canvas lining is thick and coarse. - What constituted, then, the characteristics of the “opus Anglicum,” - or English work, in mediæval embroidery were, first, the beginning - of the stitchery in certain parts of the human figure--the face - especially--in circular lines winding close together round and round; - and, in the second place, the sinking of those same portions into - permanent hollows by the use of a hot iron. - - A word or two now about the history of this fine cope. - - In olden days not a town, hardly a single parish, throughout England, - but had in it one or more pious associations called “gilds,” some of - which could show the noblest amongst the layfolks, men and women, and - the most distinguished of the clergy in the kingdom, set down upon - the roll of its brotherhood, which often grew up into great wealth. - Each of these gilds had, usually in its parish church, a chapel, or - at least an altar of its own, where, for its peculiar service, it - kept one if not several priests and clerics, provided, too, with - every needful liturgical appliance, articles of which were frequently - the spontaneous offering of individual brothers, who sometimes - clubbed together for the purpose of thus making their joint gift - more splendid. Now it is most remarkable that upon this cope, and - quite apart from the sacred story on it, we have two figures, that to - the left, pranked out in the gay attire of some rich layman; on the - right, the other, who must be an ecclesiastic from the tonsure on his - head; each bears an inscribed scroll in his hand, and both are in the - posture of suppliants making offerings. This cleric and this layman - may have been akin to one another, brothers, too, of the same gild for - which they at their joint cost got this cope worked and gave to it. - But where was this gild itself? - - Among the foremost of our provincial cities once was reckoned - Coventry. Its Corpus Christi plays or mysteries, illustrated by - this embroidery, enjoyed such a wide-spread fame that for the whole - eight days of their performance, every year, they drew crowds of - the highest and the gentlest of the land far and near, as the - “Paston Letters” testify, to see them; its gild was of such repute - that our nobility--lords and ladies--our kings and queens, did not - think it anywise beneath their high estate to be enrolled among its - brotherhood. Besides many other authorities, we have one in that - splendid piece of English tapestry--figured with Henry VI, Cardinal - Beaufort, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and other courtiers, on the - left or men’s side, and on the women’s, Queen Margaret, the Duchess - of Buckingham, and other ladies, most of them on their knees, and - all hearing mass--still hanging on the wall of the dining hall of - St. Mary’s gild, of which that king, with his queen and all his - court became members; and at whose altar, as brethren, they heard - their service, on some Sunday, or high festival, which they spent at - Coventry. Taking this old city as a centre, with a radius of no great - length, we may draw a circle on the map which will enclose Tamworth, - tower and town, Chartly Castle, Warwick, Charlcote, Althorp, &c. where - the once great houses of Ferrers, Beauchamp, Lucy, and Spencer held, - and some of them yet hold, large estates; and from being the owners - of broad lands in its neighbourhood, their lords would, in accordance - with the religious feeling of those times, become brothers of the - famous gild of Coventry; and on account of their high rank, find their - arms emblazoned upon the vestments belonging to their fraternity. - That such a pious queen as the gentle Eleanor, our First Edward’s - first wife, who died A.D. 1290, should have, in her lifetime, become a - sister, and by her bounties made herself to be gratefully remembered - after death, is very likely, so that we may with ease account for her - shield--Castile and Leon--as well as for the shields of the other - great families we see upon the orphrey, being wrought there as a - testimonial that, while, like many others, they were members, they - also had been munificent benefactors to the association. A remembrance - of brotherhood for those others equally noble, but less generous in - their benefactions, may be read in those smaller shields upon the - narrow hem going along the lower border of this vestment. The whole of - it must have taken a long, long time in the doing; and the probability - is that it was worked by the nuns of some convent which stood in or - near Coventry. - - Upon the banks of the Thames, at Isleworth, near London, in the year - 1414, Henry V. built, and munificently endowed, a monastery to be - called “Syon,” for nuns of St. Bridget’s order. Among the earliest - friends of this new house was a Master Thomas Graunt, an official - in one of the ecclesiastical courts of the kingdom. In the Syon - nuns’ martyrologium--a valuable MS. lately bought by the British - Museum--this churchman is gratefully recorded as the giver to their - convent of several precious ornaments, of which this very cope - seemingly is one. It was the custom for a gild, or religious body, to - bestow some rich church vestment upon an ecclesiastical advocate who - had befriended it by his pleadings before the tribunals, and thus to - convey their thanks to him along with his fee. After such a fashion - this cope could have easily found its way, through Dr. Graunt, from - Warwickshire to Middlesex. At the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign it - went along with the nuns as they wandered in an unbroken body through - Flanders, France, and Portugal, where they halted. About sixty years - ago it came back again from Lisbon to England, and has found a lasting - home in the South Kensington Museum. - - -197. - -Web for Orphreys; ground, crimson silk; design, the Assumption, in -yellow silk and gold thread. Florentine, 15th century. 2 feet 2½ -inches by 1 foot 2¾ inches. - - The same sort of stuff frequently occurs in this collection, and the - present specimen, which consists of two breadths sewed together, is - the same as the one fully described in No. 4059. In its present shape - it may have served as a back hanging to a little praying-desk in a - bed-room. - - -198. - -A Crimson Velvet Stole, with crosses and fringes of green silk. -Spanish, 16th century. 6 feet 8 inches by 2½ inches, and 5½ -inches. - - The pieces of crimson velvet out of which this stole was made, not so - many years ago, are of a deep warm tone of colour, and soft rich pile; - both so peculiar to the looms of Spain. The velvet must have been in - use for church purposes before this stole was made out of it. - - -1207. - -A Crimson Velvet Stole, with crosses of poor gold lace, and fringes of -crimson silk. Spanish, 16th century. 7 feet 7 inches by 3 inches, and 8 -inches. - - Like the foregoing stole in quality of velvet. - - -254-55. - -Two Crimson Velvet Maniples, with crosses and fringes of green. -Spanish, 16th century. 1 foot 6½ inches by 3 inches, and 5 inches. - - These were to match the like kind of stole. - - -524. - -A Crimson Velvet Maniple, with crosses of gold and fringes of crimson -silk. Spanish, 16th century. 1 foot 5½ inches by 3¼ inches, and -6½ inches. - - -733. - -A Piece of Raised Velvet; ground, yellow silk; design, in velvet pile, -pomegranates, and conventional floriations, enclosing an oval with a -quatrefoil in the middle. Spanish, late 16th century. 1 foot 6 inches -by 7 inches, and by 1 foot 2 inches. - - This raised velvet must have been for household decoration, and may - have been wrought at Almeria. - - -902. - -Cut-Work for furniture purposes; ground, yellow silk; design, vases of -flowers formed in green velvet; the flowers in places embroidered in -white and light blue floss-silk. French, 17th century. 9 feet 9 inches -by 1 foot 9 inches. - - This specimen well shows the way in which such strips for pilasters - were wrought. At first the green velvet seems the ground, which, - however, is of amber yellow silk, but the velvet is so cut out and - sewed on as to give the vases and their flowers the right form, - and sometimes is made to come in as foliage. The flowers, mostly - fleurs-de-lis and tulips, are well finished in white silk, shaded - either by light blue in the first, or pink in the second instance, - where, however, there are only five instead of six petals; and the - whole is edged in its design with yellow silk cord. - - -910. - -An Altar Frontal, silk and thread; ground, yellow; design, vases and -conventional artichokes, amid floriations, all in crimson silk, and -trimmed at the lower side with cut-work, in a flower pattern, of -various-coloured silks, edged with yellow cord. Italian, early 17th -century. 6 feet by 2 feet 8½ inches. - - The silk in this stuff is small in comparison with the thread, which, - however, is so well covered as to be kept quite out of sight in the - pattern. The fringe, six inches in depth, is left quite open. - - -911. - -A Bed-Quilt; ground, green silk; design, in the middle the goddess -Flora, around her large flowers and branches, amid which are birds -(doves?), and hares climbing up the boughs, all in floss-silk of very -showy colours, with a deep border of flowers, worked upon dark net. -Italian, 18th century. 8 feet 3 inches by 6 feet. - - Such coverlets were, as they still are, used for throwing over beds in - the day-time. The flowers, both on the silk and the netting, are so - embroidered as to show the same, like East Indian needlework, on both - sides. The love for lively colour, not to say garishness, was such as - to lead the hand that wrought this piece to render the branches of - some of the parts parti-coloured in white and crimson. Other specimens - of embroidered net may be seen at Nos. 623, 624, 4462. - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -PART THE SECOND. - -_Tapestry._ - - -1296. - -Pieces of Tapestry Hanging, figured with poetic pastoral scenes. -Flemish, perhaps wrought at Audenaerde, in the first half of the 16th -century. 29 feet 4 inches by 11 feet. - - Soon after the early part of the 16th century, there sprang up - throughout Europe a liking for pastoral literature as seen in Virgil’s - eclogues: poets sung their dreams of the bliss to be found in rustic - life, in which sports and pastimes, amid well-dressed revelry and - music, with nought of toil or drudgery belonging to it, formed the - yearly round; and in summer tide, nobles and their ladies loved to - rove the woods and fields, and play at gentle shepherdism. How such - frolics were carried out we learn from the tapestry before us, which, - in many of its features, is near akin to those low reliefs of the same - subject that adorn the walls in the court-yard of the curious and - elaborately ornamented Hotel de Bourgtheroud, at Rouen. - - At the left-hand side, lying on a flowery bank, is a gentleman - shepherd, whose broad-toed shoes and thick cloth leggings, fastened - round the knees and about the ancles, are rather conspicuous. On - the brim of his large round white hat is a sort of square ticket, - coloured. From his waist hangs a white satchel, bearing outside - various appliances, such as countrymen want. Over him stands, with a - tall spud in her hands, a youthful lady dressed in a scarlet robe, and - wearing her satchel by her side, a thin gauze cap, not a hat, is on - her head, and with her hand upraised she seems to be giving emphasis - to what she says to her friend upon the ground. - - In the middle of this piece is a group, consisting of four characters, - all of whom are playing at some game of forfeits. A young lady clad in - blue satin, with the usual rustic pouch slung at her side, is sitting - on the flowery grass, with her hands on the shoulders of a youth at - her feet, and hiding his face in her lap. Standing over him and about - to strike his open palm is another youth in a blue tunic turned up - with red, and holding a spud. Behind the blindfolded youth stands a - young lady, whose flaxen locks fall from under a broad-brimmed crimson - hat, upon her shoulders over her splendid robe, the crimson ground of - which is nearly hidden by the broad diapering of gold most admirably - shown upon it. - - In the other corner, to the right, is a lady, kerchiefed and girded - with her rustic wallet, with both hands grasping a man, who seems - as if he asked forgiveness. Overhead is a swineherd leading a pig, - and going towards a farm-labourer who is making faggots; further on - is another clown, hard at work, with his coat thrown down by him on - the ground, lopping trees; and last of all, a gentleman and lady, - both clad in the costume of the first half of the sixteenth century. - These groups on the high part of the canvas are evidently outside the - subject of the games below, and are merely passers by. All about the - field are seen grazing sheep; and to the right, a golden pheasant on - the foreground is so conspicuous as to lead to the thought that it was - placed there to tell, either the name of the noble house for which - this beautifully-wrought and nicely-designed tapestry was made, or of - the artist who worked it. - - In a second, but much smaller pane of tapestry, the same subject is - continued. Upon the flowery banks of a narrow streamlet sit a lady - and a little boy, bathing their feet in its waters. A gentleman--a - swain for the nonce--on his bended knee, holds up triumphantly one - of the lady’s stockings over the boy’s head. Just above and striding - towards her comes another gentleman-shepherd, with both his hands - outstretched as if in wonderment, over whom we find a real churl in - the person of a shepherd playing a set of double pipes--the old French - “flahuter à deux dois”--to the no small delight of a little dog by his - side. Serving as a background to this group, we have a comfortable - homestead amid trees. Somewhat to the right and lower down, over a - brick arch leans a lady, to whom a gaily-dressed man is offering money - or a trinket, which he has just drawn forth from his open _gipcière_ - hanging at his girdle. Below sits a lady arrayed in a white robe, the - skirts of which she has drawn and folded back upon her lap to show - her scarlet petticoat. She is listening to a huntsman pranked out - with a belt strung with little bells; falling from his girdle hangs - in front a buglehorn, and his left hand holds the leash of his dog - with a fine collar on. Over this spruce youth is an unmistakable real - field labourer with a Flemish _hotte?_, or wooden cradle, filled with - chumps and sticks, upon his back; and before him walk two dogs, one of - which carries a pack or cloth over his shoulders. Still higher up is a - wind-mill, toward which a man bearing a sack is walking. - - In both these pieces, which are fellows, and wrought for the hangings - of the same chamber, the drawing of the figures, with the accessories - of dress, silks, and even field-flowers, is admirable, and the - grouping well managed: altogether, they are valuable links in the - chain for the study and illustration of the ancient art of tapestry. - - -1297. - -Piece of Tapestry Hanging; ground, green sprinkled with flowers, and -sentence-bearing scrolls; design, steps in a religious life, figured in -five compartments. West German, late 15th century. 12 feet by 2 feet 10 -inches. - - 1. A young well-born maiden, with a narrow wreath about her unveiled - head, and dressed in pink, is saying her prayers kneeling on the - flowery green ground, with these words traced on the scrolls twined - gracefully above her,--“Das wir Maria kindt in trew mage werden so ... - t ich myn gnade ... n af erden;” “Let us become like to Mary’s child, - (so) we shall deserve mercy on earth.” - - 2. Seated on a chair, with a book upon his lap, is an ecclesiastic, in - a white habit and black scapular. To this priest the same young lady - is making confession of her sins; and the scrolls about this group - say,--“Vicht di sunde mit ernst sonder spot so findestic Godez trew - gnadt;” “Fight against sin with earnestness and without feigning; you - will find the true mercy of God.”--“Her myn sunde vil ich ach dagen - uff das mir Gots trew moge behagen;” “Lord, I will mourn over my sin, - in order that the truth of God may comfort me.” - - 3. The same youthful maiden is bending over a wooden table, upon which - lies a human heart that she is handling; and the inscriptions about - her tell us the meaning of this action of hers, thus,--“Sol ich myn - sund hi leschen so musz ich ich mȳ hertz im blude wesche;” “To cleanse - away my sin here, I must wash my heart in the blood.” - - 4. We here see an altar; upon its table are a small rood or crucifix - with S. Mary and S. John, two candlesticks, having prickets for the - wax-lights, the outspread corporal cloth, upon which stands the - chalice, and under which, in front and not at the right side, lies the - paten somewhat hidden. At the foot of this altar kneels the maiden, - clad in blue, and wearing on her head a plain, closely-fitting linen - cap, like that yet occasionally worn at church in Belgium, by females - of the middle classes,--and the priest who is saying mass there is - giving her Communion. The priest’s alb is ornamented with crimson - apparels on its cuffs and lower front hem, inscribed with the word - “haus,” house, is well rendered. The inscriptions above are, as - elsewhere, mutilated, so that much of their meaning is lost; but they - run thus,--“Wer he ... versorget mich mit Gottes trew das bitten ich;” - “If ... not procure me the love of God that I pray for.”--“Emphang - in trewen den waren Crist dmit dyn;” “Receive with fidelity the very - Christ in order....” - - 5. A nunnery, just outside of which stands its lady-abbess, clothed in - a white habit, black hood, and white linen wimple about her throat. - In her right hand she bears a gold crozier, from which hangs that - peculiar napkin, two of which are in this collection, Nos. 8279A, and - 8662. Behind stands an aged nun, and, as if in the passage and seen - through the cloister windows, are two lay sisters, known as such by - the black scapular. In front of the abbess stands the young maiden - dressed in pink, with her waiting woman all in white, in attendance on - her. Upon the scrolls are these sentences,--“Dez hymels ey port Godez - vor (m)eyn husz disz ist;” “A gate of heaven--God’s and mine house - this is.”--“Kom trew Christ wol. p.. eidt nym dy Kron dy dir Got hat - bereit.”--“Come, true Christian well ... take the crown which God has - prepared for thee.” - - Though but a poor specimen of the loom, this piece gives us scraps of - an obsolete dialect of the mediæval German, not Flemish, language. - - -1465. - -Piece of Tapestry Hanging; ground, grass and flowers; design, a German -romance, divided into six compartments, each having its own inscribed -scrolls, meant to describe the subject. South German, middle of the -15th century. 12 feet by 2 feet 6 inches. - - In the first compartment we see a group of horsemen, of whom the first - is a royal youth wearing a richly-jewelled crown and arrayed in all - the fashion of those days. Following him are two grooms, over one of - whose heads, but high up in the heavens, flies an eagle; and perhaps - the bird may be there to indicate the name of the large walled city - close by. Pacing on the flowery turf, the cavalcade is nearing a - castle, at the threshold of which stand an aged king and his youthful - daughter. On a scroll are the words,--“Bisg god wilkum dusig stunt(?) - grosser frayd wart uns nie kunt;” “Be right welcome for a thousand - hours; a greater joy we never knew.” Of course the coming guest utters - his acknowledgments; but the words on the scroll cannot be made out - with the exception of this broken sentence,--“Heute ich unt ...;” “To - day I and ...” - - In the second compartment, in a room of the castle we behold the same - royal youth, wearing, as before, his crown upon his long yellow locks, - along with his three varlets. On a scroll are the words,--“Fromer - dieur bestelle mir die ros ein wagge ist nun lieber;” “Pious servant, - order me the horses, a carriage is preferred.” - - In the third compartment is shown, and very likely in his own home, - the same young wooer talking, as it would seem by the scrolls, to - his three waiting-men; and after one of them had said,--“Wage u[=n] - rosz sint bereit als ...;” “Carriage and horses are ready as....” he - says,--“Wo schien gluck zu diser vart nie kein reise;” “If luck has - shone on this journey, I never liked travelling better.” Of the three - servants, one holds three horses, while the upper groom is presenting, - with both hands, to his royal young master a large something, - apparently ornamented with flowers; the churl wears, hanging down - from his girdle in front, an anelace or dagger, the gentleman a gay - _gipcière_, but the shoes of both are very long and pointed. - - In the fourth compartment the same crowned youth again is seen - riding towards the castle-gate, though this time no lady fair stands - at its threshold for the greeting; but instead, there stands with - the old king a noble youth who, to all appearances, seems to have - been beforehand, in the business of wooing and winning the young - princess’s heart, with the last comer. There are these words upon - the scroll,--“Ich hab vor einem ... gericht einer tuben und mich - yr verpflicht;” “I have before a ... tribunal of a dove, and have - myself engaged to her;” meaning that already had he himself betrothed - the king’s daughter, by swearing to her his love and truth before a - dove--a thing quite mediæval, like the vows of the swan, the peacock, - and the pheasant, as we have noticed in the Introduction, and again - while treating of the Syon Cope, at p. 28. On his side, the old king - thus addresses him,--“Mich dunckt du komst uber land ... zu der - hochzeit;” “Methinks thou comest over-land ... to see the wedding.” In - this, as in other inscriptions, the whole of the words cannot be made - out. - - The fifth compartment shows us the second and successful wooer, - dressed out in the same attire as before, but now riding a - well-appointed steed, and booted in the manner of those times. He - is waited on by a mounted page. On a scroll are the words,--“Umb - sehnlichst ich nun köme ... ist die ewige ...;” “That I most - passionately now can ... is the eternal,” &c. - - In the last compartment the rejected wooer is seen riding away as he - came--without a bride--followed by two grooms. - - Though rough in its execution, this piece of tapestry is valuable - not only for its specimens of costume, like our own at the period, - but especially for its inscriptions, which betray the provincialisms - belonging to the south of Germany; and some of their expressions are - said to be even yet in daily use about the neighbourhood of Nuremberg, - to which locality we are warranted, for several reasons, in ascribing - the production of this early example of the German loom. - - -1480. - -Tapestry Hanging; within a narrow border of a dark green ground, -ornamented with flowers mostly pink, and fruit-bearing branches of -the vine, is figured a subject just outside the gates of a large -walled city, and upon the flowery turf. Flemish, beginning of the 16th -century, 13 feet by 11 feet 6 inches. - - To all appearance the subject is taken from the Gospel of St. John, - chap. 9, where the miracle is related of our Lord giving sight to the - man born blind, who has just come back from washing in the pool of - Siloam, and is answering his neighbours who had hitherto known him as - the blind beggar. In front stands an important personage in a tunic of - cloth of gold shot light blue, over which he wears a shorter one of - fine crimson diapered in gold, having a broad jewelled hem; of a rich - gold stuff is his lofty turban. In his left hand he holds a long wand, - ending in an arrow-shaped head. At the feet of this high functionary - kneels the poor man blessed with sight, while he is taking from him - a something like a square glass bottle, and holds his coarse hat in - his hand. Near but above him stands a lady wearing a most curious - head-dress, which is blue, with two red wings bristling at its sides. - The rest of her array is exactly like, in shape and stuffs, to the - magnificent apparel of the first portly male figure, so as to lead us - to believe that she must be his wife, himself being one of the Jewish - chief priests. Talking with her is another Jew splendidly dressed, - and bearing a wand in one hand; and behind her we see a man wearing - earrings, and a woman belonging to the lower class--probably the cured - man’s father and mother. Not far away from the priest, and at his - back, are soldiers with lances, and one with a halbert, before whom - stands a well-dressed, mantled and hooded Pharisee, with a rolled-up - volume in his hand, and looking with a somewhat haughty scowl upon - the man kneeling on the ground. Above the walls are seen the domes of - several large buildings, of which one looks as if it were the temple - of Jerusalem; and all about the battlements are people gazing down - upon the scene beneath them. - - So Flemish is the Gothic style of architecture on the gates, around - which are mock inscriptions, and on the walls of the city, that we - find at once that the tapestry must have been designed and wrought in - Flanders. Though the shapes of the dresses be for the most part quite - imaginary, still the diapering on the gorgeous cloths of gold is after - the style then in vogue and well rendered. - - -1481. - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; subject, Neptune stilling the wind-storm raised -at Juno’s request by Æolus against the Trojan fleet on the Sicilian -coast. Flemish, 17th century. - - Evidently the designer of this tapestry meant to illustrate Virgil - at the beginning of his first book of the Æneid. To the left hand is - seen Boreas with a lance, which he is aiming against Neptune, in one - hand, while in the other he holds by a cord a rough wooden yoke, to - which are tied two boys floating in the water, and each with a pair of - bellows, which he is blowing. Drawn by two steeds comes Neptune with - uplifted trident, to still the winds raised by the two boys; and over - his head are Eurus and the western wind in the shape of females flying - in the air, one snapping the tall mast of one of Æneas’s ships, and - the other pouring out broad streams of water from four vases, one in - each hand. The bellows are very like those elaborately-carved ones in - the Museum, out of Soulages collection. - - -1483. - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; subject, Æneas and Achates before Dido, at -Carthage. Flemish, 17th century. - - The passage, in Virgil’s first book of the Æneid, descriptive of - Æneas, with the faithful Achates at his side, relating his adventures - to Dido, the Carthaginian queen, is here illustrated. The youthful - princess, enthroned beneath a cloth of estate, is listening to the - Trojan prince before her, and around are her ladies in gay costume, - her own being of light blue silk damasked with a large golden flower. - As a background we see the port filled with Æneas’s ships, to which - countrymen are driving sheep and oxen for their crews. The women are - quite of the Flemish type of fat beauty, and the odd head-dress for a - man on Achates is remarkable. - - -1582. - -Tapestry Hanging; subject, the departure of Æneas from Carthage. -Flemish, 17th century. - - In the foreground is Æneas taking leave of Dido, who is fainting into - the arms of her waiting ladies. Behind, is a youth working as a mason - and building a wall: further back, are seen horses richly caparisoned, - upon one of which rides Dido, while Mercury comes flying down bidding - Æneas to haste him away. - - -1683. - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; subject, Venus appearing to Æneas in a wood. - - The second book of the Æneid has furnished the designer with the - materials for this piece. Just as Æneas had uplifted his hand to slay - Helen, Venus appears, stays his arms, and reasons with him. So says - Virgil; but here we merely see Mercury coming down from the clouds, - and Venus revealing herself to her son. The admirers of the beautiful - in form and face will not find much to please them in the lady’s - person. This piece closes the history of Æneas as given in these - tapestries, which came from the palace, or, as it used to be called, - the King’s House at Newmarket. All through, Dido is made to appear - in the same kind of costume; but the dresses in general are purely - imagined by the artist, without the slightest authority from the - monuments of either Greek or Roman antiquity: and the architectural - parts are quite in the debased classic style of the 17th century, - as followed in Flanders. All these tapestries are framed in a red - border, wrought at the sides with scrolls and shields, and below, with - winged boys holding labels once showing inscriptions (now faded) all - shot with gold, but tarnished black. Many of the female figures are - slip-shod, like St. Mary Magdalen in Rubens’s “Taking down from the - Cross,” at Antwerp. - - -6733. - -Tapestry Hanging; subject, the story of Arria and Paetus, copied from -a painting by Francois André Vincent, and dated 1785. The border was -added afterwards. French, done at the Gobelins. 12 feet by 10 feet 6 -inches. Presented by His Imperial Highness Prince Napoleon. - - The subject is a startling one; being condemned to die, by the Emperor - Claudius, and put an end to his life with his own hand, Paetus - hesitated. Seeing this, his wife Arria snatched up the weapon and - plunged it to the hilt in her own bosom, and then handing the dagger - to her husband, said, “It does not pain me, Paetus.” - - At top, on a blue ground, is a large N in yellow, indicative of the - first Napoleon, who, in the year 1807 presented this fine specimen of - the far-famed Gobelin tapestry to his brother Jerome, at the time King - of Westphalia, as a marriage gift. By the late Prince Jerome it was - sent, through his son, the present Prince Napoleon, for presentation - to this Museum. - - -2442. - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; design, groups of richly-dressed ladies and -gentlemen around a queen. Flemish, early 16th century. - - Apparently the crowded scene before us is meant to illustrate some - symbolic subject. In the midst of them all stands a queen, whose hands - are clasped. Before her kneels a man who respectfully bares his head - the while he outstretches to the princess a written paper. Behind - stands a magnificent chair. Further back is a nicely-shown interior - of a room having its cupboard loaded with vases standing on the - shelves; there sit three ladies in earnest talk. All about are groups - of richly-clothed men and women, each of whose dresses is worthy of - notice. - - -2443. - -Tapestry; subject, a landscape, the foreground strewed with human and -animals’ bones, and a living figure sitting among rocks. French, early -17th century. - - This is one of a short series of tapestries setting forth, but - sometimes laughing at, the ideas of the ancient cynics. Before us - here we have a wild dell clothed in trees on one side, on the other - piled with rocks capped, in some places, by ruins. Seated on a stone, - with a book held in his hand, is Diogenes in meditation, with human - bones, animal skulls, and monster things about him. The work is well - done, and shows how perfect was the loom that wrought it. On a blue - tablet at top runs this inscription,--“Diogenes derisor omnium in fine - defigitur.” - - -2807. - -Tapestry; subject, the visit of Alexander the Great to Diogenes in his -tub. French, early 17th century. - - The scene is well laid out, peopled with many figures, and its story - neatly told. Above, in the usual place, is this inscription,--“Sensit - Alexander testã quum vidit in illã magnum habitatorem, quanto felicior - hic, qui nil cuperet (_quàm_) qui totum sibi posceret orbem.” - - -3818. - -Tapestry; subject, a beautifully-wooded scene with a stream running -down the middle of it, and across which two men, one on each side, are -talking. French, early 17th century. - - On one side stands Dionysius; on the other, and holding a bunch of - vegetables, which he is about to wash in the brook, is Diogenes, - who was not remarkable for his personal cleanliness. Dionysius, it - would seem, has been twitting him upon that subject, and gets for - answer that his very presence taints with dirt Diogenes himself, and - the waters in which he is about to wash his pot-herbs: “Sordet mihi - Dionysius lavanti olera,” as the Latin inscription reads above. - - -4331. - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; design, a wooded scene in the background; in the -foreground, Diogenes and a man. French, early 17th century. - - Before a large tub, lying on its side, is stretched out Diogenes, - pointing his finger to his curious dwelling, with his head looking - towards a wayfarer, to whom he seems to say those words traced on the - blue label at the top,--“Qui domum ambit hanc (anne?) me sepeliat.” - This appears to have been drawn from his lips by the man going by, who - is pointing towards the gaping mouth of the tub. - - -4650. - -Tapestry; subject, a gate-way built of rough stone, over which a female -is tracing an inscription, of which are written in large capital -letters these words:-- - - “Nihil hic ingrediatur mali.” - -Besides this, we find these sentences also:-- - - “Diogenes Cynicus subscribit;” and, “Spado sceleratus scripsit.” - - In these five pieces of tapestry, which were evidently employed for - hanging the walls in some especial hall, we cannot but admire the - ease and freedom of their whole design, and be struck especially by - the beauty of their wild, yet charming landscapes, which are so well - brought out by the weaver-artist who wrought them. - - -7926. - -Tapestry; subject, the holy family, after Raphael. Presented by His -Imperial Majesty the Emperor Napoleon III. - - No words are necessary to call the observer’s attention to this - admirable specimen of the French loom. Of the many fine pieces sent - forth by the manufactory of the Gobelins, this may easily take a place - among the very finest; and, at first sight, many people might be led - to think that it was the work of the pencil, and not of machinery. - About it there is a warmth and depth of mellow colouring which has - partly fled from the original, through time and, may be, want of care. - Those who have seen the pictures at the Louvre must well remember the - grand and precious original of which this is such a successful copy. - - -189. - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; design, our Lord giving the power of the keys to -St. Peter, after Raphael’s cartoon. English (probably from Soho), 17th -century. 17 feet 1 inch by 12 feet. - - The point of time chosen by the great Roman painter is that indicated - by St. Matthew, xvi. 18, 19; for St. Peter holds the keys promised him - by his divine Master, at whose feet he alone, of all the apostles, is - kneeling. Behind our Lord is a large flock of sheep, as explanatory of - the pastoral power bestowed, after His uprising from the grave, by our - Saviour upon St. Peter more especially, to feed the sheep as well as - lambs in His flock, as we read in St. John, xxi. 16, 17: both subjects - are naturally connected. - - By the many engravings, but, more particularly, the fine photographs - of the original cartoon, once at Hampton Court, now in this Museum, - this subject is well known. In this especial piece, the colouring, - being so badly graduated and garish, is by no means as good as in the - earlier one, still to be seen in the Gallery of the Tapestries at the - Vatican. Here, the tone of our Lord’s drapery is not distinguishable - from the stony hue of the wool upon the sheep behind Him. - - -8225. - -Panel of Tapestry; ground, light blue; design, bunches of flowers upon -a white panel. 2 feet 11½ inches by 2 feet 3½ inches. Aubusson, -present century. Presented by Messrs. Requillart, Roussel, and -Chocqueel. - - After Paris with the Gobelins, and the city of Beauvais, there is no - town in France which produces such fine tapestries as Aubusson, the - carpets of which are much admired. - - -7927 to 7930. - -Four Pieces of Tapestry; ground, light blue; design, flowers. French, -present century. Presented by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor Napoleon -III. - - Beauvais, which produced these beautiful specimens, has long been - famous for the works of the loom; and the present lovely figures of - such well-drawn, nicely-coloured flowers are worthy of that city’s - reputation. - - -594. - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; subject, Esther about to venture into the -presence of Ahasuerus. From the Soulages Collection. Flemish, first -half of the 16th century. Height 13 feet, breadth 11 feet 6 inches. - - The history, as here shown us, of a most eventful achievement, is at - top distributed into four groups, each made up of figures rather small - in stature; and at bottom, into other five clusters, in which all the - personages assume a proportion little short of life-size. - - Beginning with those higher compartments on the piece, we find in - the two at the left-hand side the commencement of this Scriptural - record. The mighty Ahasuerus is presented to us in the second of - those two groups there, as seated amid trees, and robed as would - have been a sovereign prince during the first half of the sixteenth - century. All about his head and neck the Persian king wears, wrapped - in loose folds, a linen cloth, over which he has a large scarlet hat - with an ornament for a crown, made up of small silver shield-shaped - plates, marked with wedge-like stripes of a light blue colour, or - heraldically, _argent_, five piles _azure_ meeting at the base; over - his shoulders falls an unspotted ermine cape jagged all about its edge - so as to look as if meant for a nebulée border. Upon the left breast - of this sort of mantle is sewed a little crimson shield-shaped badge - marked in white seemingly with the letter A, not having, however, - the stroke through it, but above, the sign of contraction dashed. He - wears a blue tabard, is girt with a sword, and holds in his left hand - a tall wand, that golden sceptre which, if not outstretched in token - of clemency towards the man or woman who had the hardihood to come - unbidden to his presence, signified that such a bold intruder, were - she the queen herself, must be put to death. Having nobles and guards - about him, this monarch of one hundred and twenty-seven provinces is - handing to Haman, one of those three princes before him, a written - document from which hang two royal seals: this is that terrible - decree, which, out of spite towards Mordecai, and hatred for the - Jewish race, Haman had won from his partial master Ahasuerus, for the - slaughter, on a certain day, of every Hebrew within the Persian empire. - - Yet further to the left is another group, wherein we observe some of - the richly-attired functionaries of the empire. A bareheaded old man, - a royal messenger, who holds up his left hand as if to indicate he - had come from the court of Ahasuerus, delivers to one of the nobles - there this original decree to be copied out and sent in all directions - through the kingdom. - - Looking still at top, but to the far right, we have in the background, - amid the trees, a large house, from out of the midst of which stands - up a tall red beam, the gibbet, fifty cubits high, got ready by Haman - at his wife’s and friends’ suggestion for hanging on it Mordecai. - In this foreground we behold Haman clad in a blue mantle and a rich - golden chain about his neck: to the man standing respectfully before - him, cap in hand, Haman gives the written order duly authenticated - by the two imperial seals upon it, for the execution of Mordecai. - Immediately to the left of this scene we are presented with the inside - view of a fine chamber hung with tapestry, and ornamented with tall - vases, two of which are on a shelf close by a lattice-window. In the - middle of this room is a group of three women: one of them, Esther, - richly clad, is seated and wringing her hands in great grief, as if - she had learned the fell death awaiting her uncle, and the slaughter - already decreed of all her nation: two of her gentlewomen are with - her, wailing, like their queen-mistress, the coming catastrophe. - - Right in the centre of the piece, and occupying its most conspicuous - position, we behold the tall stately figure of a beautiful young - queen, splendidly arrayed, and wearing over the rich caul upon - her head a royal diadem. She seems to have just arisen from the - magnificent throne or rather faldstool close behind her. With both her - hands clasped in supplication, she is followed in her upward course by - her train of attendants--two ladies and a nobleman--all gaily dressed, - threading their way through as they ascend from the hall below crowded - with courtiers, men and women gossiping together in little knots, - and set off in fashionable dress. While bending her steps, Esther - looks towards the spot where Ahasuerus is sitting. At this moment - an oldish man steps forward, clad after a beseeming fashion: in one - hand he holds his red cap, while with the other hand he is stretching - out, for Esther’s acceptance, his inscribed roll. This person must be - Mordecai, thus shown as instructing and encouraging his niece-queen - Esther in the hazardous work of saving her people’s lives, at the same - time that he furnishes her with a copy of the decree for their utter - annihilation. - - This inner court of the King’s house where Esther is now standing over - against the hall in which Ahasuerus sits upon his throne is crowded - with courtiers, all remarkable for the elegance and costliness of - their dress. In a circle of three great personages to the right, one - of those high-born dames has brought with her her guitar, made in the - form of the calabash, to help on by her music the expected mirth and - revelry of the day. - - In those several instances in which the royal decree is figured with - the imperial seals hanging from it, the impression stamped upon the - wax seems, no doubt, to be taken as the cipher of Ahasuerus, a large - A, but without the stroke through it. - - One remarkable feature among the ornaments of dress assumed by - almost all the great personages in this piece of tapestry is the - large-linked, heavy golden chain about the neck, worn as much by - ladies as by gentlemen. The caps of the men are mostly square. - - The elaborately-adorned, closely-fitting, round-shaped caul worn by - the women in this court of Ahasuerus is in strict accordance with the - female fashion abroad at the beginning of the sixteenth century; while - here, in England, the gable-headed coif found more favour than the - round with our countrywomen. Then, however, as now, ladies loved long - trains to their gowns; and the men’s shoes had that peculiar broad toe - so conspicuously marked in Hans Holbein’s cartoon for a picture of our - Henry VIII. belonging to the Duke of Devonshire, and exhibited among - the National Portraits on loan to the South Kensington Museum, A.D. - 1866. - - -8979. - -Tapestry Hanging; subject, the three Fates with a young lady lying dead -at their feet. Flemish, early 16th century. - - With a grove of blooming trees behind them, and upon a lawn, - everywhere sprinkled with many kinds of flowers, stand the Fates. - Each of the weird sisters may be individually known by her proper - name written in white letters near her head. Beginning from the right - side of the piece, we have the spinster Clotho, who is figured as a - youthful maiden; amid the boughs of a tree just above her is seen a - long-billed bird of the snipe-kind; she is gaily dressed in a yellow - kirtle, elaborately diapered after a flowery pattern done in green, - over which she wears a gown of deep crimson velvet, while from her - girdled waist falls a large golden chain ending in a gold pomander. In - her left hand she holds a distaff, keeping at the same time between - her fingers the thread which she has but just done spinning. Next to - Clotho stands Lachesis, almost as young in look; she is not quite so - sprightly but yet as elegantly clad as her sister with the distaff; - billing and cooing above this feigned manager of individual destiny - we behold a pair of turtle-doves; this second of the Fates is clad in - robes of a light pink tone nicely and artistically diapered, and with - her left hand she takes from Clotho the thread just spun and with her - right passes it on to Atropos. This the last, and the most dreaded - of the fatal three, looks older than the other two, and is arrayed - more matronly. Clothed in deep blue, Atropos wears a large full white - kerchief, which, as its name implies, not only covers her head, but - falls well down from her shoulders half-way to her broad girdle, upon - which is slung a string of beads for prayer--a rosary. Atropos, whose - imaginary office was to cut with knife, or scissors, or a pair of - shears, the thread of life, uses no such an instrument here; for with - her hands she has broken the life-cord, and the spindle, around which - it had been wound, lies thrown upon the flowery turf close by the - head of the victim of the Fates. At the feet of these three sisters - lies, stretched out in all her fullest length, a youthful lady dead. - She wears a kerchief on her head, and over her richly-diapered pink - gown she has a light crimson mantle thickly powdered with small golden - crescents. Her bed seems made of early summer flowers; and alongside - of her, and as if just fallen from her outstretched right hand, lies - the tall stalk, snapped short off near the lower end, of a blooming - white lily. At one side, but lower down, is the half-figure of a - monkey; some way to the right, but on the same level, sits in quiet - security a large brown hare; while between these two animals, from out - a hole in the ground, as if they snuffed their future prey in the dead - body, are creeping a weasel and a stoat, just after a large toad that - has crawled out before them. - - This piece of tapestry, valuable alike for its artistic excellence - and its good preservation, has a more than common interest about it. - In all likelihood it gives us the history, nay, perhaps affords - us the very portraiture of some high-born, beautiful young lady, - well known and admired in her day. A little something at least - may be gathered from its symbolism. By the heathen mythological - distribution of functions among the poetic Parcæ, or Fates, to the - second of these three sisters, to Lachesis, was it given to decide - the especial destiny of each mortal the hour that she or he was born. - Now in the instance before us a pair of turtle-doves, love’s emblem, - is conspicuously shown above the head of Lachesis. As this young - lady’s life-thread slipped through her fingers Lachesis has touched - it, quickened it so that the child for whom it is being spun shall - have a heart all maidenly, but soft to the impressions of the gentle - passion--love. She has been wooed and made a bride, for she has on - the married woman’s kerchief. That lily-stem with its opening buds - and full-blown flowers at top is the emblem of a spotless whiteness, - an unstained innocence; the stalk is broken, but the flowers on it - are unwithered. What fitter tokens of a bride’s unlooked-for death, - the very morning of her marriage? But that monkey-emblem of mischief, - evil, moral ugliness, and in particular of lubricity--perhaps may mean - us to understand the worthlessness of wanton, profligate men. As the - harmless unsuspecting hare is easily snared and taken in a toil, so - she might have been caught, but may have been spared, by early death, - a life of misery. Those loathsome things coming from out the ground - warn men that all of us must one day or another become the prey of the - grave, and that youth, and innocence, and beauty will be its food. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -THE BROOKE COLLECTION. - - -542. ’64. - -Christening Ribbon, white silk with silver gimp edge. English, 18th -century. Length 6 feet 9 inches, width 2¼ inches. Presented by the -Rev. R. Brooke. - - -858, 858B. ’64. - -Court suit, coat and knee-breeches, of cherry-coloured Genoa velvet, -white satin lining, waistcoat white satin embroidered in coloured -silks and silver. English, dated 1772. Length of coat 3 feet 2½ -inches, length of breeches 2 feet, length of waistcoat 2 feet 5 inches. -Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -859, 859B. ’64. - -Dress suit, coat, waistcoat, and knee-breeches, of pink silk brocade -with a diapered flower pattern. English, date about 1770. Length of -coat 3 feet 2½ inches, length of waistcoat 2 feet 6 inches, length -of breeches 2 feet 4 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -860. ’64. - -Apron, white silk, with raised floral embroidery. English, date about -1720. Length 2 feet 0½ inch, width 2 feet 9½ inches. Presented by -the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -861. ’64. - -Apron, yellow silk, with raised floral embroidery, in colours, bordered -with silk lace. English, date about 1720. Length 2 feet 1 inch, width 2 -feet 10 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -862. ’64. - -Apron, white silk, with coloured floral embroidery and silver cord. -English, date about 1720. Length 1 foot 7½ inches, width 3 feet. -Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -863. ’64. - -Apron, white silk, with purple floral embroidery and gold cord. -English, date about 1720. Length 1 foot 9 inches, width 3 feet 2 -inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -864. ’64. - -Portion of Embroidery, flowers in coloured silks (chiefly orange) -on linen ground covered with stitched scroll pattern. English, 18th -century. Length 1 foot 10½ inches, width 1 foot 6 inches. Presented -by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -865. ’64. - -Portion of Embroidery, flowers in coloured silks (chiefly orange) -on linen ground covered with stitched scroll pattern. English, 18th -century. Length 1 foot 1½ inches, width 1 foot 6 inches. Presented -by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -866. ’64. - -Portion of Embroidery, flowers in coloured silks (chiefly orange) -on linen ground covered with stitched scroll pattern. English, 18th -century. Length 2 feet 2¼ inches, width 2 feet. Presented by the -Rev. R. Brooke. - - -867. ’64. - -Piece of Brocade, crimson satin with cut velvet floral pattern; -bordered with silver gimp and spangles. French, date about 1770. Length -3 feet 5½ inches, width 3 feet 2 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. -Brooke. - - -868. ’64. - -Piece of Brocade, crimson satin with cut velvet floral pattern; -bordered with silver gimp and spangles. French, date about 1770. Length -6 feet, width 3 feet 2 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -869. ’64. - -Mantilla, yellow silk and black lace. English, date about 1770. Length, -as worn, 5 feet, width of skirt 3 feet. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -870. ’64. - -Boddice, yellow silk. English, date about 1770. Height 12½ inches, -width 2 feet 4½ inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -871. ’64. - -Table-cover, pink silk edged with silver gimp. English, 18th century. -Length 3 feet 5 inches, width 3 feet. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -872. ’64. - -Piece of Silk, pink ribbed, lined with pink sarsnet. English, 18th -century. Length 3 feet 4 inches, width 4 feet. Presented by the Rev. R. -Brooke. - - -873. ’64. - -Silk Fringe, green and yellow. English, date about 1740. Length 8 feet -1 inch, depth 3½ inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -874. ’64. - -Counterpane, white linen embroidered with running pattern; in centre -a scroll ornament with cipher and scroll border, all in yellow silk. -English, 17th century. Length 7 feet 8 inches, width 6 feet 11 inches. -Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -875. ’64. - -Cushion-cover, white linen embroidered with running pattern and scroll -ornament, yellow silk; cipher in centre. English, 17th century. Length -2 feet 1 inch, width 1 foot 5½ inches. Presented by the Rev. R. -Brooke. - - -876. ’64. - -Cushion-cover, white linen embroidered with running pattern and scroll -ornament, yellow silk; cipher in centre. English, 17th century. Length -1 foot 8½ inches, width 1 foot 3½ inches. Presented by the Rev. -R. Brooke. - - -877. ’64. - -Cushion-cover, white linen embroidered with running pattern and scroll -ornament, yellow silk; cipher in centre. English, 17th century. Length -1 foot 5½ inches, width 1 foot 2 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. -Brooke. - - -878. ’64. - -Piece of Brocade, white silk and gold in narrow stripes. French (?), -18th century. Length 10 feet 4 inches, width 2 feet 2 inches. Presented -by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -879. ’64. - -Table-cover, crimson Genoa velvet with broad border of silver gimp, -Indian (Delhi) work. Length 5 feet 2 inches, width 5 feet 2 inches. -Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -880. ’64. - -Saddle-cloth, dark blue Genoa velvet, ornamented with broad bands of -flowered gold lace; trappings for the horse of H. Osbaldeston, Esq., -High Sheriff of Yorkshire, A.D. 1772-3. Length 4 feet 5 inches, width 1 -foot 8½ inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -881, 881A. ’64. - -Pair of Holsters for Pistols, dark blue Genoa velvet, ornamented -with broad bands of flowered gold lace; trappings for the horse of -H. Osbaldeston, Esq., High Sheriff of Yorkshire, A.D. 1772-3. Length -1 foot 9 inches, width 1 foot 6½ inches. Presented by the Rev. R. -Brooke. - - -882. ’64. - -Saddle-cloth, scarlet cloth with border of gold lace, used by the -attendants of the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, A.D. 1772-3. Length 3 feet -8 inches, width 1 foot 6 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -883. ’64. - -Saddle-cloth, scarlet cloth with border of gold lace, used by the -attendants of the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, A.D. 1772-3. Length 3 feet -10½ inches, width 1 foot 6¾ inches. Presented by the Rev. R. -Brooke. - - -884. ’64. - -Saddle-cloth, scarlet cloth, with border of gold lace, used by the -attendants of the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, A.D. 1772-3. Length 3 feet -10 inches, width 1 foot 6¾ inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -885. ’64. - -Pair of Pistol Holsters, scarlet cloth bordered with gold lace, used by -the attendants of the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, A.D. 1772-3. Length 12 -inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -886, 886A. ’64. - -Pair of Pistol Holsters, scarlet cloth bordered with gold lace, used by -the attendants of the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, A.D. 1772-3. Length 12 -inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -887, 887A. ’64. - -Pair of Pistol Holsters, scarlet cloth bordered with gold lace, used by -the attendants of the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, A.D. 1772-3. Length 12 -inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -888. ’64. - -Dress Silk Brocade, white ground with pattern of flowers in various -colours. French(?), early 18th century. Length 4 feet 7 inches, width 8 -feet 4 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -889. ’64. - -Lady’s Shoe, pink prunella, with high heel. English, date about 1765. -Length 9⅛ inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -890 ’64. - -Grenadier’s Cap, scarlet and white cloth and crimson velvet, with -silver and gold embroidery, and gold spangles. English, date about -1770. Height 14 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -891. ’64. - -Lady’s Workbag, made from the bark of a tree, bordered with green and -white. English(?), 18th century. Length 2 feet, width 1 foot 1 inch. -Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -892. ’64. - -Piece of Silk Embroidery in frame, white satin ground, on which are -worked in high relief King Ahasuerus, Queen Esther, various animals, -fruits, and other objects, in coloured silk and gold cord. English, -early 18th century. Height 1 foot 1 inch, width 1 foot 7 inches. -Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -893. ’64. - -Waistcoat, white ribbed silk embroidered with flowers in various -colours, silver cord, and spangles. English, date about 1770. Length 2 -feet 3 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -894. ’64. - -Waistcoat, crimson satin, with floral brocade border in various -colours. English, date about 1770. Length 2 feet 7 inches. Presented by -the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -895. ’64. - -Waistcoat, blue and white striped silk brocade with flower spot -pattern. English, date about 1770. Length 2 feet 2½ inches. -Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -896. ’64. - -Skirt of a Lady’s Dress, white silk printed with flowers in various -colours. French(?), 18th century. Height 3 feet 6 inches, width 9 feet -8 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -897. ’64. - -Piece of Silk, white silk printed with flowers in various colours. -French(?), 18th century. Height 3 feet, width 2 feet. Presented by the -Rev. R. Brooke. - - -898. ’64. - -Kerchief, yellow silk gauze with floral pattern, border of pink and -yellow silk lace. French(?), 18th century. Length 4 feet 3 inches, -width 3 feet. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -899. ’64. - -Trimming of a Dress, chocolate silk gauze, embroidered with flowers in -various colours. English, 18th century. Length 5 feet, width 12 inches. -Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -900. ’64. - -Christening Suit, viz. cap, bib, mittens, and dress (in two pieces), -old point lace. Flemish(?), 18th century; worn in 1773. Length of dress -1 foot 11 inches, width 1 foot 3½ inches. Presented by the Rev. R. -Brooke. - - -919. ’64. - -Reticule, silk embroidery of various colours, with yellow satin neck. -English, 18th century. Length 9 inches, width 6 inches. Presented by -the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -932. ’64. - -Sword-Belt, black silk web; part of a Volunteer uniform. English, early -present century. Length 3 feet 5 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. -Brooke. - - -933. ’64. - -Sword-belt, pale blue silk web, with steel clasps; part of a Volunteer -uniform. English, early 18th century. Length 3 feet 8 inches. Presented -by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -934. ’64. - -Sword-belt, black leather, gilt metal mounts; part of a Volunteer -uniform. English, 18th century. Length 2 feet 11 inches. Presented by -the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -935. ’64. - -Badge for a Cap Front, crown, cipher, and motto in steel on scarlet -cloth; part of a Volunteer uniform. English, 18th century. Height 4-⅞ -inches, width 5 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -966. ’64. - -Bag, or Purse, links of silver filagree. Modern Genoese. Length 5¼ -inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -978. ’64. - -Screen, white silk gauze painted with flowers and birds with a vase in -centre. Modern Chinese. Length 12 feet 8 inches, height 2 feet 6½ -inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -979. ’64. - -Screen, white silk gauze, painted with flower-sprigs, insects, and a -basket hanging from a tree. Modern Chinese. Length 12 feet 10 inches, -width 2 feet 5 inches. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -980. ’64. - -Screen, white silk gauze, painted with flowers and birds. Modern -Chinese. Height 3 feet 6½ inches, width 4 feet 8¼ inches. -Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -981. ’64. - -Piece of Embroidery, white satin ground with pattern of leaves and -flowers highly relieved in coloured silks and gold cord. English, 18th -century. Length 1 foot 10 inches, width 1 foot 1½ inches. Presented -by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -982, 982D. ’64. - -Five Funeral Banners, silk, emblazoned with armorial shields. English, -18th century. Length 1 foot 9-⅓ inches, width 1 foot 4-⅝ inches. -Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -983. ’64. - -Funeral Banner, calico, emblazoned with armorial shields. English, 18th -century. Length 1 foot 2 inches, width 1 foot 4 inches. Presented by -the Rev. R. Brooke. - - -983A. ’64. - -Funeral Banner, calico. English, 18th century. Length 1 foot 2 inches, -width 1 foot 1 inch. Presented by the Rev. R. Brooke. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -LENT BY HER MAJESTY AND THE BOARD OF WORKS. - - -Tapestry; ground crimson, diapered with foliage; design, within a broad -arch, a white panel, figured with Diana, and about her flowers, birds, -and animals, dead and alive. At the right corner, on the lower hem, is -inscribed, “Neilson, ex. 1786.” French, from the Gobelin factory. - - Diana holds by a long blue ribbon a greyhound; below, are other two - hounds and two little naked boys, of whom one is about to dart an - arrow; the other, to shoot one from a bow at Diana herself, who, with - her shadow cast upon a cloud, is holding her favourite dog by its - blue string: at her feet lie her own bow and arrows. This piece is - graciously lent by Her Majesty, and is a favourable specimen of the - Gobelins royal manufactory, over which the Neilsons, father and son, - presided, from A.D. 1749 till 1788. Most likely this piece was wrought - by the elder Neilson, who, as well as his son, worked with the “basse - lisse,” or low horizontal frame, as distinguished from the “haute - lisse,” or high vertical one. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; design, a landscape with the figure of a man. -French, 17th century. - - The landscape is somewhat wild, but nicely rendered. In the - foreground, sitting on a stone, we have a youth with both his hands - upon a classic-shaped vase, standing between his feet. In the - background are seen a few goats; and further on still, a building - with pillars, very likely a well. This fancy piece is surrounded by a - border figured with ornamentation, and though it be small and made to - fit some panel in a room, is a good specimen of its time, and seems to - have come from the same hands that designed and wrought the Diogenes - pieces. - - -Tapestry; design, within a crimson border ornamented, in white, with -scroll-work after a classic character, a large mythologic, perhaps -Bacchanal subject. French, 17th century. - - Upheld by pilasters and columns wreathed with branches of the vine, - we see a wide entablature coloured crimson and blue, figured with - tripods, vases, and other fanciful arabesque ornamentation, and amid - these, heathen gods and goddesses, centaurs, birds, and groups of - satyrs. Below, and between the pilasters and columns, a male figure is - playing the double pipe, women are carrying fruits in dishes, another - is dancing, and some high personages feasting at a table, with some - men looking on. Lowermost of all is another scene, in which we have - little naked boys, satyrs carrying grapes, and an ass laden with - them, and other satyrs pouring into vases the red wine which they - are getting from a fountain brim full of it. A border of a crimson - ground figured in places with full-faced heads, and all over with - small figures, the draperies of which are shaded in gold now quite - black, and arabesques after a classic form, goes round the whole - piece, which is fellow to another showing the labours of Hercules, in - this collection. In the tapestry before us, all the subjects are so - Bacchanalian that we must suppose that the designer meant to set forth - the ways of the god of wine. Like the drawing in the Hercules piece, - the drawing here is good; but the piece itself is in a somewhat bad - condition. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; subject, the labours of Hercules. Flemish, late -17th century. 21 feet 6 inches by 16 feet. - - This large piece is divided into three broad horizontal bands; on the - first of these, upon a dark blue ground, amid arabesques and monsters - after classic models, are observable the infant Hercules strangling - the two serpents; in the middle, a female holding two ropes, and about - her little boys carrying tall reeds, which at top expand into a cup - full of fire, as she stands upright upon a pedestal over a doorway, - in the tympanum of which, within a round hollow, is the bust of a - man having a wine-jug on one side, and a dish filled with fire on - the other; still further to the right, there is, within an oval, a - child reading at a three-legged desk, and seated on the bending bough - of a tree, at the foot of which is a book, and a comic mask. On the - second band, the ground of which is light blue, within the doorway, - coloured green, stands Hercules cross-legged, bearing in his right - hand his club, and with the left upholding the lion-skin mantle. To - the right, Hercules is seen wrestling; next, Hercules fighting the - Nemean lion with his club; and then the hero shooting with his bow - and arrows the Stymphalian birds, half human in their shape: to the - left, Hercules is beheld strangling with his own hands the Nemean - lion; then he is seen with this dead beast upon his shoulders as he - carries it to Eurystheus; and lastly, he is shown loaded with a blue - globe, marked with the signs of the zodiac, upon his back. On the - third band, which is crimson, we find Hercules, leading by a chain - the many-headed Cerberus from the lower world, having along with him - Athena, who is seen with clasped hands, and Theseus, who is clad in - armour with a reversed dart in his hand; in front lies a dead man. The - middle of this band is filled in with architectural scroll-work, upon - which are seated two half-bust winged figures, one male, the other - female, and hanging between them a shield figured with the rape of - Europa. After this central piece we come to the scene on the journey - into exile of Hercules and his wife Deianira: the centaur Nessus is - carrying the lady in his arms over the river Evenus, and while doing - so insults her, whereupon Hercules lets fly an arrow, on hearing his - wife’s screams, and shoots Nessus to the heart. The whole is enclosed - within a border of a crimson ground, figured with arabesques and heads - of a classic character. The third band has a hermes or terminal post - at each end; and, curiously enough, in the top band, and resting on - the foliations, are four nests of the pelican, billing its breast and - feeding its young ones with its blood; besides this we see in places - two lions rampant, and regularly langued _gules_, being caressed by a - sort of harpy: all of which would lead us to think that in the bird - and the animals we have the armorial charge upon the shield, and its - supporters, of the noble, but now unknown, owner for whom this piece - of tapestry was originally wrought. Its fellow-piece, figured not so - much with the triumphs as the festive joys of Bacchus, is in this - collection. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; ground, white; subject, the young Bacchus on a -cloud, with a cup of wine in one hand, and the thyrsus-staff in the -other; and all about, his symbols. French, or Gobelin, 18th century. - - Within a rather broad panelled arch, wine-red in its tone, is figured - the young Bacchus with a couple of thyrsus-staves, - crossed saltire-wise above him: below, is a fountain with an animal’s - face, from the mouth of which runs red wine, and by it two little - satyrs playing with tigers, into whose open maws they are squeezing - the juice of the purple grape. Within a tablet in the higher part are - figured two letters M. M. seemingly the ciphers of the individual for - whom this piece was woven. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; ground, white; subject, Venus surrounded by her -emblems. French, or Gobelin, 18th century. - - This is a fellow-piece to the foregoing one, and arranged in the same - manner. Riding on a cloud, Venus holds a small dart, and leans upon - a swan, with a Cupid by her feet. Like the other piece, it has the - cipher M. M. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; ground, mostly white; subject, shepherds and -shepherdesses sacrificing to Pan. French, or Gobelin, 18th century. - - This large fine piece has a very cheerful tone, and the background is - so managed as to be very lightsome in its skies, and hills, and water. - In many parts of the costumes, and the vegetation, the colouring is - warm without being dauby or garish. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; subject, Melchizedek bringing bread and wine to -Abram after his victory. Flemish, late 17th century. - - On a tablet at the top of the piece is this inscription:--“Sodomâ - expugnatâ Lot capitur. Abram illum recepit. Rex Melchizedek victori - Abram offert panem et vinum.” As the reader will easily bring to - mind, the subject as well as the inscription are borrowed from the - fourteenth chapter of Genesis. Supposing that Sodom, after the - overthrow by Abram’s night attack of the four kings, had been retaken, - and his nephew Lot and his substance freed from the hands of the four - conquered princes, the artist has chosen that point of time in the - story, when Melchizedek, the King of Salem and the Priest of the Most - High, went out to meet Abram as he was coming from the slaughter; and - bringing forth bread and wine, blessed him. - - The two principal personages occupy the centre of the foreground. - Crowned as a king and wearing a costly sword, Melchizedek comes - forth with outstretched right hand to welcome Abram, from whom he is - separated by a highly ornamented tall vase full of wine. Behind this - King of Salem one of his own serving men, who carries on his shoulders - a basket full of food, is coming down the wide staircase from which - his royal master has just issued, while outside a doorway, under an - upper portico in the same palace, stand two men gazing on the scene - below them. On the other side of the vase, Abram, holding a long staff - in his right hand, is stepping forwards toward Melchizedek, whom he - salutes with his lowered left hand, and behind him a second servant of - Melchizedek has just set upon the ground a large hamper full of flat - loaves of bread. A little higher in the piece, and somewhat to the - left of this domestic, a group of soldiers are quenching their thirst - gathered about an open tun of wine, which they drink out of a wide - bowl; hastening towards the same spot, as if from an archway, flows a - stream of other military men. Amid the far-off landscape may be seen - banners flying, and beneath them all the turmoils of a battle raging - at its height. To the right, the standard-bearers and some of the - vanquished are seen in headlong flight. - - The deep golden-grounded border is parted at bottom by classic - monstrous hermæ, male and female, each wearing a pair of wings by - its ears. The spaces between these grotesques are filled in with - female figures, mostly symbolizing vices. “Violentia” is figured by - a youthful woman, who, with a sheathed sword by her side, is driving - before her a captive young man, whom she holds by the cords which tie - his hands behind him, and whom she hurries onwards by the blows from a - thick staff that she wields in her uplifted right hand. “Depredatio,” - with her fingers ending at their tips in long sharp ravenous nails, - is riding astride a lion. “Gratitudo” is a gentle young maiden, who - is seated with a bird in her lap, a stork, which she seems to be - fondling. “Pugna,” or brawling, is shown by two middle-aged women of - the lower class. With their dishevelled hair hanging all about their - shoulders, they are in the height of a fight, and the woman with a - bunch of keys hanging from her girdle has overcome the other, and - is tugging at one of her long locks. “Tyrannis” is an old haggish - female with dog-like feet, and she brandishes a sword; almost every - one of the other women on the border has, curiously enough, one foot - resembling that of an animal. In several parts of the composition - besides the border, in the warp and for shading, golden thread has - been woven in, but so scantily employed, and the gold itself of such - a debased bad quality, that the metal from being tarnished to quite a - dull black tone is hardly discernible. - - The costume, like the scenery and buildings, has nothing of an - oriental character about it, but is fashioned after an imagined - classic model. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; subject, the Progress of Avarice. Flemish, -middle of the 17th century. - - Up above within the border of this large piece is a tablet bearing - this inscription:-- - - “Semper eget sitiens mediis ceu Tantalus undis - Inter anhelatas semper avarus opes.” - - Beginning at the top left hand of the subject represented, we see a - murky sort of vapour streaked by a flash of red lightning. Amid this - brownish darkness, peopled with horrid little phantoms and small - fantastic sprites, we discover a diminutive figure of Death wielding a - long-handled curiously-headed scythe. - - Just below is a man pointing with his right hand up to Death, and - with his left hand to a little harpy before him; behind him stands a - figure with two heads, one a woman’s, the other a man’s, set together - Januswise. Lower down, and of a much larger size, are three male - figures, one a youth well clad, were it not for his ragged pantaloons, - the next an old man wearing sandals and bearing in his right hand what - looks like a reliquary glazed and coloured red, while in his left he - holds two unfolded scrolls, the upper one of which is illuminated with - a building like a castle, by the side of which stands a man, over - whose head is the tau or T, with a bell hanging under it--the symbols - of St. Anthony of Egypt. - - Beside the last personage stands the figure of a monk-like form, - clasping in both hands a pair of beads or rosary. Next we have, half - leaning from out her seat placed upon a car, and bending over an open - chest, into which she is dropping golden pieces of money from her - claw-like fingers, a female form with hideous wings and vulture feet, - such as harpies have. The chariot drawn by a wyvern-like animal, with - its fiery long tongue thrust out, has knocked down an elderly man, - who, from the tonsure on his grey head, would seem to be a priest, - and its wheel is going to crush a youth upon the ground, while the - wyvern’s outstretched claws are about to gripe a ghastly cut-off head. - Hanging on the mouldings of this car are empty money-bags, crumpled-up - deeds, and a wide-open account book. Alongside of this fiendish hag - trips a flaunting courtier; before her rides Midas with ass’s ears to - his bloated face, unkempt locks falling down its sides, a royal diadem - upon his head, and a withered branch in his hand; and, as if bound to - her chariot, walks a king, having with him his queen. Before, but on - one side, paces another crowned prince on horseback, while full in - front rides a third king carrying in his arms a naked woman. - - Last of all and heading, as it were, this progress of Avarice, sits a - female figure sidewise on a horse, which she has just reined up. In - her right hand she bears a red standard emblazoned with a monkey on - all fours, sharp clawed, and something which may be meant for gold - pieces. - - Flying down from the skies comes an angel, who, with his outstretched - right hand, seems to stay the march of the frightful woman in the - chariot with her kingly rout, and forbid its onward progress. - - In the far-off landscape we discover a group of soldiers, near whom - lies stretched out on the ground a dead body, upon which an angel - gazes. Far to the right we find an open building, intended, may be, - for a church; near it are two military men in armour; inside, a third - seems holding out his hand as if he were leaving his offerings on - the altar there. Outside, and not far from this same building, may - be seen other four men, two of them pilgrims, of whom one kneeling - before another looks as if he were making his confession. - - The broad border to this large piece is designed with elaborate care. - At each of the two lower corners it is figured with the one same - subject, which consists in a group of three naked winged boys or - angels; of these one holds a short-stemmed cup or chalice, from out - of which rises a host or large round altar bread, showing marked on - it our Lord hanging upon the cross, between the B. V. Mary and St. - John Evangelist; a second angel kneeling has in his hands an uplifted - crown of thorns, while lying behind him are two books; and the third - angel shows us a tablet written with the Greek letters Α Ω. All the - rest of this frame-work is filled in with flowers, fruits, birds, - and snakes. Of the flowers the most frequent are the fritillary, - the rose, the lily, the amaryllis, poppies, white campanulas, large - daisies, fleurs-de-lis, and corn-flowers. Among the fruits we see the - pomegranate, of which some are split, pears, Indian corn, apples, - plums, and figs. The birds are mostly parrots, woodpeckers, storks, - cocks, doves, and some other birds of the smaller kinds. In places may - be discovered a knot of snakes coiled about a garland made of yellow - leaves. - - The allegory of the piece is read with ease. The progress of Avarice - is headed by Wickedness, who carries aloft her blood-stained flag, - emblazoned with the monkey, the emblem of moral ugliness and mischief. - Hard upon the heels of Wickedness comes a lecherous potentate, the - type of immorality. The crowned heads, whether mounted or on foot, - that come next have for their brother-companion Midas, the emblem - of the sensual miser’s greed of gold, to remind us how kings, nay - queens too, sometimes thirst for their subjects’ wealth to gratify - their evil wishes; and the gay young man behind them, coming by the - chariot’s side, personates those courtiers who are reckless of what - they do to help their royal masters in their love for lucre. Next we - are told what harpy-avarice will not waver to execute while led on - by wicked sovereigns. Look at those about and beneath her chariot: - from them we learn that she beggars the nobility, and leaves them - to walk through the world in rags; she destroys churches, and, when - lacking other means for her fell purpose, will shed innocent blood - and behead her opponents. But here below, Avarice and those who lead - her on, though they be kings and queens, will have their day: Time - will bring them to a stand. The rifled altar will be ornamented again, - the rites of worship restored, and hospitals reopened. While an angel - from heaven stops the progress of Avarice, high up in the eastern sky - a thunder-storm is gathering; and on earth a man, whilst pointing - with one hand to grim Death, armed with his scythe, amid a cloud of - loathsome winged things flitting around him, with the other that - same person warns a harpy that her sister harpy Avarice will soon be - overtaken; and just as the heathen Januslike figure close by--emblem - of the past, and of a certain future--he also tells her of that just - retribution which, by the hands of Death and in another world, will be - dealt out to herself and all this miscreant company. - - It would seem that this piece was wrought to stigmatize the memory of - some of those many wanton acts of spoliation perpetrated in France - and Belgium during the latter years of the 16th and the beginning - of the 17th centuries. Perhaps the clue to the history and import - of this fine specimen of the Flemish loom may be found all about - the person of that old man, who carries in one hand a reliquary so - conspicuously painted red, and in the other two parchment scrolls, - upon one of which we find a sort of sketch of some particular spot, - with an important edifice on it. By its size and look it seems to be - some great hospital, and from the presence there of a man having above - his head the letter tau or T and a bell hanging to it, we are given - to understand that this building belonged to some brotherhood of St. - Anthony, in the service of the sick; and that its suffering inmates - were principally those afflicted with erysipelas, a disease then, and - even yet, called abroad St. Anthony’s fire, once so pestilential that - it often swept away thousands everywhere. Near Vienne, in the South of - France, stood a richly-endowed hospital, founded A.D. 1095, chiefly - for those suffering under this direful malady. This house belonged to - and was administered by Canons Regular of St. Anthony. The town where - it stood was Didier-la-Mothe, better known as Bourg S. Antoine. During - the troubled times in France this great wealthy hospital, here fitly - represented like a town of itself, by those lofty walls and that tall - wide gateway, had been plundered: hence, one of its brothers is shown - upbraiding Avarice for her evil doings, of which those sad tokens of - moneyless purses, well-searched rent-books, and ransacked title-deeds - are still dangling on her car. If not all, most, at least, of the - persons here figured are meant, as is probable, to be characterized - as the likenesses of the very individual victims and the victimizers - portrayed upon this tapestry. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; subject, Abraham’s upper servant meeting Rebecca -at the spring of water. Flemish, late 17th century. - - At top, in the middle of the broad border, a tablet gives us the - following inscription:--Cumque pervenisset (servus?) ad fontem et sibi - (aquam?) petiisset et Batuelis filia Rebecca ex hydria potum dedisset - et camelis haustis et filio Abrahe eam fore conjugem oraculo cognovit. - - In the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis we read how Abraham in his - old age sent his eldest servant unto his own country and kindred, - thence to bring back a wife for his son Isaac; and how that man, at - his master’s behest, immediately took ten camels, carrying something - of all his lord’s goods with him, and went on to Mesopotamia, to the - city of Nahor; and how, when he had reached that place, and had made - a halt without the town near a well of water, in the evening, at the - time that women were wont to come out to draw water, he besought - Heaven that the maid to whom he should say, “Let down thy pitcher, I - pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink, and I will give - thy camels drink also--let the same be she that Thou hast appointed - for thy servant Isaac.” This faithful steward had not yet ended these - words within himself, and behold Rebecca came out, the daughter of - Bathuel the son of Milcha, wife to Nahor, the brother of Abraham, and - spoke and did as this servant had wished: and then he gave her golden - earrings and bracelets. - - As was fitting, the whole scene is laid in the open air, amid a - charming landscape scattered all over with buildings. To the left, in - the foreground, we behold a maid with a pitcher getting water out of - a large square tank, ready, as it seems, for a second serving-woman - to carry off, and who is coming back with another pitcher empty to - be again refilled. In the middle ground a young woman, who carries a - large pot of water on her head, is clambering over a wooden fence, and - going towards an arch or bridge leading to a house. - - Right in the centre of the piece stands Rebecca, with one foot resting - on a slab of veined marble, on which is placed a richly ornamented - vase; and from out another like vessel, which she holds up in both her - hands, she is giving drink to the steward Eliezer, who is respectfully - bending forwards while carrying to his lips this same pitcher to - slake his thirst. A kind of short sword, or anelace, dangles from his - girdle, and a long stout staff lies by his feet upon the ground. Two - tall trees with vines twining about them overshadow the spot. In the - distance stand several camels burdened; but behind him, some of his - men, having unloaded one or two of those beasts, are opening certain - gaily ornamented trunks, and looking out, no doubt, the bracelets and - earrings to be afterwards given to Rebecca. In the background are fine - large buildings, fortifications, a castle, and a palace-like erection - conspicuous for its tall tower and cupola, besides the walls of a - little town. - - The piece is framed with a very elaborately designed broad border, - containing accessories which show a strong leaning towards the - ornamentation that grew out of the classicism that burst forth at the - end of the fifteenth century all over Europe. - - On the lower band, standing one at each side of a short pedestal, or - rather low dado, are, back to back, two bearded grotesques, each of - which is made up of a human head and face having three goats’ horns - growing out of the forehead, and of a wyvern’s body, holding aloft - in one of its claws a tall tapering torch. Further on comes a series - of spaces peopled with emblematic personages, and separated from one - another by two little naked winged boys standing on a highly elaborate - zocle, and with the left hand swinging by a cord, at each end of which - hang from a ring, and done up in bunches, fruits and flowers. In the - first space is “Prudentia,” bearing in her right hand a long-handled - convex mirror, in her left, a human skull; in the second space, upon - a sort of throne, sits “Sollicitudo,” upholding in her right hand an - oblong square time-piece, while on her left, with her elbow propped - up by one arm of her chair, she leans her head as if buried in deep - thought; in the third space sits “Animi-(Probitas)” with both her arms - outstretched, as if reprovingly; in the fourth space we have “Ceres,” - the heathen goddess of corn: crowned with a wreath of the centaurea - flowers, she carries ears of wheat in her right hand, in her left, - a round flat loaf of bread; in the fifth space, “Liberalitas,” who, - from the emblems in her hands, must have been meant to personify not - generosity but freedom, for in her right hand she shows us a hawk’s - jesses, with the bells and their bewits, and on her left wrist, or, - as it should be phrased, the “fist,” the hawk itself without jesses, - bells, lunes, or tyrrits on--in fact quite free. - - At the left side of the upright portion of the border, stands first, - within an architectural niche, “Circumspectio,” or Wariness, who, - while she gathers up with her right hand her flowing garments from - hindering her footsteps, with her left, holds an anchor upright, and - carries on her wrist a hawk with two heads, one looking behind, the - other before, fit token of keen-sightedness, which, from a knowledge - of the past, strives to learn wisdom for the future. Higher up - “Adjuratio” is standing, with her right hand outstretched afar, as if - in warning of the awfulness of the act, and her left hand held upon - her bosom in earnest of the truth of what she utters, whilst all about - her head, as if enlightened from heaven, shines a nimb of glory. Last - of all on this side, we have “Bonus zelus,” or Right-Earnestness, in - the figure of a stout, hale husbandman, who is about clasping within - his right arm two straight uprooted saplings, evidently apple-trees, - by the fruit hanging from the wisp which binds them at their middle - height. - - Going to the right-hand strip, we find, at the lower end, occupying - her niche, “Pudicitias,” (sic), figured as a young maiden, who holds - upon her breast with her left arm a little lamb, which, with her - uplifted right hand, and the first two fingers put out according to - the Latin rite, she seems to be blessing. In his own niche, and just - overhead, we see “Requisicio,” or Hot-wishfulness, who is shown to - us under the guise of a young knight, girt with an anelace, which - hangs in front of him: in the hollow of his left outstretched hand he - carries a heart--very likely as his own--all on fire. The last of this - very curious series is “Diligentia,” as a matronly woman, who, with - one hand keeping the ample folds of her gown from falling about her - feet, carries the branch of a vine in the other hand. - - From the quantities of dulled and blackish spaces all over the - border-ground, and amid the draperies upon the figures in this - tapestry, it is evident that much gold thread was woven into it, so - that when fresh from the loom it must have had a splendour and a - richness of which at present we can image to ourselves but a very - faint idea. Though the glitter of its golden material is gone for - ever, its artistic beauty cannot ever fade. Much gracefulness in the - attitudes, several happy foreshortenings, and a great deal of good - drawing all about this design, show that the man who made the cartoon - must have deeply studied the great masters of Italy, and, in an - especial manner, those belonging to the Roman school: unfortunately, - like all of them, he too had forgot to learn what was the real - Oriental costume, and followed a classic style in dress, which, as he - has given it, is often very incorrect. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; subject, Tobit, the father, sending his son -to the city of Rages for the recovery of the moneys lent to Gabael. -Flemish, late 17th century. - - Sitting in the open air, we see first the elder Tobit. Well stricken - in years, and blind, he is leaning his right hand upon a staff; in - his left hand he holds a folded document--the note-of-hand signed by - Gabael. Thinking that he must die in a short time, he has called to - his side his well-beloved child the young Tobias, and after having - given him the most wholesome counsel for his religious and moral - behaviour through life, speaks of his own burial, and how he wishes - that when his wife Sarah’s days are done, the boy should lay his - mother’s body by his father’s in the grave. As an ending to this - discourse, the elder Tobias said, “‘I signify this to thee, that I - committed ten talents to Gabael--at Rages in Media. Seek thee a man - which may go with thee, whiles I yet live--and go and receive the - money.” - - Then Tobias going forth, found a beautiful young man, standing girded, - and as it were ready to walk; and not knowing that he was an angel of - God, he saluted him and said: “Canst thou go with me to Rages, and - knowest thou those places well?” To whom the angel said: “I will go - with thee, and I know the way well.” Then Tobias going in told all - these things to his father; and all things being ready, Tobias bade - his father and his mother farewell, and he and the angel set out both - together; and when they were departed, his mother began to weep; - and Tobias went forward, and the dog followed him.--Book of Tobit, - chapters iv. v. - - Seated, and leaning his right hand upon his staff, the old man is - outstretching with his left to his starting son the note-of-hand to - Gabael, behind him stands his wife Sarah weeping; before him is his - son, who, leaning his long travelling staff against his shoulder, with - his left hand is about to take the important document from his father, - at the same time that he turns himself half round and points with his - right hand to the angel behind him, as if to comfort his father in - the knowledge that he is to have such a good companion for his guide. - The angel, who carries a traveller’s staff in his left hand, holds - out his right towards the young man, as telling his father and mother - how carefully he would lead him to Rages, and bring him safely home - again. Last of all, and standing beneath a tree we find a saddled - ass with a large gaily ornamented pilgrim’s wooden bottle for water - hanging by its side, and the ass’s head is turned round as if looking - on the faithful dog that is lying on the ground ready to follow his - young master on the way. Magnificent buildings arise as a background - to the spot where we see old Tobit seated, and standing behind him his - weeping wife Sarah. On the threshold of their own fine house behind - them there stands in a niche the statue of Moses, who is figured with - the two horns upon his forehead, as representing the light that shone - about his face, and darted all around it in rays like horns, as he - came from Sinai a second time with tables of the law: his left hand - leans upon those two tables that stand beside him; and on his right - arm lies a long scroll. - - The borders all about the piece are made up of wreathed boughs - of foliage, from out of which peep forth fruits and flowers. The - left-hand strip shows a peacock perched upon the stem of a vine, and - little boys are shooting blunt-headed arrows at it: on the strip - to the right, other little boys are disporting themselves amid the - branches, playing music, one beating a drum, a second blowing the - flute, others clambering up amid the roses, fruits and flowers; one - little fellow, conspicuous for his dress, is waving a flag in great - delight: on the lower border children are at their gambols with - equally graceful energy. At every one of the four corners is a large - circle, wrought in imitation of bronze, all in gold, but now so faded - that the smallest lustre from the metal is lacking. They were figured - by the means of outlines done in brown silk, each with a subject drawn - from the Book of Tobit. In the circle, at the upper left-hand corner, - we observe the young Tobias going out from his father to seek, as he - had bidden him, for some trusty guide to Gabael’s house; in the lower - round of the same side the wished-for companion, Raphael in his angel - shape, has been brought in, and is speaking with the blind old man. - Looking at the circle on the upper right-hand of the border we see the - same Tobit giving comfort to his sorrowing wife Sarah, just as both - have been left by their son gone on his journey. - - Gold-covered thread has been much employed all about this fine - specimen of tapestry; but, like too many other instances of misapplied - economy in material, this exhibits nothing but blotches of dirty - brownish black in those laces which should have shone with gold. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; ground, rather white; subject, a feast. French, -or Gobelin, 18th century. Lent by the Board of Works. - - Within a large stone hall, roughly built and festooned, is spread a - long well-provided table, at which the guests, male and female, are - sitting: in the foreground are the servants, some of whom are shown in - very daring but successful foreshortenings, reminding us somewhat, on - the whole, of one of Paolo Veronese’s banquets, though here we behold - a rustic building in a garden, not an architectural hall in a Venetian - palace. - - -Tapestry Wall-hanging; ground, mostly white; subject, Cupid among the -rustics. French, or Gobelin, 18th century. Lent by the Board of Works. - - Amid the ruins of an Ionic temple in the foreground we have a - shepherd and his dog fast asleep, while a winged youthful genius is - hovering just above, and scattering very plentifully poppy-flowers - all about the spot. Behind, a young little Cupid, seated on a cloud, - is surrounded by a crowd of rustics, men and women, thronging, as it - were, to hear him. As in the other fellow-piece to this, the colouring - is cheerful and very pleasing, in parts so soft and well graduated in - their tones, and so remarkable for their foreshortenings. From their - large size they must have been intended for some great hall, and - seemingly were all wrought for the same spacious room. - - -Tapestry Hangings for Pilasters; ground, brown; design, arabesques done -in red, blue, and yellow. French, early 18th century. Lent by the Board -of Works. - - These two pieces seem to have been especially wrought to cover some - pilasters in a hall, and not to border any larger production of the - loom. - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -INDEX I. - - - - ABRAM and MELCHISEDECH figured, 88, 328. - - ABRAHAM’s servant meeting Rebecca at the well, 333. - - _Adderbury_ Church, Oxon, monster sculptures outside of, 157. - - AHASUERUS and ESTHER, figured, 307. - - Alhambra, 55. - - Alb, apparels for, 65, 146, 199. - - ---- fine mediæval one, 268. - - Algerine embroidery, 18. - - _Almeria_, its fine silks, 63. - - Altar, cere-cloth for, 160. - - Altar-cloths, 60, 62, 73, 79, 265. - - Altar-curtains, 51, 201. - - Altar-frontals, 14, 31, 87, 101, 265, 266, 267. - - Altar-frontlets, 62, 265. - - Amices, 185, 195. - - Amice, apparel for, 34, 186, &c. - - ANASTASIUS BIBLIOTHECARIUS, quoted, 155, 161. - - Angels, nine choirs of, 22, 281. - - Animals, see Zoology. - - Anjou, Royal House of, 32. - - ANN of Bohemia, Richard II.’s queen, 53. - - Annunciation of the B. V. Mary, figured, 2, 186, 247. - - ANTHONY, S., figured, 253, 254. - - ---- Canons Regular of, 332. - - ---- fire of, or erysipelas, 332; - hospital for the cure of it at _Bourg S. Antoine_ in the south of - France, 332. - - Apparels for Albs, 65, 146, 149, 181, 199, 268. - - ---- for amices, 34, 185, 187, 195, 234. - - Apparels for dalmatics and tunicles, 206. - - Apocalypse quoted, 288. - - Applied or cut-work, 2, 17, 20, 21, 77, 81, 146, 199, 215, 265. - - Arabic inscriptions, real, 179, 232, 238, 243. - - ---- pretended, 25, 29, 45, 53, 76, 122, 125, 137, 138, 146, 177, - 181, 213, 220, 234. - - Araneum opus, 162. - - Architectural design on stuffs, 10, 32, 33, 108, 131, 150, 233, 252. - - Armorial bearings of-- - BRANDENBURG, 63. - BASSINGBURN, DE, 285. - _Bohemia_, 63. - BOTILER, Le, 283, 285. - BYGOD, 285. - CHAMBOWE(?), 285. - CHAMPERNOUN, 284. - _Castile and Leon_, 282. - _Cleves_, 22, 246. - CLIFFORD, 283. - _England_, 246, 284. - EVERARD, 283. - _France_, 84. - FERRERS, 282. - FRETIE, 214. - FITTON, 148. - FITZ ALAN, 284. - GRANDISON, one of the coats, 284. - GENEVILLE, 282. - GOLBORE or GROVE, 285. - HAMPDEN(?), 284. - Knights Templar’s badge, 283. - LIMESI or LINDSEY, 283. - LUCY, 285. - MARCK, DE LA, 22. - MONTENEY of _Essex_, 284. - MORTIMER, ROGER DE, 285. - PANDOLFINI, 143. - PERCY, 284. - RIBBESFORD (?), 285. - SHELDON, 284. - SPENCER, 283. - THORNELL of _Suffolk_, 148. - TYDESWALL, 284. - WARWICK, 282. - - Assumption of the B. V. Mary figured, 89, 272, 273, 276, 278. - - Atonement, symbol of, 30. - - _Aubusson_ tapestry and carpets, 306. - - _Audenaerde_ famous for its tapestry, 294. - - Avarice personified, and progress of, figured, 329. - - ἀχειροποίητος, what, 249. - - - Bags, liturgical, 188, 263; - Persian travelling, 83. - - Balaam’s prophecy quoted from Numbers, xxiv. 17, 285. - - Balm cloth, 19, 20. - - _Bamberg_ cathedral, stuffs there, 153. - - Banners for church processions, 259. - - _Bath_, old English vestments found hidden in a house at, 88. - - _Bayeux_, so-called tapestry, piece of, 6. - - Beads, embroidery in, 169. - - ---- making of, at Venice, 169. - - ---- or rosary, for prayers, 263. - - Beasts, see Zoology. - - Beauvais tapestry, 307. - - Bed-quilts, 20, 86, 104, 293; - hangings, 107. - - BELETH, JOHN, quoted, 277. - - BERNARD, ST., chasuble of, 159. - - Birds, see Zoology. - - Bishops’ liturgical stockings, 56. - - Bissus or Byssus, what, 25, 152, 175, 239. - - BLACK PRINCE, 129. - - Blessing, the liturgical, how given in the Latin rite, 187; - figured as given with the left or wrong hand, 71. - - BLICKIN VON LICHTENBERG, ANNA, 94. - - Block printing on linen, 118, 120, 183, 184, 234. - - ---- on diaper, 61. - - ---- on silk, 31. - - BOCK, Rev. Dr., quoted, 25, 26, 29, 34, 45, 49, 52, 55, 58, 60, 89, - 122, 123, 151, 152, 155, 158, 162, 165, 169, 175, 184, 187, - 207, 223, 242, 247, 252, 264, 270. - - _Bohemia_, arms of, 63; - ANN of, 63. - - Bordering, or Lace, 160. - - Borsa, the Italian, gibeciere or pouch, 3. - - Boots or legging, like stockings, worn by bishops while - pontificating, 56. - - Botany-- - Flowers: - Artichoke, bloom of, 64, 137. - Bignonia, or trumpet flower, 75. - Centaurea, or corn-flower, 47, 49, 53, 62, 89, 99, 258. - Fleur-de-lis, 5, 27, 29, 32, 35, 59, 91, 110, 116, 130, 138, 162, - 167, 196, 226. - Frittilary, 66. - Foxglove, or digitalis, 66. - Honeysuckle, 73. - Heartsease, or pansey, 259. - Ivy, 132. - Lily, 69, 89, 110, 115, 257, 310. - Penstemon, 66. - Pinks, 115. - Pomegranate, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20, 66. - Rose, 20, 34, 47, 59, 61, 107, 188, 193, 195. - Trefoil, 137. - Tulips, 42, 62. - Fruits, &c.: - Acorns, 115, 202, 245. - Apples (?), 137. - Arbutus unedo, or strawberry tree, 110. - Artichoke, 36, 47, 60, 62, 64, 65, 66, 69, 70, 72, 73, 80, 114, - 115, 116, 118, 129, 130, 134, 145, 152, 192, 256. - Grapes, 49, 69, 74, 75, 163, 241, 245. - Mulberry, 65. - Oranges (?), 137. - Pomegranate, 7, 48, 50, 66, 73, 91, 114, 115, 128, 134, 191, 192, - 193, 197, 199, 228, 256, 258. - Strawberry, 110. - Wheat-ears, 90, 113, 137, 177. - Trees: - The Homa, hom, or sacred tree of the Persians, 84, 140, 154, 213, - 215, 216, 238. - Oak-leaves, 202, 245. - Vine, 163, 245. - - Box for corporals, 112, 193, 194. - - ---- for reservation of the consecrated Host, from Maundy Thursday - till Good Friday, 112. - - _Brandenburg_, arms of, 63. - - Brocades, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 19, 20, 29, 114, 116, 117, 122, 126, &c. - - BROOKE, the Collection, 312. - - Bouchier Knot, 168. - - Bourgtheroud, Hotel de, at Rouen, 294. - - Boy-bishop, 85. - - Bugles, 169. - - Burse, or corporal-case, 144, 145, 194. - - Byssus, see Bissus. - - Byzantine stuffs, 155, 159, 160, 161, 219, 222. - - - C, the letter, interlaced, 5, 38. - - _Cairo_, 57. - - Canvas, what kind of stuff meant by the word in old inventories, 185. - - Cap, scull, 16; - of estate or state, 86. - - CAPUANUS, PETRUS, quoted, 286. - - Carpet, 66, 83, 209, 248; - see Pedalia, or Pede-cloth. - - CAXTON, his translation of the “Legenda Aurea,” quoted, 275, 277. - - Cendal, 163. - - Cere-cloth, for laying immediately over the altar-stone, 160. - - Chairs, seat-covers for, 110. - - Charles I.’s scull-cap, 16. - - Chasubles, 1, 5, 13, 21, 76, 81, 82, 88, 142, 208, 213, 264, 266, 269. - - Chaucer quoted, 64. - - Cheetahs, see Zoology. - - Chinese silks, &c. 1, 8, 11, 12, 16, 75. - - Choirs, nine, of angels, 22, 281. - - “Church of our Fathers,” quoted, 19, 34, 36, 46, 85, 103, 170, 174, - 181, 186, 194, 196, 202, 203, 205, 206, 210, 239, 248, 265. - - Clare, Margaret de, Countess of Cornwall, 6. - - CLEVES, princely house of, 246. - - CLEVES, its armorial bearings, 22. - - Cloth, Corpus Christi, what, 202, 260. - - ---- for crozier, 174, 250. - - ---- for lectern, 210, &c. - - ---- for pyx, 202, 260. - - ---- of estate, 107. - - ---- of gold or lama d’oro, 204, 208. - - Cluny, Hotel de, at Paris, 212. - - Cobham college and church, Kent, iron lectern once at, 213. - - Cobweb stuff, so-called, 162. - - Collars of Orders-- - St. Michael, 84; - The Holy Ghost, 84. - - _Cologne_, 61, 187; - painting in cathedral, 187; - woven stuffs for church use, see orphreys of web. - - ---- embroidery, 61, 66, 67, 246. - - Colours, murrey, once such a favourite in England, 9. - - ---- pink or gules, and green, somewhat peculiar to Parlermitan - looms, 165, 170, 178, &c. - - ---- those used in the Latin as well as the Greek rite, 172; - black in services for the dead, 197. - - Copes, 2, 15, 80, 207, 275. - - ---- hoods of, 67, 144, 198; - in England, how shaped, 41. - - Coral beads, 169. - - _Cornelimünster_, abbey of, 26; - sudary of our Lord there, 26. - - Coronation of the B. V. Mary figured, 236, 272, 280. - - Corporals or square pieces of altar linen, 144, 145, 194, 195. - - ---- cases for keeping, 112, 144, 145, 194; - see Burse. - - Corpus Christi cloths, 202, 260. - - Costume, mediæval, 78. - - Counterpane, 271. - - _Coventry_, its famous gild, 289, &c. - - Coverlets, 20, &c. - - Cracowes or pointed shoes, so called, 53. - - Cradle-coverlets, 4, 13, 66, 67, 100, 103, 104, 110. - - Crape, 126. - - Creeping to the cross, ceremony of, on Good Friday, 174. - - Crescent moon and star, symbolical of our Lord and His church, 285. - - Crochet work, 18, 72. - - Cross, St. Andrew’s, 161, 229; - the so-called Y cross, 82. - - ---- cramponnée, 161; - flory, 161; - foliated, 218; - pommée, 140. - - ---- filfod, 161. - - ---- gammadion, 161. - - ---- Greek, figured on stuffs, 160. - - ---- creeping to, ceremony of, 174. - - Crown, supposed, of King Edward the Confessor, 153. - - ---- of St. Edgitha, 153. - - Crozier, napkin for, 174, 250. - - Crucifixion figured, 6, 30, 82, 83, 142, 276. - - ---- with four nails, 30. - - ---- old English manner of figuring, 276. - - Crystal balls, 206. - - CURETÓN, Dr., quoted, 179. - - Curtains, 7, 12, 13, 15. - - ---- for the altar, 51, 201. - - Cushions, 4, 59, 111, 142, 174, 273. - - ---- used in the liturgy, 59, 174. - - Cut-purse, what meant by the expression, 3. - - Cut-work, 22, 76, 141, 189, 199, 259, 292; - see Applied work. - - Cyrillian alphabet, the, 172. - - - Daisies, the symbolism of, 149, see Botany--Flowers. - - Dalmaticks, 76, 143, 206, 214, 266. - - Dalmatics, apparels on, 206. - - Damask, Chinese, 75. - - Damasks, figured with pictorial subjects, 165, 184, &c., see “Stuffs - historiated.” - - Damask in linen, 73, 201, 203, 238. - - ---- in linen and woollen, 202. - - ---- in silk, 10, 11, 13, 15, 25, 41, 42, 43, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, - 55, 56, 57, 62, 67, 72, 73, 74, 81, 113, 114, 115, 116, 121, - 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 136, 137, 138, - 139, 140, 152, 154, 155, 156, 159, 160, 162, 163, 168, 190, - 191, 196, 197, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 213, 215, 216, 221, - 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 233, 234, 237, 238, 239, 240, - 241, 244, 245, 251, 256, 274. - - Damask in silk and cotton, 60, 166, 167, 230, 231, 262. - - ---- in silk and gold, 46, 47, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 60, 63, 64, 65, - 66, 113, 129, 130, 132, 134, 137, 138, 139, 146, 151, 159, 162, - 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 170, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 183, - 184, 191, 193, 201, 213, 224, 225, 227, 228, 233, 234, 235, - 237, 238, 241, 243, 247, 273. - - ---- in silk and hemp, 164. - - ---- in silk and linen, 74, 130, 136, 154, 166, 204, 243, 262, 264. - - ---- in silk and silver, 161, 177, 183. - - ---- in silk, wool, linen, thread, and gold, 129. - - DANIEL, the book of, quoted, 227. - - Design, architectural, upon stuffs, 10, 32, 33, 108, 131, 150, 233, - 252. - - _Didier-la-Mothe_ or _Bourg S. Antoine_ hospital at for those struck - with S. Anthony’s fire or erysipelas, 332. - - DIOGENES, subjects, in tapestry, from the life of, 303, &c. - - Door-curtains, 7, 12, 13, 15. - - Dorneck, a coarser kind of damask so called, 129. - - Dory, John, the fish so called, 151. - - Dove, emblem of the Holy Ghost, 58. - - Dragon, the five-clawed Chinese, 1. - - Dress, Lady’s, 14, 18; - and the Brooke Collection, 313, &c. - - DUC, M. VIOLLET LE, quoted, 212. - - DUGDALE’s St. Paul’s, quoted, 151. - - _Durham_, Anglo-Saxon embroidered vestments kept in the cathedral - library at, 205. - - - Eagle, double-headed, 26, 28, 37, 86. - - ---- German, of Charles V. of Spain, 7. - - Edward I., how he knighted his son, 287; - and swore by the swans that he would wage war against Scotland, - _Ib._ - - Egyptian gauze, 57; - linen, 25; - silk, 56; - taffeta, 57. - - Elephant, 45. - - ---- and Castle, 170. - - Embroidery, Chinese, 7, 12, 16. - - ---- English, 5, 6, 16, 88, 147, 275, 283. - - ---- Flemish, 119, 144, 198, 248. - - ---- Florentine, 58, 91, 111, 120, 142, 214. - - ---- French, 85, 110, 219, 226. - - ---- German, 51, 53, 58, 59, 60, 66, 103, 108, 119, 120, 139, 140, - 150, 153, 156, 158, 165, 166, 186, 187, 189, 190, 196, 206, - 207, 216, 218, 249, 250, 252, 253, 254, 257, 258, 269. - - ---- Indian, 86, 262. - - ---- Italian, 71, 145, 199, 271. - - ---- Persian, 270. - - ---- Sicilian, 149. - - ---- Spanish, 65, 82, 204. - - ---- Syrian, 262. - - ---- Venetian, 168. - - ---- in quilting, 14, 16, &c. - - ---- in waving lines, 59. - - ---- done in beads, 44, 169, 190. - - ---- as cut-work and applied, 146, 189, 199, 248. - - ---- in gold wire, 220. - - ---- in gold and silver wire, 150. - - ---- done in solid silver gilt wire, 150, 220. - - ---- in pearls and precious stones, 199. - - ---- with goldsmith’s work amid it, 168, 169, 186, 199, 223, 233. - - ---- in silk, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 16, 34, 103, 117, 120, 133, - 144, 153, 155, 156, 166, 168, 181, 217, 252, 271, 273, 275. - - ---- on linen in silk, 29, 58, 60, 65, 119, 186, 187, 189, 258, 262. - - ---- on linen in thread, 31, 51, 120. - - ---- done in thread, 19, 20, 53, 58. - - ---- done in worsted, 140, 256, 262, 269. - - ---- figured with birds, 16, 158. - - ---- historic, 7, 91, 147, 150, 269, 273. - - ---- flowers, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 16, 121, 199, 213. - - ---- figured with saints, 2, 6, 56, 58, 88, 111, 116, 144, 145, 146, - 147, 149, 151, 165, 186, 187, 189, 190, 198, 207, 217, 244, - 248, 250, 254, 258. - - English chintz, 84. - - ---- conventional flowers in embroidery, 88. - - ---- purse, 106. - - ---- quilting, 16, &c. - - ---- tapestry, 306. - - ---- textiles in a ribbon-like shape, 24, 33, 38, 161, 217, 218, - 219, 221. - - ---- embroidery, 5, 6, 16, 88, 147, 275, 283; - and “The Brooke Collection,” 312, &c., passim. - - ---- silks, “The Brooke Collection,” passim, 312. - - ---- velvet, “The Brooke Collection,” passim, 312. - - ---- small hand-loom woven strips for stoles, &c., 24, 33, 38, 217, - 218, 219, 221. - - Erysipelas, or St. Anthony’s fire, hospital for, in France, 332. - - ESTHER and AHASUERUS, figured in tapestry, 307. - - Eucharist, how borne to the sick and dying, 188. - - ---- reservation of, 194, 203. - - EUSEBIUS, quoted, 280. - - Evangelists’ symbols, 149. - - EZECHIEL, quoted, 281. - - - Fan, the liturgic, 60. - - Fates, the three, figured, 309. - - Fenrir, the Scandinavian fabled water-wolf, 151. - - _Festival_, the old English so-called book, quoted, 147, 276. - - Filfod, or Full-foot, 161, 174, 242, 249. - - Fish, figured, 151. - - FITTON, arms of the family of, 148. - - Flemish embroidery, 3, 117, 248, 255. - - ---- linen, damask, or napery, 34, 61, 73, 75, 124, 203, 205, 255, - 263. - - ---- linen, block-printed, 118, 120, 234. - - ---- napery, 34, 75, 124, 255. - - ---- silk damask, 190, 191, 197, 252. - - ---- tapestry, 294, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 307, 328, 329, 330, 335. - - Flemish velvet, 254, 255, 264. - - Florentine embroidery, 58, 91, 111, 120, 142, 214. - - ---- silk, damasked, 202, 215; - figured with angels, 36, 133. - - ---- silk and linen, 264. - - ---- velvets, plain, 12, 142. - - ---- velvets, with gold, 85, 144, 145. - - ---- velvets, raised, 18, 82, 144, 145. - - ---- web for orphreys, 89, 136, 142, 260, 291. - - Flowers, see Botany. - - ----, the English conventional, in embroidery, 88. - - Foot-cloths, 140, 263. - - Frames for enamels, 34, 85. - - FRASER, or FRAZER, Scotch family of, 274. - - French cloth of gold, 204, 208. - - ---- cut-work, 81, 292. - - ---- embroidery, 5, 7, 14, 19, 21, 29, 107, 205, 226. - - ---- gloves, 105. - - ---- heraldry, 14, 29, 130. - - ---- lace (gold), 131. - - ---- lectern-veil, 141. - - ---- purses, 89, 106. - - ---- quilting, 13, 104. - - ---- satin, 8, 14, 21, 104. - - ---- silk, brocaded, 9, 15, 105. - - ---- silk, damasked, 13, 204, 205, 206. - - ---- tapestry, 302, 303, 304. - - ---- velvet, 14, 106. - - ---- webs, 29, 130. - - FRETIE, LODEWICH, 214. - - Fringe of gold, 145; - of silk, 252, 266. - - Frontals to altars, 14, 31, 87, 101, 265, 266, 267, 293. - - Frontlets, 62, 251, 257, 265. - - - G, the letter as an initial (for Gabriela?), 236. - - Gabriel the archangel, how figured, 186, 217. - - Gammadion, 34, 60, 127, 174, 175, 185, 242, 249. - - GARLAND, JOHN, noticed, 38, 162, 217. - - Gauze, 57. - - GEISPITZHEIM, HENRY VON, 94; - his armorials, 93. - - Genoa brocade, 114, 134. - - Genoa damask, 115, 116, 201. - - ---- silk, 12. - - ---- velvet, 3, 18, 62, 90, 107, 110, 145, 192, 199, 200, 263. - - ---- velvet raised, 18, 62, 107, 134. - - Geography of textiles, &c.; - see Index II. - - German embroidery, 18, 21, 34, 35, 42, 51, 58, 61, 92, 99, 100, 101, - 103, 104, 116, 133, 144, 153, 158, 165, 185, 187, 207, 246, - 249, 252, 253, 261, 263. - - ---- embroidery on linen in silk, 29, 55, 59, 60, 62, 109, 133, 139, - 174, 186, 187, 196, 242, 250, 261, 266, 267, 270. - - ---- embroidery on linen in thread, 31, 35, 60, 79, 235, 267. - - ---- embroidery in thread, 18, 31, 42, 92, 99. - - ---- embroidery in worsted, 66, 79, 108, 246, 266, 269. - - ---- napery, 190. - - ---- netting, 175, 245, 267. - - ---- silk and linen, 192, 270. - - ---- tapestry, 296, 298. - - ---- velvet, 260. - - ---- webs, 61, 62, 63, 64, 69, 80, 82, 116, 117, 118, 119, 174, 175, - 252, 253. - - Gianitore, a fish, and what, 151. - - Gibeciere, 3. - - Gilds, English, 289. - - ---- their Corpus Christi plays, 289. - - ---- at Coventry, 289. - - ---- their members, 289. - - ---- their vestments, 289. - - Gilt parchment, 140, 224, 229, 244. - - ---- vellum; see gilt parchment. - - Gimp, 102. - - GIOTTO, 186. - - ---- and his school of painting, 186. - - Girdles, 57, 126, 205, 218, 219. - - Girdle at Prato, of the B. V. Mary, 261, 272, 280, 282. - - GLOVER, ROBERT, Somerset herald, quoted, 148. - - Gloves, ladies’, 105. - - Gobelins tapestry, 302, 305. - - Golden Legend, Caxton’s English translation quoted, 275, 277. - - Goldsmith’s work found upon embroidery and textiles; - see Silversmith’s work. - - Good Friday’s celebration, 113. - - Good Friday rite among the Greeks, 113, 173. - - ---- rite among the Latins, 113, 174. - - Grail, or Grayle, the liturgic book, what, 34. - - Granada textiles, 26, 27, 60, 65, 73, 128, 161, 166. - - GRAUNT, Master Thomas, 289. - - Greek, alb, chitonion, 171. - - ---- dalmatic or stoicharion, 171. - - ---- ritual noticed, 113, 124, 126, 171, 191, 205. - - ---- stoicharion or dalmatic, 171. - - ---- textiles, 27, 28, 33, 36, 123, 124, 126, 127. - - ---- mixed with cotton, 27, 126, 219. - - ----, thread, 33, 123. - - Green, colour of, 57, 281. - - Gregory’s (St.), “Pity,” what, 34. - - - HABACUC, 277. - - HAMAN, fall of, figured, 308. - - HAMPDEN, arms of (?) - 287. - - Hand, in benediction, 54. - - Hangings of velvet, 17, 18, 107. - - ---- for walls, wrought of cut-work, and figured with the romance of - Sir Guy, of Warwick, and the Northumbrian “worm” or dragon, 77. - - Hare, its symbolic meaning, 237. - - Harts, lodged, 43. - - HENRY II, emperor of Germany, 153; - tunic of, 153, 154. - - Heraldry, 14, 19, 22, 28, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 63, 73, 76, 84, 93, - 103, 104, 108, 128, 130, 143, 148, 175, 177, 181, 183, 196, - 203, 204, 205, 207, 209, 214, 246, 253, 260, 263, 264, 266, - 267, 269, 273, 282, 283, &c. - - “Hierurgia,” the work so entitled, quoted, 171, 185, 196, 203, 205. - - HOLLIS, the brothers’, “Monumental Effigies of Great Britain,” - quoted, 269. - - Holosericus, what, 155. - - Holy loaf, what, 263. - - Hom, or Homa, the Persian sacred tree, 84, 140, 154, 213, 216, 238. - - Hood, the, upon English copes, how shaped, 41. - - Hoods of copes, 2, 3, 41, 144, 198, 260, 272. - - Ωρολογιον, or Horologion, one of the Greek ritual books quoted, 172. - - Hotel de Bourgtheroud at Rouen, 294. - - HOHENSTAUFEN, House of, 29, 38. - - Housing, 204. - - HUNSDON, Lord, gave silk stockings to Queen Elizabeth, 200. - - - Illuminated MSS., gauze between leaves of, 57. - - Incarnation, mystery of, how symbolized, 236. - - Indian embroidery, 14. - - Initials-- - Two C’s interlaced, 5, 38. - G, 236. - L and K, 73. - R, 52. - V, four V’s put crosswise, 28. - - Inscriptions, 206, 214, 223, 226, 250, 257, 265, 269, 270, 273. - - Inscriptions in Arabic, see Arabic. - - ---- in German, 93, 256, 296. - - ---- in Greek (Cyrillian letters), 172. - - ---- in Latin, 31, 62, 66, 80, 82, 89, 111, 119, 148, 166, 176, 187, - 201, 206, 210, 211, 223, 226, 257, 264, 265, 269, 305, 329. - - ----, mediæval, German, 296, 298. - - ISAIAS quoted, 281. - - Italian altar-frontals, 87, 101, 293. - - ---- bed-quilt, 293. - - ---- cut-work applied, 17, 20, 293. - - ---- silk damask, 11, 13, 15, 25, 33, 46, 56, 58, 60, 73, 74, 81, - 115, 129, 130, 136, 162, 163, 165, 196, 206, 227, 230, 233, - 239, 240, 242, 256, 258. - - ---- damask, in silk brocaded with gold, 13, 46, 56, 58, 60, 117, - 162, 165, 170, 176, 213, 233, 235. - - ---- silk, damasked in gold, 177, 181, 183, 241. - - ---- in silver, 183. - - Italian silk, damasked in silk and cotton, 37, 60, 181, 230, 262. - - ---- in silk and hemp, 164. - - ---- in silk and linen, 37, 124, 130, 176, 204, 243. - - ---- embroidery, 4, 12, 34, 58, 87, 91, 101, 120, 121, 244, 293. - - ---- fringe, 293. - - ---- lace, (silk), 271. - - ---- net-work, 3, 4, 101, 162. - - ---- quilting, 14. - - ---- satin, 14. - - ---- velvet in silk, 9, 17, 62, 70, 72, 88. - - ---- velvet in silk, raised, 62, 80, 87, 89, 185, 194, 258. - - ---- velvet in worsted, 12. - - ---- web, 221. - - - JAMES I, 273. - - JAMESON, Mrs. quoted, 198. - - Jerusalem, the two stars, symbols of, 55. - - John Dory, fish so called, 151. - - Jubinal’s work on tapestry noticed, 86. - - - KENNEDY, Margaret, one of the ladies in waiting on Mary Queen of - Scots at her beheading, 203. - - Keys, St. Peter’s, one gold, the other silver, 6. - - KNIGHT’s History of England quoted, 203. - - Knot, the Bouchier, 168. - - ---- the Wake and Ormonde, 250. - - Knots, 160, 229, 244. - - ---- petty, 120, 146. - - ----, love, 123, 157. - - Kraken, the Scandinavian fabled sea-monster, 236. - - - Lace, old English, 6. - - ---- gold, 6, 131, 160, 197, 249. - - ---- nuns’, so called, 73. - - ---- open-worked, 13. - - ---- silk, 241, 271. - - ---- silk, and velvet, 85. - - ----, worsted, 249. - - ----, woollen and linen, for carriage-trimmings, 191. - - Lama d’oro, or cloth of gold, 204. - - Lamb, Holy, 58. - - Languages, see “Inscriptions.” - - Languages-- - German mediæval, 296, 298. - - Latin rite, 187. - - Lappet of a mitre, 51. - - Lap-cloths, bishop’s, 19, 20. - - Lavabo cloths, 203. - - Leather gilt, and used as edging, 65, 78. - - Lectern cloths or veils, 20, 141, 145, 210, 261. - - Legend, the English Golden, quoted, 275, 277. - - ----, the Golden, translated by Caxton, quoted, 278, 284, 285. - - Λειτουργία των προηγιασμενων, 113. - - Lent, and Passion-tide, liturgic colours for, 36, 133. - - Lenten vestments, 133. - - “Letters,” the “Paston,” noticed, 289. - - Linen, or byssus, 25, 152, 175, 239. - - ---- diaper, 61. - - ----, embroidered, 29, 65, 71, 181, 185, 190, 235, 242, 246, 249, - 250, 251, 255, 256. - - ---- and gold tissue, 169. - - ----, printed, 118, 120, 183, 184, 234. - - ---- and woollen, 246. - - Lion, the symbol of Christ, 156. - - Liturgical appliances, of rare occurrence in public collections, 99, - 112, 120, 142, 171, 174, 184, 186, 188, 196, 202, 205, 210, - 242, 243, 250, 263. - - Loaf, see Holy Loaf. - - ---- holy, what, 263. - - LOKE, the Scandinavian god, 151. - - Lombardy, once famous for its opus araneum, or cobweb weaving, 162. - - London wrought stuffs, 161. - - Lord, our, how figured on the cross, 276. - - Louvre, museum of, silks in, 44. - - Love knots, 157. - - _Lucca_ damasked silks, 15, 50, 65, 145, 163, 235, 244. - - ---- damasked silk, brocaded in gold, 243. - - ---- velvets, 62, 72, 192, 259. - - LYDGATE quoted, 288. - - _Lyons_, damasked silk, 19, 20, 91, 105. - - ----, brocaded in gold and silver, 91. - - ----, in silver, 19. - - - M, the letter figured on stuffs, 156, 166, 182, 222, 230, 241. - - Madonna del Cardellino, 215. - - ---- della Cintola, subject of, how treated in the Italian schools, - 267. - - Magdalen College, Oxford, and its builder Waneflete’s fine liturgical - shoes, 46. - - “Man of Sorrows,” our Lord as the, 34. - - MANDEVILLE, Sir John’s, travels, quoted, 178. - - Maniples, 35, 38, 45, 46, 53, 88, 116, 121, 138, 156, 252, 292. - - MARCK, DE LA, armorial bearings of the House of, 22. - - Marguerite, La, what the flower signifies, 149. - - MARTIN’s (Pere), learned and valuable work--“Mélanges d’Archéologie,” - quoted, 44, 130. - - Mary, the B. V., her assumption, how figured on the Syon cope, 276. - - ---- on Florentine textiles, 291. See “Assumption.” - - ----, B. V., the death and burial of, how figured on the Syon cope, - 277. - - ----, St., of Egypt, her legend figured, 54. - - ---- Queen of Scots, and the cloth over her face when she was - beheaded, 203. - - Mass of the Presanctified, 113. - - Matilda, the Norman William’s queen, and the Bayeux so-called - tapestry, 7. - - Maundy Thursday, mass on, 112, 194. - - Melchizedek and Abram, figured, 88, 328. - - Memling and his school of painting, 198. - - MERCŒUR, House of, 30. - - Michael the archangel, how figured, overcoming Satan, 30, 275. - - Midgard, the Scandinavian fabled serpent, 151. - - Milan, famed for its looms, 162. - - Milanese embroidery, 3. - - ---- lace, 197. - - ---- net-work, 200. - - ---- steel-work, 3. - - ---- velvet raised, 7. - - Missal-cushion, 142. - - Missal, the Roman, quoted, 142. - - ---- the Salisbury, quoted, 284. - - Mitre, lappets of, 51, 85. - - Monstrance for liturgical use, what, 184. - - Moon, crescent, 220, 243. - - ---- crescent, symbolism of, 288. - - ---- figured in pictures of the Crucifixion, 30. - - Moorish tissue, 123. - - Moresque, Spanish, 51, 55, 121, 124, 125, 152, 160, 180, 240, 244. - - Moslem use, stuffs for, 57, 61. - - Mund or ball, so called, 276. - - ---- how anciently divided, 276. - - Munich, the Maximilian museum at, 153, 154. - - _Murano_ and its manufacture of beads, 169. - - Murrey-colour liked in the mediæval period by the English, 9. - - Musical instruments, mediæval, 23, 157. - - Mythology, Scandinavian, 150. - - - Napery-- - Flemish, 34, 61, 73, 75, 124, 203, 205, 255, 263. - German, 62. - - Napkins for crozier, 174, 250. - - ---- embroidered, 99, 100, 101, 261. - - Napkin of linen, 35. - - ---- for pyx, 202, 260. - - Neapolitan embroidery, 13. - - ---- silk, 13. - - NECKAM, ALEXANDER, quoted, 286. - - Needlework, 79, 99, 100, 101, 262. - - ---- old English, the admired “opus Anglicum,” 147, 275, 281, 288. - - ---- old English, how to be known, 288. - - Net-work, 3, 4, 61, 101, 107, 175, 200, 245. - - _Newburg_, near Vienna, robes at, 38. - - Newmarket, king’s house at, 302; - tapestries from, 302. - - Nineveh sculptures, 25, 122. - - Numbers, Book of, quoted, 288. - - Nuns’ lace, 73. - - _Nuremberg_, old tapestry wrought at, 298. - - Nursery rhymes, old English, 103. - - - O, the, or zero form of ornamentation, 225, 227, 228. - - OAKDEN, RALF, Esq., gift of old English embroidered apparels, 147. - - Odilia, a French lady-embroideress, 30. - - Opus Anglicum, 275, 281, 288. - - ---- Araneum, 162, 210. - - ---- Plumarium, 288, 289. - - Oriental damasked silk, 25, 128, 132, 136, 140, 154, 155, 160, 251. - - ---- brocaded in gold, 25, 133, 137, 138, 151, 156. - - ---- modern damasked silk, 21. - - ---- brocaded in gold and silver, 21. - - ---- very fine linen, or byssus, 239. - - Orphreys, embroidered, 1, 6, 21, 29, 55, 68, 76, 82, 117, 120, 143, - 145, 168, 189, 244, 245, 247, 252, 253, 254, 259, 265. - - ---- of web, or woven stuff for the purpose, 28, 33, 61, 62, 68, 80, - 83, 89, 112, 116, 118, 119, 136, 143, 161, 174, 175, 191, 201, - 207, 208, 252, 253, 265, 291. - - Orphrey web, Venetian, 71, 112, 271, 272. - - _Orvieto_, altar-frontal from, 101. - - OSMONT’s “Volucraire,” or Book on Birds, 286. - - Ostrich-feathers figured, 19, 129. - - - _Palermo_, stuffs woven at, 38, 44, 45, 53, 130, 131, 139, 150, 163, - 165, 170, 228, 232. - - ---- its “Tiraz,” or silk-house, 232. - - Pallæ or palls, what, 194, 196. - - ---- or liturgical palls, 196. - - Palls for casting over tombs in churches, 56. - - Palm-branch carried by St. John Evangelist at the burial of the B. V. - Mary, 278. - - ---- held by the Jew as figured on the Syon cope, 280. - - PANDOLFINI, armorials of the family of, 143. - - Paper, gilt and stamped out like flowers pasted on silken stuffs, 43. - - Papyonns, or cheetahs, 154, 178. - - Parchment, gilt, 140, 224, 229, 244. - - ---- gilt and woven into silken stuffs, 132, 140, 224, 229, 244; - the trade trick learned from the Moors by the southern Spaniards, - 244. - - Parrots; see Zoology--Birds. - - “Paston Letters” noticed, 289. - - Pastoral amusements, 295, &c. - - ---- literature, 294. - - Paul’s, S. cathedral, London, vestments once belonging to, 151. - - Peacock, oaths sworn by the, 287. - - ---- symbolism of the, 286, &c. - - Pedalia or Pede-cloths, 209, 210, 263. - - Persian carpeting, 83. - - ---- damask, silk brocaded in gold, 133. - - ---- damask, silk and worsted, 84. - - ---- embroidery, 270. - - ---- satin, 270. - - ---- tunic, 270. - - Peter’s, St., fish, 151. - - Pin, an old one (?), 254. - - PITRA, Dom, now Cardinal, quoted, 286. - - Pity, the so-called, of St. Gregory, what, 34, 194. - - Plumarium Opus, what, 288, 289. - - Pomegranate; see Botany--Fruits. - - ---- ensign of Queen Catherine of Arragon, 134. - - ---- ensign of Spain, especially of Granada, 7. - - ---- symbolic meaning of, 13. - - Polystauria or stuffs figured all over with the sign of the cross, - 161. - - Porphyreticum, what, 155. - - Pouch, 3. - - _Prato_, church of, 261. - - Presanctified, mass of, 113. - - Printing by block, on silk, 31, &c.; - see Block printing. - - Psalms, Book of, quoted, 281. - - Purses, 3, 89, 106. - - ---- liturgical, 188, 263. - - Pyx cloth, 202, 260. - - - Quilting, 14, 16. - - ---- English, 16. - - Quilts, 4, 5, 13, 14, 16, 86, 104, 293. - - - R, the letter, wrought upon a silken stuff, 52. - - Rain-drops, shower of, 52, 54, 239, &c. - - RAINE, Mr., his St. Cuthbert, noticed, 205. - - RAPHAEL’s Madonna del Cardellino, 215. - - REBECCA meeting ABRAHAM’s servant at the well, figured in tapestry, - 333. - - Relics, bag for, 42. - - Reredos of embroidered linen, 53, 235. - - Resurrection, how figured on woven stuffs, 113, 272. - - ---- of our Lord, how embroidered upon the Syon cope, 276. - - Rhenish cut or applied work, 21, 258. - - ---- embroidery, 2, 52, 247, 258. - - Ribbon, green silk and gold thread, 121. - - RICHARD II.’s monumental effigy in Westminster Abbey, 269. - - Rite, Greek, noticed, 113, 124, 126, 171, 191, 205. - - ---- Latin, 113, 124, 172, 187, 188, 191, 194, 205. - - Rock crystal, balls of, used on vestments, 206. - - Romance, the, of Sir Guy of Warwick, figured, 77. - - Rosary-beads, 263. - - Rose of England, 134. - - ---- red and white, 188. - - ROVERE DELLA, family of, 115. - - Ruthenic work, 171. - - - Saddle-bags, 84. - - Saddle-cloth, 204. - - ---- Saints, figured - - S. Andrew, Apostle, 158, 279. - - S. Ann, mother of the B. V. Mary, 147, &c. - - S. Anthony of Egypt, 253, 254. - - S. Bartholomew, Apostle, 270. - - S. Bernard, 198. - - S. Bernard’s life, 198. - - St. Blase, 38. - - S. Catherine of Alexandria, 253. - - S. Christina, and her life, 142. - - S. Dorothy, 211. - - Santa Francesca Romana, and her life, 92. - - S. James, Apostle, called of Compostella, 280. - - S. James the Less, Apostle, 280. - - S. Jerome, 142. - - S. John, Evangelist, 142, 145, 276, &c. - - S. Kilian or Kuln, 187. - - S. Louis, King of France, 144. - - S. Lucy, 142, 211. - - S. Mark, Evangelist, 111. - - S. Mary, B. V., 148, 210, 211, 236, 251, 260, 272, 273, 276, 279. - - St. Mary of Egypt, 54. - - S. Mary Magdalen, 30, 209, 211, 280. - - S. Michael, Archangel, 30, 275. - - S. Odilia, 187. - - S. Onuphrius, hermit, 2. - - S. Paul, Apostle, 146, 278, 279. - - S. Peter, Apostle, 145, 149, 278, 279. - - S. Philip, Apostle, 149, 280. - - S. Simon, Apostle, 149, 210. - - S. Stephen, stoning of, 6, 38. - - S. Thomas, Apostle, 279, 280; - see “Girdle at Prato.” - - S. Ubaldo, 102. - - S. Ursula, 211, 247. - - Saints’ tombs, 56. - - Salisbury rite, noticed, 34, 36. - - SAMPSON slaying the lion, figured, 123. - - Saracenic damask, 127, 178, 244. - - Sashes, 21. - - Satin, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 20, 110, 113. - - ----French, 110. - - ---- Italian, 113. - - Scandinavian mythology, 150. - - Scarf, 18. - - ---- liturgical, 105. - - SCHÖN MARTIN, 207. - - School, Umbrian, of painting, 184, 186. - - ---- of Umbria for painting, 247; - and its beauty, 247. - - Sclaves, 172. - - Scotch embroidery, 273. - - SCOTT, SIR WALTER, quoted, 3. - - Scull-cap, 16. - - SHAW’s “Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages,” quoted, 86. - - Shoe, liturgical, 46. - - Shower of rain-drops, figured, 54, 239. - - Sicilian stuffs, 28, 29, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, - 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 76, 115, 127, 130, 132, 137, 139, 146, - 150, 154, 156, 158, 159, 163, 164, 165, 167, 168, 169, 178, - 179, 180, 215, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, - 231, 234, 238, 239, 242, 245, 266, 268, 269, 274. - - Sicilian cendal, 163. - - ---- damasks, figured with beasts and flowers, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, - 127, 130, 137, 139, 146, 150, 164, 166, 178, 179, 269. - - ---- damasks in silk, 32, 53, 76, 115, 132, 137, 156, 159, 163, 168, - 169, 180, 215, 226, 227, 239, 245, 274. - - ---- damasks in silk, brocaded in gold, 28, 29, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, - 43, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 126, 130, 139, 146, 150, 159, - 164, 165, 167, 168, 224, 227, 228, 231, 232, 234, 238, 242, - 266, 268, 269. - - ---- damasks, silk and cotton, 41, 44, 230. - - ---- damasks, silk and cotton, brocaded in gold, 39, 45, 48. - - ---- damasks, in silk and thread, 154, 223. - - ---- damasks, silk and thread, brocaded in gold, 48, 49, 238. - - ---- damasks in linen thread, brocaded in gold, 169. - - ---- damask or tapestry, silk, cotton, and wool, 158. - - ---- embroidery, 149, 158, 159. - - ---- lace, silk, and gold, 160, 161. - - ---- taffeta, 75, 121. - - ---- tissue or web, 222. - - Silk-house, or Tiraz, at Palermo, 232. - - Silk gauze, 57. - - Silks, block-printed, 31. - - Silk mixed with cotton, 5, 24, 26, 27, 33, 37, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, - 47, 60, 126, 152, 181, 219, 226. - - ---- mixed with linen, 27, 33, 37, 122, 123, 124, 176, 192, 220, 223. - - ---- worsted, 84, 114; - see Damask. - - ---- net-work, 200. - - Silversmith’s work amid embroidery, 168, 169, 186, 199, 223, 233. - - Sindon, the Greek liturgical embroidery, so-called, 170. - - ---- or pyx-cloth of the old English ritual, 202, 260. - - Sorrows, Man of, our Lord figured as, 34. - - ---- the B. V. Mary, of, 69. - - SOTHENER, MASTER STEPHEN, and his fine picture in Cologne cathedral, - 187. - - Spangles, 186, 190, 223. - - Spanish carpeting, 209, 248. - - ---- crochet work, 20. - - ---- damasked silk, 36, 48, 67, 72, 73, 74, 115, 121, 126, 128, 129, - 168, 182, 216, 224, 225, 240, 248. - - Spanish damasks, brocaded in gold, 50, 62, 66, 116, 132, 193, 229. - - ----, in silver, 177. - - ---- embroidery, 65, 81, 204. - - Spanish-Moresco stuffs, 51, 121, 124, 125, 152, 160, 180, 241, 244. - - ---- net-work, 20. - - ---- stuffs, cotton and linen, 224. - - ----, linen, and gilt parchment, 140, 224. - - ----, silk and cotton, 26, 47, 166. - - ----, linen, 122, 166. - - ---- of wool and hemp, 209. - - ---- of wool and thread, 114. - - ---- taffetas, 47. - - ---- velvets, 81, 135, 189, 207, 291, 292. - - SPENSER quoted, 64. - - Spicilegium Solesmense quoted, 286. - - Spider, figured, 182. - - Star and Crescent, their symbolism, 285. - - Star, symbolism of, 55, 272, 285. - - Stauracin, 124, 127, 160, 161. - - “Stella Maris,” or “Star of the Sea,” one of the old symbolical - attributes of the B. V. Mary, 272. - - State cap, 86. - - Stauracina, what, 124, 161. - - Stenciled satin, 113. - - Stitchery of a fine kind, 4, 7, 19. - - Stockings, silk, one of the first pair made in England, given to - Queen Elizabeth, and now belonging to the Marquis of Salisbury, - 200. - - Stoles, 24, 44, 58, 138, 185, 222, 235. - - ----, 58, 121, 191. - - Stones, precious, used, 81, 82, 199. - - STOTHARD, MRS., 7. - - Strap-shaped ornamentation on textiles, as well as in bookbindings, - 201. - - Stuffs, loom-wrought, with history-pieces, 271, 272. - - Stuffs, &c., - Of the Adoration of the Magi or three Kings, 186. - Of Angels, 142, 143. - ---- holding crescents, 234. - ---- a monstrance, 184. - Of Angels swinging thuribles, and carrying crowns of thorns and - crosses in their hands, 36. - Of the Annunciation, 247. - Of the Assumption of the B. V. Mary, 272, 273. - - Stuffs figured with-- - Beasts, 5, 25, 32, 41, 42, 43, &c. - Birds, 26, 28, 29, 32, 37, 41, 42. - Men and beasts, 122. - With a Chinese subject, 75. - Of the coronation in heaven of the B. V. Mary, 272. - Of Emblems of the Passion, 133. - Figured with flowers and fruits, 11, 13, 15, 41, 42. - Of a king on horseback, with hawk on hand, &c., 223. - Of a man or woman with hawk on wrist, 233. - Of the B. V. Mary, with our Lord as a child in her arms, or on her - lap, 63, 71, 271, 272. - Of St. Mary of Egypt, 54. - Of St. Peter, apostle, 136. - Of the resurrection. - Of Sampson overcoming the lion, 122. - Of women gathering dates, 165. - - Subdeacon’s liturgical veil worn over the shoulders, 144. - - Sudary of our Lord, 26. - - Sun-beams and rain-drops figured, 54, 239. - - Sun and moon figured in art-works of the Crucifixion, 30. - - Surplices, 239. - - ---- of transparent linen, 239. - - Symbolism, 149, 236, 237, 272, 276, 285, 311, 329, 330, 331, 332. - - Syon Nunnery, beautiful cope once belonging to, 275. - - Syrian crape drapered with a pattern, 126. - - ---- stuffs, 125, 127, 139, 213, 215, 216, 221. - - ---- damask in silk and cotton, 24, 152. - - ---- damask, silk and gold, 122, 178, 180, 238. - - ---- damask, silk and linen thread, 42, 136, 220. - - - Table-covers, 16, 19, 92, 108, 141. - - Taffeta, 47. - - ---- Egyptian, 56, 57. - - ---- Sicilian, 75, 121. - - Tangier stuff, 123. - - Tapestry, 6, 158, 294, &c. - - Tapestry-- - English, 306. - Flemish, 294, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 307, 328, 329, 333. - French, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 309. - German, 296, 298. - - Tassels on dalmatics, 206. - - TAYLOR’s “Glory of Regality,” quoted, 153. - - Tetuan stuff, 123. - - THAUN, PHILLIPPE DE, quoted, 236. - - The Three Wise Men, clothed and crowned as kings going to - Bethlehem, 148. - - THORNELL of Suffolk, arms of, 148. - - Thread embroidery, 19, 20, 53, 58. - - Throne-room in Roman princely houses, 87, 107. - - Tiles, glazed for paving, 183. - - Tiraz or silk-house at Palermo, 232. - - TOBIT, the elder, sending his son to Rages, figured, 335. - - Toca, what, 204. - - Tombs in churches, palls for throwing over, 56. - - Trimming for carriages, 191. - - ---- vestments, 193. - - Tunicle, 143. - - Turkish net, 61. - - Tyrian purple, so called, 155, 159, 160, 219. - - - The U form of ornamentation, 227, 228. - - Unicorn, hunting of the, 53, 236. - - Umbrian school of painting, 184, 186, 247. - - - V, the letter, put cross-wise, 28. - - Vallombrosa, book from the monastery at, 87. - - Varnicle or Vernicle, 198, 248. - - Vasari, quoted, 261. - - Veil for lectern, 20, 141, 145, 212, 261. - - Veil or scarf worn over his shoulders by the subdeacon, 144, 145. - - Velvet, brocaded in gold, 62, 65, 85, 107, 134, 135, 144, 185, 189, - 193, 198, 259. - - Velvet, cut and applied, 17, 20. - - ---- embroidered, 198, 200, 204. - - ---- figured, 17, 62, 135, 192, 193, 207. - - ---- freckled with golden loops, 257. - - ----, pile upon pile, 1, 257. - - ----, plain, 2, 3, 9, 14, 143, 199, 204, 206. - - ----, raised, 4, 18, 62, 65, 69, 70, 72, 80, 82, 87, 89, 90, 107, - 110, 134, 135, 144, 145, 185, 193, 200, 254, 256, 257, 258, 263. - - ----, English, see Brooke Collection, 312, &c. - ---- Flemish, 254, 255, 264. - ---- Florentine, 1, 18, 82, 85, 142, 144, 145, 198, 256, 257. - ---- French, 14, 89, 106. - ---- Genoa, 3, 18, 62, 90, 107, 110, 134, 145, 192, 199, 200, 263. - ---- Italian, 65, 89, 90, 199. - ---- Lucca, 62, 72, 192, 198, 259. - ---- Spanish, 81, 135, 189. - - Venetian beads, 169. - - ---- damask, 54, &c. - - ---- embroidery, 44, 168. - - ---- embroidery in beads, 169. - - ---- lace, 141. - - ---- table-covers, 141. - - ---- webs, 71, 112, 271, 272. - - Vestments often blazoned with armorial bearing of those who gave - them, 22, 148, 214, 282. - - ----, English, 41, 146, 275. - - VINCENT, FRANCOIS ANDRE, 302. - - VIOLLET, LE DUC, quoted, 212. - - VIRGILIUS, subjects from, figured in tapestry, 300, 301, 302. - - - WALLER’s brasses, noticed, 181. - - WANEFLETE’S, BP., liturgical shoes, 46. - - Warwick, Sir Guy of, and the Northumbrian dragon, figured, 79. - - Webs, 28, 33, 61, 62, 63, 64, 71, 80, 112, 116, 117, 118, 119, 136, - 143, 161, 174, 175, 191, 201, 217, 221, 222, 223, 257, 261, - 271, 272, 291. - - Wire of pure metal gold, or silver, 220. - - Wise men or Magi, adoration of, figured, 3. - - Wire, pure metal, 220. - - Witsuntide, stuff for, in the ritual, 226. - - Witsunday, how signified, 2. - - Worsley, The, sepulchral brass, 181. - - Worsted and thread, 114. - - ---- work, 61, 79. - - WYDEROYD, Pastor S. Jacobi Colon, 189. - - - Y, the cross so called, 81, 82. - - _York_, cloth of gold, found in a grave at the cathedral of, 251. - - _Yprès_, 34, 61, 73, 75. - - - Zoology-- - Beasts: - Antelopes, 46, 47, 52, 234. - Boars, wild, 180. - Cheetahs, or papyonns, 74, 136, 137, 154, 178, 215, 234. - Deer, 108, 226, 242. - Dogs, 33, 42, 45, 50, 52, 124, 138, 155, 165, 168, 180, 223, 233, - 241, 336. - Elephant, 45; and castle, 170. - Gazelles, 179, 234. - Giraffes, 225, 228. - Hares, 240, 310. - Harts, 41, 42, 43, 51, 118. - Hounds, 49, 76, 167. - Leopards, 154, 163, 164, 214. - Lions, 27, 30, 33, 42, 49, 57, 111, 122, 131, 137, 138, 146, 165, - 177, 183, 218. - Monkey, 108, 310. - Oxen, 214. - Panther, 250. - Papyonns; see cheetah. - Squirrels, 58. - Stags, 53, 99, 166, 180. - Talbot, or English blood-hound, 223. - Toad, 310. - Weasel, or stoat, 310. - Wolf, 158. - Beasts, emblematic, 140, 156, 163, 311. - Beasts, heraldic, 5, 40, 41, 46, 47, 52, 53, 58, 59, 60, 156, 161, - 217, 218, 228, 246, 267. - Elephant and Castle, 170. - Griffins, 5, 29, 32, 40, 47, 49, 130, 131, 154, 155. - Leopard, noued, 164. - Libbards, 240. - Lion, noued, 165. - Lioncels, 5. - Wyverns, 40, 47, 131, 133, 158, 159, 163, 168, 228. - Beasts, monsters, 3, 25, 30, 40, 41, 42, 99, 106, 150, 155, 157, - 158, 160, 177, 181, 217, 218, 222, 226, 251. - Kraken, 236. - Mermaid, 251. - Midgard Serpent, 151. - Satyr, 3. - Sphinxes, 181. - The Wolf Fenrir, 151. - Beasts, symbolical: - Hare, of man’s soul, 237, 311. - Lion, of Christ, 156. - Monkey, of mischief and lubricity, 311. - Monoceros or unicorn, of Christ as God-man, 237. - Birds: - Cocks, 39. - Cockatoos, 133, 228. - Cranes, 164. - Doves, 124, 218, 310; - symbol of love, 311. - Ducks, wild, 229. - Eagles, 7, 25, 26, 40, 43, 50, 51, 76, 81, 129, 137, 138, 158, - 163, 164, 178, 180, 183, 229, 232, 233. - Hawks, 155, 166, 223, 226, 233. - Hoopoes, 45, 137, 146. - Owls, 3. - Parrots, 119, 131, 139, 140, 154, 159, 166, 168, 241, 242, 244. - Peacocks, 154, 250. - Pelican, 214. - Pheasants, 60. - Swans, 49, 166, 179, 232. - Wild ducks, 229. - Birds, heraldic, or monster things with wings: - Dragon, 1. - Eagle, double-headed, 7, 37, 86. - Griffins, 5, 29, 32, 40, 47, 49, 131. - Harpies, 329, 330. - Wyverns, 40, 47, 131, 158, 159, 163, 168, 228, 330. - Fish, 151. - ----, Sr. Peter’s, the Italian Gianitore, or our John Dory, 151. - Insects: - Butterflies, 16, 44, 66. - Spider, 182. - Shells, 7. - Snakes, 177. - - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - -INDEX II. - -GEOGRAPHY OF TEXTILES. - - -EUROPE. - - ENGLAND: - Chintz. - Embroidery. - Quilting. - Satins. - Silks. - Tapestry. - Velvets. - Webs, ribbon-like. - - FLANDERS: - Embroidery. - Lace. - Linen, block-printed. - Linen, damasked. - Napery. - Silk, damasked. - Tapestry. - Velvets. - - FRANCE: - Cloth of gold. - Embroidery. - Lace in gold. - Quilting. - Silks, brocaded. - Silks, damasked. - Tapestry. - Velvets. - Webs. - - GERMANY: - _Cologne_, and other Rhenish towns: - Embroidery in silk, in thread, in worsted. - Napery. - Silk and linen. - Tapestry. - Velvet. - Webs in silk, in silk and linen. - - GREECE: - Silks. - Silks mixed with cotton. - Silks mixed with linen thread. - Byzantine stuffs historied. - - ITALY: - _Florence_: - Embroidery. - Silks, damasked. - Silks, historied. - Silks mixed with linen. - Velvets, pile upon pile. - Velvets, plain. - Velvets wrought with gold. - Velvets raised. - Webs, historied. - _Genoa_: - Silks, brocaded in gold. - Silks, damasked. - Velvets, plain. - _Italian_ Textiles, &c.: - Applied or cut-work. - Embroidery. - Fringe. - Lace. - Quilting. - Satins. - Satins, brocaded in gold and silver. - Silks, brocaded in gold. - Silks, damasked. - Silks mixed with cotton. - ---- with hemp. - ---- with flax. - Velvets raised. - Velvets of silk. - Velvets of worsted. - Webs. - _Lombardy_: - Cob-web weaving. - Lace. - _Lucca_: - Silks, brocaded in gold. - Silks, damasked. - Velvets. - _Milan_: - Embroidery. - Lace. - Velvets. - Velvets, raised. - _Naples_: - Embroidery. - Silks. - _Reggio_: - Silks, damasked. - _Sicily_: - Cendal. - Damasks in linen, brocaded in gold. - Embroidery. - Lace in silk and gold. - Silks, brocaded in gold. - Silks, damasked. - Silks mixed with cotton. - Silks mixed with cotton and wool. - Silks mixed with flaxen thread. - Silk taffeta. - Silk webs. - _Venice_: - Embroidery. - Embroidery in beads. - Laces in gold. - Silks, damasked. - - SPAIN: - Carpeting. - Crochet-work. - Embroidery. - Silks, brocaded in gold and silver. - Silks, damasked. - Silks mixed with gilt parchment. - Silks mixed with cotton and linen thread. - Silks mixed with linen thread. - Silks mixed with linen thread, and gilt parchments. - Stuffs of wool and hemp. - Stuffs of wool and thread. - Taffetas. - Velvets. - - -ASIA. - - CHINA: - Embroidery. - Satins. - Silks. - Silks, damasked. - - INDIA: - Embroidery. - Linen. - - PERSIA: - Carpeting. - Embroidery. - Satins. - Silks. - Silks, brocaded in gold. - Silks, damasked. - Silks mixed with wool. - - SYRIA: - Crape. - Silks, brocaded in gold. - Silks, damasked. - Silks mixed with cotton. - Silks mixed with linen. - - -AFRICA. - - ALGIERS: - Embroidery. - Fine linen. - - EGYPT: - Byssus or very fine linen. - Gauze. - Silks. - Silks mixed with cotton. - Taffetas. - - MOROCCO: - _Tangier_: - Silks. - _Tetuan_: - Silks. - - - * * * * * - - CHISWICK PRESS:--PRINTED BY WHITTINGHAM AND WILKINS, - TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes - - -A number of typographical errors were corrected silently. - -Cover image was created by the transcriber and is donated to the public -domain. - -Two small illustrations were recreated by the transcriber and are -donated to the public domain. - -First index entry for emblematic beasts corrected to page 140 from page -198. - -There are two items numbered 1376. 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