ON BANNERS, ETC.
Ecclesiastical banners vary to almost any extent in size, shape, and
material, as well as design.
[Illustration: DESIGN FOR BANNER]
One of the simplest, much in use in the olden times, was the Banner of
St. George, the patron Saint of England. It is suitable to nearly every
place and occasion, and consists of a red cross on a white ground, and is
of a plain rectangular shape with a fringe or border all round.
The choir banner generally has as its chief ornament the figure of the
patron saint, or the emblems of the dedication of the church, or the
coat-of-arms of the parish or see, with the name of the church on the
upper border. It may have orphreys down the sides, or be ‘parsemé’ with
flowers, or the whole of it may be treated more or less pictorially
(within a border) with an incident in the life of the saint.
The other banners in general use are those belonging to the different
Church guilds and societies working in the parish, such as Temperance
societies (a favourite device for this is St. George and the Dragon),
Sunday schools, Missionary societies, ‘C.B.S.’ Embroiderers’ Guilds, &c.
&c.
Appliqué work, as I have before observed, is admirably suitable for
banners, whether the design consists of figures or emblematical devices.
The material should be good of whatever kind, and strong, and the work
firmly and closely done to stand wear and tear, especially if used in
outdoor processions. But a painted banner is really more suited to our
climate than a worked one. I do not mean an _imitation_ of embroidery.
Nothing could be in worse taste than the pretence of such a thing, but
a good painting on canvas or any suitable material, in oils or tempera,
which will not be greatly affected by sunshine, rain, or fog, would
answer all the requirements of an outdoor processional banner far better
than a more delicate embroidered one. After painting I recommend Inlay,
and thirdly Appliqué in suitable materials for banners. These methods are
described in Chapter VI. But of course for use in a building ordinary
embroidery in gold and silks is not out of place where funds permit.
A plain rectangular banner is made up in the same manner as an
altar-frontal. But a less simple shape is not quite so easy to finish off
neatly. I therefore give a diagram showing how to arrange the making up
of a more intricate form.
[Illustration: Tackings
The black lines shew the edge of Inter-lining. The dotted lines, where
turnings are cut. The fine lines shew the tacking.]
The banner is laid face downward on the table and the interlining
(previously cut exactly to right size and shape) tacked down to it
through the centre and near the edges. The dotted lines show how the
material of the banner is to be cut to make the turnings lie flat. It is
then to be laid face upwards and all the edges turned and tacked closely
over the interlining. The outer lining may then be laid upon it, the
corners cut and the edges turned, making it about one-eighth inch smaller
than the other; the two are then placed together, tacked once more and
then firmly sewn all round. If the fringe has an ornamental heading it
should be put on last of all, but if not it should be inserted and firmly
stitched in place before the outer lining is sewn down. All the edges may
be evenly pressed with a warm iron after the tacking-threads are removed.
Next to the plain rectangular shape, the single point at the bottom is
the easiest to make up. Proportion in size and shape is the great thing
to aim at. A square and a half is a fair one for a rectangle. Variations
should be rather in favour of additional length than additional width,
but no exact rule can be given, as so much depends on the design.
It should be borne in mind that lines going parallel with the long side
tend to _lengthen_, and parallel with the short side to _shorten_, the
apparent size of any figure.
A banner should not be too large and heavy, in consideration for the
person who has to carry it, neither should it be too small, or it will
look poor and insignificant, however good both material and workmanship
may be. If possible it should be worked on both sides, as the expanse
of lining which is displayed when it is in use is not very interesting
to look upon, and is in evidence for quite as long a time as the front
during a procession. Vasari says that Botticelli invented the method
of work I have described as _Inlay_ for the use of church banners,
considering it more effective than any other kind of work and having
the advantage of being equally visible on _both sides of the banner_.
Botticelli drew beautiful designs for needlework of this kind, but it had
been actually in use for other purposes many centuries before.
[Illustration: Pall, belonging to the Saddlers’ Company]
Some of the finest specimens of early English Church embroidery which
have survived to our time are to be seen in the funeral PALLS or
herse-cloths belonging to the old guilds and companies. It seems to me
that it would be a good thing if each parish church had now such a decent
and seemly covering for her departed as was customary in earlier days.
The pall is still used at the burial of great persons. Those of us who
were present at the funeral of Queen Victoria will not have forgotten the
beautiful one worked for that occasion by the ladies of the Royal School
of Art Needlework.
The terrible masses of black velvet, &c., used in the last century
seem to have left a sense of recoil in the minds of many against the
use of the pall altogether, but if it were once realised that black is
altogether unnecessary (white or red or blue and gold being quite as
often used in former times in the English Church) I think that the idea
would be generally approved of having one beautiful covering for the use
of rich and poor alike.
Of course, it would not be possible or suitable for every simple
parish church to have such magnificent embroideries as are shown, for
instance, on the illustration here given of the Saddlers’ Pall, or as
the Fishmongers’, Vintners’, or other rich merchants’ guilds, but a
handsome cloth of red or blue brocade with a text worked on the border,
or a simple symbolic design in appliqué repeated at intervals, or a plain
cross (the sign which can be read and understood by all) going over it
from side to side and from end to end, would not be very costly. The
centre of this one is of rich red and gold velvet brocade, and the border
is magnificent with coloured silks, gold, &c.
Desk-hangings, which are of use for the better preservation of the books
laid upon them, and sometimes desirable as introducing a little colour
and comfort among the wood and stone-work of pulpit or reading-desk, are
usually, though not necessarily, of the same colour as the altar-frontal
or other hangings, so far as the ground-work is concerned; the embroidery
also ought to harmonise in colour and style, especially if they come into
view at the same time. The same may be said of almsbags, book-markers,
kneelers, and any other textile furnishings there may be.
For a desk, a piece of silk or velvet, &c., should be measured wide
enough to cover the flat part of the desk (allowing a little extra on
each side for ‘turnings’), and the length should be sufficient to hang
down about 12 to 16 inches in _front_ only of a pulpit desk, but both
_back_ and _front_ of a faldstool or prayer desk: 6 to 8 inches is deep
enough for these, which should be embroidered and fringed both front and
back. A simple border-pattern either upright or lateral in motive looks
as well as anything here, as it is not intended to attract particular
attention to itself.
Altar and office-books may be covered with very beautiful embroideries,
and if the materials of which they are made are good and substantial they
will stand a fair amount of wear and last many years.
ALMSBAGS should not be very elaborately worked, as they soon wear out or
yet dirty when in constant use. Three-eighths of a yard of twenty-four
inch material is enough to cut two if arranged in the manner shown on the
diagram, thus:—
It will be noticed that the back of each bag _A_, is cut in one piece and
the front, _B_, _C_, is cut in two pieces. The interlining, which should
be of a good quality of tailor’s canvas, is cut in the same way; the silk
or linen lining—the ‘business’ part of the bag—is made a _very little_
smaller than the worked part of the front _B_.
To make up the almsbag, after the embroidery is worked on the silk
(or whatever the material may be), the linen at the back may be cut
away round the work if it makes it too clumsy. Then interlining and
embroidered front are tacked together, corners cut and curves nicked
before turning the edges over, the upper part of front and the whole back
treated in the same way.
Then the stout silk or fine linen lining is joined along the sides and
bottom with fine back-stitching, and the upper edge hemmed down to the
top of embroidered front and along the dotted line of upper front (see
_D_).
[Illustration: Central Ornament at Sides and Ends of Pall, belonging to
Saddler’s Company]
The two parts are then first tacked, then sewn together with fine
over-sewing, done in silk of the same colour as the material, and the
bag is finished. Sometimes a fine cord is sewn all round the bag. The
embroidery ought to be fine and close to wear well; it is a nice little
piece of work for beginners to try their hand on.
[Illustration: Bible, bound for Queen Elizabeth in ruby velvet,
embroidered in coloured silks, gold and silver thread, and seed pearls
(size, 16⅞ × 11⅜)
(_In the Bodleian Library_)]
Kneelers frequently consist merely of mats and strips of carpet, and
certainly from an artistic point of view good carpet is better than poor
needlework. But if people will have the patience to do it there is no
need to have bad needlework when there is an ideal stitch for the purpose
which requires no technical skill in embroidery—which calls in fact for
nothing in the worker but diligence, patience, and accuracy in counting.
I refer to the good old cross-stitch, which unfortunately has got itself
into disrepute by its devotees trying to make it do work for which it
is manifestly by its nature unfit, and by the crude colouring which was
common at the time the so-called Berlin-work was in vogue.
If we return to the early pattern-books of German and Venetian origin
(there are many republished in the present day) it should be quite easy
to choose good and suitable ones from among them, avoiding as a rule
those sold in shops as ‘exclusively ecclesiastical,’ which are generally
hideous, and also any that make attempts at shading naturalistic foliage
and blossom: see that the design frankly acknowledges the limitations
of the method and thus makes artistic use of it (see Illustration _F_,