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.