ON LITURGICAL COLOURS, FRONTALS, ETC.
[Illustration: Italian Early Sixteenth Century
_V. & A. Museum, South Kensington (No. 8388—1863)._
(_Suggested as Centre for Frontal, Fig. I._)]
The question of liturgical colours need not be very fully discussed here,
as this is pre-eminently a practical manual and not a treatise on ritual.
Although the embroidress naturally studies the reason and uses of the
things she makes, it does not properly rest with her whether the ‘Use of
Sarum’ or that of any other special diocese be followed. There certainly
seems to have been no very hard and fast rule observed in this matter
in the early ages of the Church or even in medieval times. From the old
inventories we gather that altar-frontals and vestments existed of almost
every known colour and shade (and some indeed _unknown_ ones, to us at
least!). This of course may be to some extent accounted for by the votive
offerings so frequently made by kings and nobles of their own magnificent
vestments and of spoils taken in war.[7] These would be accepted and used
in the Church quite irrespective of colour and design.
We might conclude from the old English illuminations that red, blue,
purple, white, and gold were the colours most generally used, or
considered most ideally correct; but on more careful investigation I
think we should be driven to the conclusion that while the careful
miniaturist drew the _forms_ of what he was accustomed to see in the
ordinary services of the Church, he coloured them according to his own
ideas of beauty or according to the limitations of his palette. A row
of clergy in one illumination, for instance, would have their albes
alternately blue and red; and I remember another of an outdoor procession
in which the same arrangement prevailed, with the priests’ stoles
coloured blue over the red albes and red over the blue ones.
The four colours above-named being the Levitical ones, it is probable
that a particular significance was attached to them; but green and black
were common before the end of the fifteenth century; and the English
use, which was supposed to be definitely settled by the ‘second year of
Edward the Sixth,’ certainly includes them.
This gives us an authorised sequence of at least five colours—viz.
white, red, violet, green, and black. Cloth of gold may be considered as
glorified white. Blue, violet, indigo, and purple _may_ be all separate
colours, or they may be included in the one term ‘violet,’ as popularly
understood. ‘Purple’ indeed is such a wide-embracing word that it may,
in ancient documents, signify a _material_ (velvet), while as a colour
it may range anywhere between crimson and blue, but it always means
something rich and gorgeous.
The altar-frontal, giving the keynote for the colour, should be arranged
for first; then the vestments worn by the ministers; and, lastly, all the
other textile decorations, which must harmonise with the whole. It should
not be necessary to change these latter whenever the altar-frontal is
changed, except for Lent. It becomes all the more desirable therefore to
choose such hangings as will look equally well with white, green, or red.
For Lent they will all be mostly violet—violet and red—(red decoration
on violet should be edged with black)—violet and white—by which I do not
mean a bleached, cold, dead white, but a warm, brownish cream, or silver.
The violet also must not be crude; blue is preferable generally, and it
need not be as dark as it too often is, tending to blackness, especially
in velvet. Indigo seems to me the ideal colour for Lent. When one speaks
of _blue_ for Lent, of course one does not mean bright or cerulean blue,
or azure. These are the blues of our Lord’s garments, of the Blessed
Virgin, and of the Seraphim, and have nothing to do with penitence.
The green should not be too blue in tone, and the red is best kept to
tawny shades, or real, true red. However beautiful any one colour may be
alone, its behaviour in company with others must be tested if it is to
be used with them. I must plead for forgiveness if I seem to press this
point unduly, on the ground that I am constantly made to suffer from a
disregard to this principle when I am asked to devise new decorations to
‘go with’ impossible crudities.
Wherever possible, it is best to arrange all the textile hangings,
vestments, &c., to be used in a church at the same time, and to have a
definite scheme of design and colour to work upon. Even when the funds
necessary to carry it out are not available all at once, the general
idea could be fixed upon and the accomplishment of it could follow by
degrees. Too often there appears to be a sort of haphazard effect in
the decoration of churches—a want of unity, as though each separate
thing were an after-thought, bearing no relation to what had been done
before. If there are valuable embroideries, &c., already in use, which
only require to be supplemented by others, it is merely reasonable to
insist upon, and not difficult to arrange, that the new ones do not clash
with the old. I do not myself think it necessary to keep rigidly to one
date or style so long as the work harmonises _as a whole_, neither is it
necessary for all the shades of every colour used to be identical; but it
is quite essential that they should be harmonious.
The principal hangings in use in our time are the Altar-frontal,
Super-frontal, Dorsal and Wings. Curtains are also sometimes used
to partition off part of the church for a vestry, a belfry, or an
organ-chamber.
Besides these there are hangings simply for the purpose of covering bare
walls, in the chancel or elsewhere.
As a general principle one may say that curtains which were originally
intended to be drawn or looped back may hang in folds, while those used
merely as a covering should hang plain.
Wings or riddells, portières, &c., should be full; altar-frontals,
dorsals, and tapestries for bare walls should hang plain, and may be
treated more pictorially.
The altar strikes the _keynote_, so to speak, for the whole church. To
it, as the culminating point, all the decoration is directed; and by it
we are led through the different seasons of fast and festival, marking
these seasons by the change of vesture as definitely as by the changes in
the ritual and service.
An altar-frontal is rather a large piece of work for one person to
undertake, unless she has had considerable practice (which enables her
to work quickly) and has plenty of time to devote to it, and is also
possessed of sufficient patience to keep on with one thing till it is
finished.
A frontal can very well be worked by several ladies, each taking a
separate piece on her own frame. Almost every kind of design can be
worked in this way, and that is why Church work is so often done on linen
and applied to the silk or velvet afterwards. There is a popular idea
that it _must_ be done so, but this is by no means the case; it is merely
a matter of convenience. It is more _ideally_ perfect as a matter of
_principle_ to work directly on the material to be beautified.
[Illustration: Fig. I]
In describing how to make up a frontal we will take one for an 8-foot
altar, 3 feet 4 inches high. We will suppose the various details of an
Early English one (such as Fig. I.) to be already worked and pasted
at the back with embroidery paste as described in the chapter on
Appliqué-work, cut out of the frames and neatly ‘trimmed’ round the
edges, leaving such a line of linen as will be perfectly covered with the
outline with which it is couched down to the material the frontal is to
be made of. Supposing it to be damask, with a pattern that repeats every
3 feet, and that it is from 25 to 27 inches wide; 4 yards only would be
required, as there would be no extra length wanted to make the patterns
join exactly at the seams. There would be three seams, which must be
neatly sewn, either with very fine over-sewing, or with back-stitching,
in silk of the same colour, taking the greatest care to match the halves
of the pattern all along the seam. When this is done there will be a
continuous surface of damask 36 inches wide and 100 or more inches long.
A large strong frame must be prepared with stout linen mounted in it,
rather larger than the frontal is to be—say 8 feet 6 inches × 3 feet 6
inches.
Now it makes no difference to the convenience of working how _long_
the frame is; but no woman could work to the centre of one mounted 42
inches wide. One cannot comfortably work further in than about 13 inches;
therefore, although the linen should be of the full width, not more than
twice 13, viz. 26 inches, should be presented to be worked upon at one
time. The easiest way to arrange this is to run a tuck along the top and
bottom of the linen before it is put into the frame, or two tucks along
the bottom, according to the particular requirements of the design. A
chain-stitch sewing machine would do this firmly and quickly, as it is
only to reduce the width temporarily, and it could be as quickly undone
after it had served its purpose.
If the long bars of the frame be _round_ instead of _flat_, both linen
and silk may be wound upon it to reduce the width to start with. This
involves the removal of the sidebars each time the work is ‘let out’;
they should not be taken out altogether, neither should the lacing be
quite undone, but merely loosened sufficiently for the bars to slip
gently out of their sockets; there should be one person stationed at each
side-bar while this is being done, to see that it is moved evenly and
laced up as before, only with additional lacing where it has been let out.
A straight line should be marked down the middle of the linen; it is best
run in with coloured silk or cotton to show on both the under and the
upper sides, as this will be the starting-point for all measurements.
The central line of the damask is next found, and tacked down to the one
on the linen. The seams will have been pressed open and flat, and the
selvedges nicked pretty deeply with sharp scissors all along; if there
is a hard edge, it should be cut off. The damask should then be well
stretched over the linen, which should not, as yet, be made as tight
as it will go; _after_ the silk is on (fastened first by pins and then
sewn all round), the whole must be stretched up as well and evenly as
possible. See that the angles of the frame are right angles, whether the
sides are set in with pegs or screws; all measurements should be taken
quite accurately by means of a tape that will not ‘give.’ Chesterman’s
metallic ones are perfect, but require care in using, as they easily
break and get out of order. A large ‘straight-edge’ and ‘set-square’ are
also necessary. The frontal is now ready for the embroidery. The central
ornament is placed on first; then those on each side; then the others
beyond.
The measure can be pinned at each end of the frame to see that the upper
points are even, and again to verify the lower ones. Sometimes the design
of the damask may be taken as a guide if evenly woven; and _quite_
accurately put on the frame; but that should be tested first.
When each flower has been carefully placed and kept in position by means
of numerous fine steel pins stuck vertically through the work, they must
all be tacked firmly with stitches of fine strong silk or cotton straight
down the centre and then into any outstanding points. These stitches
should be very small on the ‘right’ side of the work so that they need
not be taken out after it is finished. Then the whole of the outline is
couched over the edges of the work covering the little border of linen
left for this purpose on cutting it out of the frame. Two, three, or even
four full thicknesses of filoselle, four or more of ‘Stout Floss,’ or
of gold thread, make an excellent outline for gold and silk embroidery,
according to the coarseness or fineness of the work; for appliqué
different coloured cords are useful, and for most work gold thread or
brown filoselle would be safe. The couching stitches should be placed
fairly close together, and should be done with strong silken thread.
When the more solid ornaments are securely attached to the frontal, the
scroll-work belonging to them may be added as far as can be reached
without interfering with the tucks in the linen, which may then be let
out.
[Illustration: Fig. II]
[Illustration: Fig. III]
[Illustration: Fig. IV]
[Illustration: Fig. V]
When the lowest row is finished and the scroll-work, the fringe is sewn
on while the work is still in the frame, a line being first drawn (with
tailor’s chalk on a dark ground, or coloured chalk, yellow by
preference, on a white ground) straight along the bottom, where it will
be just covered by the upper edge of the fringe.
Now the FRINGE is a feature of the work to which I would draw particular
attention, because it has a distinct artistic value of its own, which is
too often neglected or not understood and appreciated as it should be.
The use of a fringe as a decorative finish to every kind of textile is
common to all countries and all ages. In early Assyrian sculpture we
see it on the garments of warriors. In the Holy Scriptures we read of
the fringe of golden bells on Aaron’s ephod, also of the fringes on the
garments of the people of God as symbols of their consecration; while the
fringes at the edges of rugs and tapestries, both ancient and modern, are
so universal as to simply suggest their origin—viz. the loose threads of
the warp left when cutting them off the loom.
A handsome fringe is at the same time the most beautiful and the most
natural finishing touch to the lower edge of any hanging, whether plain
woven or embroidered. It may also with propriety go down the sides—though
this should be narrow and preferably uncut.
Generally speaking, 2½ inches is deep enough for the bottom of the
frontal, 1½ inch for the super-frontal, and ¾ inch for the sides. In
arranging the colours of the fringe a large proportion should be given to
that of the ground-work, damask, &c., and then a fair quantity to each of
the principal colours used in the embroidery. Measurements of the spacing
required, and good-sized patterns of the colours, with a diagram of their
order in the fringe, should always be sent to the manufacturer when
ordering it. The heading of the fringe should be also specially designed,
or it is nearly certain to be ugly. If gold thread is used in the
embroidery, it should also appear in the fringe, if not in the ‘fall,’ at
least in the ‘head.’
It should first be tacked, then stitched on, the upper edge just covering
the line, starting from the centre and working towards each side. It must
be stitched firmly with strong thread or silk of the same colour as one
of those used in the head; the fringe must not be pulled at all tight
from end to end, but rather ‘eased’ on, or it will ‘draw’ when taken out
of the frame. A few extra inches should be allowed for this shrinkage
when giving the measurements to the manufacturer.
When this is all done it is ready for the making up.
Some may consider this mere upholsterer’s work, and think they may very
well, at this stage, hand it over to the commercial workshop; but as it
is a point of religious as well as artistic sentiment, that at least the
same guiding spirit, if not actually the same pair of hands, should see
the work through to the end, we will proceed.
An inner lining of firm, evenly woven hemp or sail-cloth should be cut
exactly true to the size which the frontal is to be, allowing 2 inches at
the bottom to be turned up. In our supposed case it will be 8 feet long
and 3 feet 6 inches wide. If there are any creases in it, it should be
laid on a wet cloth and ironed all over with a heavy, hot flat-iron and
not folded again. It is made wide enough to use without seams. It ought
not to be stiffened with glue, or contain ‘dressing’ of any kind, and
should be of sufficient substance without it. A large table, or a board
that can rest on the trestles of the mounting frame, should be covered
with a white sheet and the frontal laid on it, _face downward_, on taking
it out of the frame. A line ruled down the centre of the hempen cloth
must be placed to the central line of the frontal, and the two tacked
together, taking care that the needle does not damage any delicate part
of the embroidery. All knots should be on the ‘right’ side of the frontal
if the tacking threads are to come out afterwards, which may or may not
be necessary; the edges are then turned evenly, first along the bottom
and then the two sides, beginning from the bottom when doing each side.
It is then to be turned _face uppermost_, and the top edge sewn to the
hemp.
The method of hanging the frontal must now be decided upon. It can be
made with a piece of the linen to go right over the altar and hang down
behind, weighted with a rod in the hem; or it can be hung by rings or
buttonholes from hooks under the altar-slab. The former method is the
simpler where there is no gradine with heavy ornaments to be lifted down
every time the frontal is changed. The super-frontal (_frontlet_ is
perhaps the more correct term) can then be made in one with the frontal,
as seen in many old examples; but the latter method seems to be the most
common, possibly from the economical practice of making one frontlet
serve for many frontals. If then we are making it in this way and the
frontlet is already provided, we must take two careful measurements—one
from the floor to the hooks on the altar, the other from the floor to the
lower edge of the frontlet. If the latter is 7 inches deep it will allow
33 inches of the frontal to _show_ beneath: the actual height of it will
depend on the position of the hooks.
The linen lining is cut to allow turnings of about an inch down the sides
and along the bottom, and to _turn over_ the top hem covering the raw
edge of the silk on the right side, where it has been sewn down to the
interlining. The linen lining is now to be firmly stitched all along with
strong back-stitching; the other edges may be hemmed round on the ‘wrong’
side after tacking them in place. A wooden lath may be slipped through
the hem at the bottom, and a brass one along the top; in this case
buttonholes may be worked in the upper one wherever the hooks would come,
instead of rings sewn on.
The lining should be of a stout pure linen and may be of the same colour
as the frontal.
I have given somewhat minute directions as to the making up of the
altar-frontal, as the method is very similar for all this kind of work.
Curtains do not require an interlining, neither do vestments unless the
stuff is poor, which of course it ought not to be. An interlining of soft
coarse muslin, or very thin unbleached calico, perhaps helps to keep it
in shape and does not interfere with the grace of the folds; but anything
which makes a vestment stiff or cumbersome should be avoided.
Altar-frontals are frequently stretched and nailed to a light wooden
frame—a plan which is extremely convenient, and perhaps helps their
preservation where they are frequently changed—but their textile grace is
greatly diminished; when such a frame is used I would suggest covering
it first with a light-textured linen and _sewing_ the frontal to this,
instead of _nailing_ it on.
If the super-frontal, or frontlet, has not been already provided, we
shall have to consider the question of the depth it ought to be made.
Again I can only give general principles. The beauty of the whole depends
on the due proportion of its parts. As altars are usually nearly of
the same height, whatever their length may be, it follows that a deep
frontlet reduces the proportion of the frontal to a mere _ribbon_ if it
is very long. Therefore we may say, the longer the altar the narrower the
super-frontal should be.
That part of the super-frontal which lies flat on the top of the altar
should always be made of pure linen. It may be of the same colour as the
border which hangs down (if the fair linen cloth with a cover on it is
not kept on always), but it is really more practical when made of undyed
linen.