uViaryAnn "^eineme
(DecoraMcArf Q)[[edwru
«
Digitized by the Internet Archive in
2015
https://archive.org/details/oldenglisheinbroiOOstau_0
"The Westminster
Chasuble." (English,
Crimson
velvet,
15th Century.)
embroidered with gold.
:
Jj
ENGLISH
D
ERY ITS
TECHNIQUE AND
SYMBOLISM
BY
Frances and Hugh Marshall.
LONDON HORACE COX. WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM CHANCERY LANE, E.C. 1894.
S
BUILDINGS.
:
LONDON PRINTED BY HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS,
E.G.
THE
K 1X C KS S
I >
C
KE I S T I AK
THIS BRIEF HISTORY OF
THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMEXT OF THE BEAUTIFUL ART
WHICH HAS EXERCISED THE SKILL AND INGENUITY, AND HAS BEEN IHE COMFORT AND CONSOLATION OF HER COUNTRYWOMEN
IN
IS
ALL AGES,
HUMBLY DEDICATED,
WITH HER VERY KIND PERMISSION,
BY
THE AUTHORS.
—
CONTKNTS. CHAPTER
I.
INTRODUCTION. PAGl
The Art
of
by the Ancients Peplus of
Christian
SymboHsm
Robe
Ulysses,
Minerva, the
the Art in the of the
— —The
Embroidery
Hangings
Domesday
Norman and
Empress Helena
of
of
Cloak
the
the
Temple
Survey, the Close
Plantagenet Kings
in the
— Embroidery Rolls,
— Vestment
Third Century
...
CHAPTER
of
as Practised
/Eneas, the
— References
to
and Issue Rolls
Embroidered by the
...
...
...
...
i
H.
ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. Embroidery or Aurifrasium
—
— Gold
Thread Work
—
St.
Cuthbert's
Vest-
—The Needlework — of the Syrian Embroideries of Charlemagne — Oriental Character of European Work — Embroidered Banner King Arthur — Standard of the Danes — The Royal Vestments presented Croyland Abbey — The Tinted Work Dunstan Saxon Wall Hangings and Domestic Embroidery — The Dress the Anglo-Saxons — Oswald's Chasuble ments
Ecclesiastical
Vestments of the Dark Ages
Convents —-Anglo-Saxon
Embroiderers
of
to
of
St.
of
St.
...
...
...
...
...
7
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
VI
CHAPTER
III.
ANGLO-NORMAN WORK. PAGE
The Bayeux Tapestry— Its of
Queen Matilda
at the
to
History, Description, and
Evroul—The Needlewomen
St.
Norman Conquest
time of the
Technique— Tha
— Sandals
CHAPTER VESTMENTS OF
ST.
of
Gifts
of Winchester
Pope Adrian IV.
IV.
THOMAS A BECKET.
— The Flower — Old English Thomas Mitres — Mitre Becket — Orphreys Thirteenth and — Goldsmiths' Work Fourteenth Centuries — Age Gold and Liturgical Garments — The Metal Work Enrichments the Elinor Aquitaine — Banners and Caparisons Plantagenets — Robe — Siege Carlaverock — The Gold Thread the Thirteenth Century Westminster — Military Costume — Devices of the — The Frontal Knights — Metal Work Ornaments — The Beefeaters' Dress — Ancient Method Patching — The Trade the Embroiderers
The Chasuble
of
St.
of
Thomas
a
Becket
"
"
a
St.
15
of
of
Silver
of
Style of
of
of
of
of
at
of
of
...
CHAPTER
...
V.
THE ORDER OF CHIVALRY AND HERALDRY.
— Religious Significance a Wheel — Variety of Creatures on of Colours — The Tripated Banners
English Designs on Early Ecclesiastical
Work
— Cherubim on — Symbolism Heraldry — The Symbol The Infancy the Eagle — Birds — The Emblem Swan and the Peacock — Symbolism Heraldic Devices Liturgical
Vestments of
of
of
of the
Prey
of of
Four-winged Cherubim
a
—The
Knight's
Vow Armour
of
the
— The
19
— —
—
CONTEiNTS. Order
of
Chivalry— Heraldic Devices
and Leopards
Jupon
in the
of the Plantagenets
— The
PAGK Lions
England — The Surcoats the Knights — The Badges the Tournaments
Arms
of the Black Prince
Vll
of
of
of
...
...
30
CHAPTER VI. THE SYON COPE. Its
History
{Opus plumariuin)
— Characteristics "
—
—The Feather —English Orphreys Rome English Work — The Dalmatic — The Chasuble Special Features and Excellence — Richness of
and Description
— Cope of
of
English Work,"
its
Ecclesiastical Vestments
"
Opus Anglicaiium
"
St.
...
...
at
...
CHAPTER MATERIALS EMPLOYED
Stitch
Sylvester
IN
...
...
...
...
40
VII.
MEDIyEVAL EMBROIDERY.
— Ciclatoun — Cendel — De Fundata — Fustian — Buckram — Satin and Origin — Taffeta and Sarcenet — Camoca, Camora, — — Velvet Technique Camek Diaper — Badekin — Worsted the Work — Needles — Varieties the Stitch used Embroider}' Opics — Opus Pcctincum — Plumar lum — Opus Coiisutum — Opus Pulviiiai — Opus Plirygium Opus Filatoi lum
Samit
Silk, their Eastern
of
of
in
luni
...
CHAPTER
...
...
...
...
VIII.
DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. Carpets and Rushes
— Subjects
— Wall
of the
Paintings
Woik
of
—Tapestry and Embroidered Hangings
the
Anglu-Nurman Ladies
— Plxploils b 2
of
50
— —
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
Vlll
their
Husbands, the Tale
"
carried over
Troy, Proverbs
of
of Embroidery — Domestic " Tapestry Verd — Glass,
Furniture
at
—Trestles,
Introduction
First
Queen Elizabeth
— Nunneries
Cambridge
the Schools
Benches,
into
England
— Cushions
Faldestol,
— Canopy
and Chairs of
Sixteenth Century — A Bedchamber the Period — Altar Hang— Mural Painting — Earliest Wall Panelling — Historical Pictures — The Earliest Picture Frames — Introduction Mirrors —
the
of
ings
-First
of
Painted Canvas in Imitation of Tapestry, Counterfeit Arras, " Stayned Cloth," Painting on Glass
CHAPTER
IX.
BED HANGINGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
— Hangings the Bedchamber —Bed Hangings of Thorgunna —Wills and Bequests of the Middle Ages—Bequest of Edward the Black Prince — White Embroidery and Lace — Cut and Darned Catherine Work — Thread Embroidery, Filatorium — Apartments Hampton Court Braganza— Queen Charlotte's Bed
Domestic Customs Coverlets
of
the
Middle Ages
— Bed Draperies
of
Edward
of
II.
of
of
at
CHAPTER
X.
LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. Monuments Representing Black Prince
at
the
Dress of the
Winchester.
—The
Period
Statute of
— The
Edward
Manuscripts and Ancient Brasses, Authorities on Ecclesiastical
from
Costume
Ecclesiastical
Tournament
— Art before — Badges
Forms
of the Field of the
the
Surcoat of
III.
Civil,
the
— Illuminated Military,
and
— Emancipation — Royal Arms
Renaissance
of the Sovereign
Cloth of Gold
— Influence
on Art of
—
—
CONTENTS.
—The Embroiderers' Company, 1561 — Salisbury Work of Mary Queen of Scots — Tiie Old Countess Beheaded on the Evidence an Embroidered Vestment — Stubb's Anatomy of Abuses — Embroidered Shoes — Specimens Embroidery Parr — Elizabeth's the Tudor Exhibition — Dress Catherine Coronation Ruffle — Purse Worked by Queen Elizabeth — Slipper Catherine de Berain — Beadwork Chatelaine Henry VIII. 's Foreign Wives
of
of
of
of
in
of
CHAPTER
XI.
EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP. Stump Work
Durham
and
Technique
Cope — Work-box ^
Bead Work
—Purse
of
Subjects
belonging to
Charles
Miniatures and Landscapes
— Nell
I.
in
Mirror
— The
Lady Charlotte Schrieber
— Purses,
Worked
Gwynne's
Gipcieres,
Letter
Gifts
Silk
CHAPTER
XH.
JACOBEAN WORK. Study of Nature
Seventeenth Century
in the
Portraits
Worked
with
Human
— Hangings Embroi—Bed Hangings Chippendale and Adams — Beauty Queen Anne — The Influence Decoration and Furniture — Jacobean Work — Chair Coverings — The Banner Monmouth — New England Workers who Sailed the America — Tambour Work — Hanoverian Mayflower — Embroidery Embroidery of the Georges — English Bookbinding Needlework Bible Charles — Curious Double Books of Psalms and New Testament — Miss Linwood's Pictures Coloured Worsteds
Hair
— Revival
—
dered
in
Needlework
of
Crewels
—^The
Lace
at
of
the
Restoration
William and Mary
of
of
of
of
in
in
in
of
I.
in
...
—
5
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
:x
CHAPTER SYMBOLISM Symbols
Ancient Origin of "
IN
MEDIAEVAL EMBROIDERY.
— Symbolism
Early Church
the
of
of
of Life
Bestiaria of
CHAPTER
of the Evangelists of
Saints
—The of
the
1
— Emblems
Tetramorph^
Anglican Church
SAINTS.
of the Apostles
— Emblems
of
Old
— Significance Precious Stones— Symbolism — Colours Colours — The Language and Symbolism Flowers — Emblems of the Virgin
Testament Figures
1
XIV.
EMBLEMS AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE
— Emblems
PAGE
"
Figure of the Deity
Emblems
— The
—Varieties of the Cross—The Lamb and the Vine —Emblems the Trinity—The Nimbus — Mediaeval and Emblems— Pagan Origin of Christian Emblems — The the Middle Ages — The Tree — The Chrysoclavus
Gammadion
Figures
XIII.
of
Levitical
...
...
...
...
of of ...
125
of II.I.USTRATIONS.
IaIST
FACE PAGE
The Westminster Chasuble Bayeux Tapestry.
Munich
Burial of
Mitre, with
The Syon Cope.
...
Edward
Martydom
of St.
...
the Confessor
Thomas
...
a Becket
...
...
Fishmongers' Company.
Pall.
Tapestry Panel,
...
English (Thirteenth Century)
Saxon and Roman Needles Funeral
...
St.
Elizabeth of
to King's College,
Cambridge in the
Chesterfield Cope.
of
Workbox
Side Panels of
Curtain
...
...
...
20
...
...
...
40
...
...
...
...
50
...
...
59
...
61
Elizabeth's Visit ...
...
...
65
...
...
...
66
...
...
...
...
68
...
...
...
...
78
...
...
...
...
95
...
...
...
...
...
...
the
Stump: Front
of
Box
...
99
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
100
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
loi
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
102
Workbox
Embroidered
Crewels.
17
...
Queen
of
...
...
...
Workbox, covered with Embroidery on
Back
...
(Sixteenth Century)
English (Fourteenth Century)
Lid of Workbox...
...
Frontispiece
Cathedral of Gerona
Tapestry of the Sixteenth Century
Embroidered Book Cover
...
English (Fourteenth Century)
Hungary
Embroidered Canopy, used on the occasion
Wall Tapestry Preserved
...
with
Tropical
Flowers
English (Seventeenth Century)
and
Fruits
in
Coloured 106
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
19
...
...
23
...
...
25
...
...
28
PAGE Mitre of
St.
Thomas
a Becket, at Sens
...
Bayeux Tapestry: Scenes from the Conquest
of
England
Bayeux Tapestry: Scenes from the Conquest
of
England
Ship with Embroidered
Sails.
Cott.
MS.
...
...
...
OLD ENGI-ISH EMBROIDERY.
xii
PAGE
Coat of Arms (Fourteenth Century)
...
...
...
Cope
...
...
Dalmatic of the Fifteenth Century
...
...
...
Chasuble (Sixteenth Century)
...
...
...
...
...
...
Part of the Orphrey of the Syon
...
Figured Silk (Fourteenth Century)
Bed
Pair of
Curtains, Embroidered with Scripture
English (Sixteenth Century)
Crewels.
Embroidered
Curtain,
Crewels,
in
English (Sixteenth Century) Coverlet,
Embroidered
Silver Braid
in
...
...
...
...
III.
...
Elizabeth's Coronation Ruffle
Worked by Queen
Honour
...
41
...
45
...
...
...
47
...
...
...
54
in
Coloured ...
Elizabeth
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
72
and Birds. ...
...
English (Sixteenth Century) .
.
73
76 81
...
83
...
...
86
...
...
87
...
88
...
...
...
...
.
...
...
...
...
...
...
8y
.
.
.
...
...
90
.
...
Embroidered Purse, Presented by Queen Elizabeth of
...
...
..
...
and Henry IV.
Embroidered Skull Cap
Purse
...
...
Flowers
Embroidered Dress, Worn by Queen Catherine Parr
Queen
37
Saracenic Aumoniere (Thirteenth Century)
Purse Embroidered with Tudor Rose...
Satin
...
Subjects
Detached
Coloured Crewels.
Embroidery.
Royal Arms of Edward
with
...
...
to
.
.
one of her Maids
...
...
...
...
...
...
91
Slipper of Catherine de Berain
...
...
...
...
...
...
92
Elizabethan Chatelaine in Beadwork
...
...
...
...
...
...
93
Gauntlet (Temp.
...
...
...
...
...
...
93
...
...
...
Elizabeth)
...
Cap, Embroidered with Coloured Silks and Gold Wire and Spangles
...
94
Hanging, Embroidered
...
105
in
Crewels.
Bed Hangings, Embroidered
in
English (Seventeenth Century)
English (Seventeenth
Blue-green Crewels.
106
Century) Curtain,
Embroidered with Exotic Birds and Tropical Plants
Crewels.
Book
of
Psalms and
The
English (early Eighteeenth Century)...
Psalms and
New
New
Emblems
...
Coloured ...
...
107
...
...
in
...
...
...
112
...
Testament, with PZmbroidered Cover
Testament, with Embroidered Cover
Varieties of the Cross
Ecclesiastical
in
...
..,
...
...
...
...
...
123
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
124
CHAPTER I
The
N T R O D U C T ION.
embroidery, of representing scenes and figures with the
art of
needle,
I.
probably
is
the
oldest
art
in
painting and sculpture, to which in time
The needle It
as a historian
is
existence. it
It
preceded
gave place.
older than the pen and the brush.
has preserved to us the architecture, the dress, the customs of
past generations, and these storied pictures which have long since
which have been dust
perished,
petuated by the patient the sculptor. to serve as
has been
Each
toil
of
for
to the other,
in
its
has been content
turn
and so the story
of the ages
told.
But there
is
a deeper interest in the beautiful, patient, pains-
taking work of our ancestors than details, or the portraiture of
age.
per-
the illuminator, and the chisel of
beautiful art
handmaid
have been
centuries,
The
is
attached to mere historical
the dress and manners of a forgotten
Christian faith and zeal of pious
women
found expres-
sion in those early days in their loving labours for the Church.
The sacred flame
of art
was kept
by the votaries of the Church.
needlewoman working out.
They
did more
:
in
alive
through the dark ages
The monk
her lonely tower kept
in it
his
cell
and the
from dying quite
they preserved to us nearly
all
we know B
of
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
2
and mysterious expression
beautiful
that
symbohsm.
Christian
and
suffering,
expression
fitting
of the earhest Christian artists
and the reward
of
martyrdom, found a
the decoration of vestments and
in
embroidered by pious hands as votive offerings those
In
we term
the glory and triumph of the cross, the blessedness
to represent of service
The devices
of our faith
early painstaking
everything that
was introduced
days
for the
nothing was
into a
hangings
Church. accidental
Symbols were never used merely as decorations and ornaments every figure
employed tended
design, and give force to
A all
knowledge
ture, or
embroidery.
To
occur.
symbolism
of Christian art,
There
from the middle ages
to us
illustrate
of
;
the
is
of the greatest use to
whether
in painting, architec-
down
which the use of symbols does not
emblem
written description would have been,
With the
subject
scarcely a work of art handed
is
in
the initiated the
the
meaning.
its
of Christian
who study works
to
;
had a meaning.
design
or attribute
is
as plain as the
and often more
revival of art industries,
and the study
a desire has sprung up to learn something of the
to the point. of old models,
meaning
of the
symbolic imagery that was the outcome and the expression of the faith of our ancestors for
The those
to
untrained eye does not see what stares
whom symbolism
they go through
The very,
over a thousand years.
few
work
of the middle
ages has perished long ago
specimens survive the lapse of
faithful representations of the dress It is
in
;
years, but the
monuments and tombs
and ornament
of
successive
interesting to note with what scrupulous exact-
ness the most minute details were reproduced. hurry
the face, and
a sealed book miss something as
sculptor has preserved to us on ancient
generations.
in
life.
beautiful
very
is
it
There was no
those old days, and nothing was too minute to engage the
talents of the
artists
employed.
Their care and patience have
— INTRODUCTION.
many
preserved to us
3
interesting details, chapters indeed, in our
national history, that would
otherwise have perished.
This fact
adds a new interest to ancient monuments, and should make us jealous for their preservation.
The
patient artist, working year after year illuminating his
manuscripts, has depicted with richness of colour, and elaborate the beautiful designs and costly decorations of the long-
fidelity,
forgotten past.
But
it
not
is
we
the artist and sculptor alone that
to
indebted for the records of the beautiful works of the past.
and
historian, priest
down
and chronicler,
art of
forms, and time.
each other
in
handing
reproducing with the needle animals, flowers,
fanciful
Poet
triumphs of the needle.
to posterity the
The
vie with
are
human
devices, reaches far back into a prehistoric
Homer makes
frequent mention
daintily
of
embroidered
Ulysses wore a robe embroidered with scenes from the
robes.
chase, in which the animals are vividly described as panting and
struggling
in
the
moving
gold.
Penelope throws over her hero
before his departure for Ilium an upper garment elaborately
broidered
with
em-
Menelaus invests Telemachus with
figures.
a
garment which Her own
fair
With no vulgar art hands embroider'd every
part.
To invest a visitor with an embroidered robe was among the ancients the highest honour, and Homer is of describing in
considered
never tired
glowing terms the beautiful work that his
were ever engaged upon to present to favoured guests. all
his
women were
artists with
the
needle.
Penelope
women Indeed,
is
repre-
sented as working a shroud for Laertes, the father of her husband, it
being the custom
for their
deceased
among Grecian dames
lords, or his
next of
to
work grave clothes
kin, before
they could accept
another husband.
B 2
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY,
4
makes frequent mention
Virgil
games
victor in the
with
Tyrian
with
blazing
The
embroidered robes.
rewarded with a mantle elaborately worked
is
the chase
incidents of
of
Dido bestows on ^neas a cloak
;
purple
inwrought with
She
gold.
is
described as adorning her person with costly needlework.
ceremony
embroidering the peplus, or
of
Minerva, and of
festivals
The
the Athenians.
woman
tall
and
fair,
and
skilful in
The
statue of
of the highest
of the embroideress
craft
under the protection of Pallas Athene, a
for the
was observed as one
consecration,
its
veil,
also
whom Homer
was
represents as
splendid needlework, y^^schylus
describes the heraldic devices embroidered on the standards of the the siege of
chiefs at
Thebes.
Quintus Curtius speaks of the
mantle worn by Darius, when he went forth to battle, as being iigured with two golden
hawks
in
the act of pecking at one another
with their beaks.
In later times the Provenyal poets, like our
Chaucer, decked
their
creations
lovely
in
daintily
own
embroidered
robes.
From
the earliest antiquity, embroidered vestments were used
by royal and noble personages regal attire with which
abounds
in
we
;
they are, indeed, the
first
kind of
The Old Testament raiment, which may be
are acquainted.
references to rich and costly
supposed to have been the productions of the needle and not the loom, embroidered garments of various colours being emblems of the highest distinction from the most ancient times.
Thus we her son, of
"a
find the
mother
of Sisera represented as desiring for
spoil of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours
needlework o
i
both sides, meet for the necks of those
who
take
the spoil." Pliny refers to embroidered robes, and states that the Babylonians were noted for their
A
skill in this
kind of work.
Babylonian garment, no doubt richly wrought, excited the
cupidity of Achan. I
In the description of the needlework of the
INTRODUCTION. Tabernacle we read
cherubim
and purple, and
in scarlet,
and that the
hangings were embroidered
the
that
priests
had girdles
which separated the Holy
light blue,
was
with
entwined with gold;
The
of needlework.
Holies,
of
5
also,
veil,
of fine white linen, but
so beautifully wrought that the groundwork was scarcely visible.
There
doubt that the Hebrew maidens brought
no
is
What
beautiful art to perfection during their residence in Egypt.
women
the Jewish
times
later
Christian
did
from a feeling alive the
best of
all
Church.
the
when
era,
the in
we
to the
the over,
were devoted to
the needle
vestments of the
Church, the service
its
In early Christian writings
priests.
references to the costly and elaborate needleskill
high-born ladies
of
those pious and painstaking days.
in
there are few examples
If
still
the dark and middle ages,
of
and the bard
historian left
;
in
existence of the embroidery
still
it
lives
in
the pages of the
and what the poet and the historian have
much
unsaid the faithful chronicler enumerates with detail,
in
many
cases, the tune occupied
the production, and the cost of the work In
prolixity
embracing, not alone the design, and the materials used,
but the stitches employed, and, in
of
was
persecution
of
work that exercised the ingenuity and
of
years
earlier
things should be dedicated to the
frequent
find
storm
first
the
In
in
every heart throughout Christendom that
choicest productions of
and
Temple, Christian ladies
of old did for the
for
this
the
Close
Plantagenet
Rolls
kings,
when completed.
and Issue Rolls
there
are
frequent
of
Norman and
the
and
entries,
elaborate
descriptions of sumptuous embroidered robes and hangings
made
by royal command.
made
allusive
times
made
to
and
the art, and of
to gifts
monasteries.
In the
our of
in
Danish
Domesday Survey mention the
earlier records
conquerors,
embroidered vestments
Going farther back
still,
of
frequent to
to
is
Anglo-Saxon reference
is
various abbeys and that
remoter
period
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
6
Normans, and Saxons, and Danes, we learn that the
anterior to
amazon, Boadicea, led her troops
British
"
mantle of skins
Our
to battle habited
in
a
embroidered without." our language,
art, like
is
indebted for
many
origin to
its
Romans we are chiefly indebted for the introduction of this beautiful art. Some rude means of spinning were already employed by the Britons previous to the Roman invasion, and their women were practised in the use of the needle. The rich robes of the conquerors, and the vestments of the Church, Doubtless to the
sources.
were probably the
voked later
their envy,
produced the most highly-valued work
in
It
is
certain
that the
women
Opus
"
Europe, the
Fortunately the imitative tendency
continuity.
and pro-
which a few centuries
into existence the imitative faculty
Aiiglicitniy its
examples that excited
first
in
the art insured
of
England were
The
embroideresses as early as the third and fourth centuries.
Empress Helena, a Welsh
princess,
the mother of Constantine
(about the year A.D. 293), embroidered a vestment with an image of the Virgin.
In the beginning of the fourth century the art of ecclesiastical
embroidery had
and ignored
its
birth.
rules of
all
It
was crude and conventional
drawing and perspective.
at
first,
Its designs, too,
were essentially mosaics, being divided generally into numerous compartments.
Unlike
Oriental
art,
which
stationary from the beginning, the peculiar
has
modes
been
of technique
design showing scarcely a sign of evolution, Christian
began
Byzantiimi,
in
roundings, without,
and
and
Gothic, which
English
art.
open
naturally
may
was ever influenced to
modifications
thus,
in
course
and of
by
almost
its
art,
which
special
suggestions tune,
and
evolved
sur-
from the
be taken as the distinctive feature of early
CHAPTER
II.
ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD.
The
embroidery
term
is
comparatively
Broiid, Lat. Barb, Brodatus, in
Frnuge
PJirygiiiin (Fr.
Broden'e).
Fr.
mediaeval writings under the d'or), or
modern
title
work
of
(Brit.
Broiit,
better
known
is
It
Aiirifrasiiiiii
of gold
the
,
hence the
;
Opus
different
names, Orfrais or Orfreys, words indicating facings or parts of a material
in
which gold tambour was used. " Orfrais "
English writers,
though
are continually mentioned by
their appropriation
means confined extensively used
to in
seventh century the
ecclesiastical
thread into a kind of golden
The snood,
Saxon women.
was wrought
of silk
was various, not being by any Gold thread was
vestments.
embroidery from the
home weaving
mediaeval
earliest time
and
of silken stuffs
and
;
of
and gold.
;
has
perished
St. Cuthbert,
Anglo-
Anglo-Saxon period
The winding sheets of martyrs and kings were often gold web pieces of it have been frequently found in burial places.
the
of pure gold
web was the occupation or snod, of the
in
of this
ancient
Unfortunately, a great deal of beautiful old work in
the tombs of reputed saints.
when
the
tomb was opened,
parts of the robes in which the
in
On
the
body
of
1827, the ornamental
body was wrapped were
literally
covered with leaf gold, and beneath these a stole and maniple, beautifully in
Latin
:
wrought and ornamented, which bears "
Queen
to
Alfred's son and
this inscription
successor,
Edward the
OLD ENGLISH EMBROinERY.
8.
was our
Elder,
made
who caused
y^lfflaed,
and maniple to be
this stole
Fridestan (Frithestan), consecrated Bishop of
for a gift to
These
Winchester, A.D. 905."
possession of the
relics are in the
Dean and Chapter of Durham. After the death of yElfled and Frithestan, King Athelstan bestowed the stole and maniple, with other costly
the
scripts in St.
gifts,
which are enumerated
Museum, on
British
Cuthbert's maniple
is
the shrine of
of pure gold thread.
being "of woven gold, with spaces
left
Manu-
the Cottonian
in
St.
described as
It is
vacant
Cuthbert.
needlework
for
embroidery."
At the same time were removed from the tomb fragments three wrappings of silk of a
was opened
wrapped
in
in
much
the twelfth century,
and the body
The
these silken shawls or mantles.
beautiful relics
of
Saint
the
texture of these
the Oriental designs prevalent at
Sicilian, with
is
tomb
Probably, the
later date.
of
the time.
At
researches
golden
woven
in
or
worked
relics, that
in
Isle
of
Wight,
into a
this early
burial, pieces
vestment.
of thin
work, as
in
Unfortunately, there are few the case of the St. Cuthbert
have survived the lapse of centuries.
examples
some
during
were found, that had evidently once been
recesses of the tomb,
beautiful
the
an old Anglo-Saxon place of
strips, quite flat,
specimens of
damp
Down,
Chessel
in
of the skill
Shut up
in
the
the darkness and the dust, the most
and industry
of the
age perished
with their owners.
The accounts
still
in
existence of the sumptuousness of the
ecclesiastical vestments of the dark ages, the altar-cloths, veils,
hangings
of various descriptions, are very remarkable.
The
cost
must have been enormous, as pearls and precious stones were literally
inwrought,
seem
to us, in these
years
were often
and the time and labour spent upon them days of haste, almost incredible. spent
upon one garment.
Three
And
this
to five
often
ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. enwrapped the body
tomb
of the
of a saint,
9
and was consigned
to the darkness
!
Ladies of the highest rank and greatest piety, frequently, indeed, royalty
ment
of the
in
its leisure in
and the
work
for the embellish-
embroidering vestments for the clergy.
King Athelstan the whole
devotion,
world
employed
Church, and
In the time of
with
itself,
ladies of
island
was said
to blaze
England surpassed the whole
needlework.
in
Embroidery seems not only
and noble
to
have been a pastime occupation of
ladies, but the principal
of royal
women
of the
middle classes, and a source of considerable pecuniary advantage. Nunneries, we are told by Fuller, were
and maids were taught
work."
to
"
Shee-schools, wherein girles
principal occupation of the inmates (and
troubled times to seek,
in
these, the
indeed,
convents,
In
many were
glad
in
the
those
only safe shelter, temporary
refuge and protection) was fine needlework and embroidery.
The Anglo-Saxon embroiderers introduced of detail into their designs, in
drawing the human
greater perfection
and greater ingenuity and refinement
The
figure.
stole
and maniple
at
Durham
Cathedral, early tenth century work, are of the most perfect style of
Anglo-Saxon design, and the stitching and the gold grounding
are of the utmost perfection of needlework.
As tissues
early as the eighth century, in the time of
Charlemagne,
sumptuous description were brought
Europe, being
of
to
presents sent to him by the Caliphs, wrought probably at
Mosul
in
Syria
;
and sumptuous presents
of
Bagdad
embroidered
or
stuffs are
recorded to have been sent by him to one of our Anglo-Saxon kings.
The vestments found
in
his
tomb
at
Aix-la-Chapelle
are
remarkable specimens of the work of the period, their design partaking of a classical character. Berthe, the mother of Charlemagne, was famed for her needle-
work.
C
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
lO
It
probable
is
Europe
the
that
was
at this period
embroidery used
in
the south of
great measure furnished by artists
in
in
the East, as the oldest specimens that have been preserved are
Greek
evidently Oriental or
in
these early tissues ornamented with parrots, &c.
lions,
the design of the animals
;
We
character.
constantly find
antelopes, peacocks,
Similar
strictly Oriental.
is
designs, similarly treated, were sculptured on the ivory horn which,
according to tradition, was presented to Charlemagne by the good Haroun-al-Raschid.
made
It
the regal gifts
by the Anglo-Saxon king, ^^thelwolf, on the
to St. Peter's
occasion of his taking silken albs richly
among
recorded that
is
son Alfred to Rome, A.D. 855, were
his
ornamented with gold.
Banners, on which occur the earliest examples of embroidery
we have any record
that
Saxon
in
gold thread and
King Arthur, image
of Christ
in
silk.
the eighth battle against the Saxons, carried the
and the blessed Mary wrought upon
Augustine, when he
St.
are frequently mentioned by Anglo-
sumptuously emblazoned with sacred and
writers as being
other devices
of,
first
came
his shoulders.
preach to the Saxons,
to
had a banner borne before him, on which was an image
of the
Saviour Christ.
The Danes upon
it
celebrated standard had a sacred raven worked
and Harold bore
;
the figure of an
armed man worked
A
with precious stones.
upon the standard worked, we are told
Lodbrok
in "
the
names
esp(;cia lly
raven
of the in
in
Hastings a banner with
gold thread, and studded
— the bird
of
Odin
— that was borne
Danish masters of Northumbria, was
an old chronicle, by the daughters
of
Regna
one noontide's while."
In the inventories of
tions of the
to the field of
abbeys and cathedrals we find descrip-
most elaborate vestments and
of the royal rich
in
such
and pious donors. gifts.
ritual
appliances, with
Croyland Abbey was
King Wiglaf
(Witlaf,
King
of
ANGI.O-SAXON PERIOD. Mercia) gave to this abbey his coronation mantle
and embroidered with Hesperian apples, and
we
made
of silk,
velum; the
his
latter,
are told, was embroidered with scenes from the Siege of Troy.
Canute the Great presented
And
broidered with eagles of gold. of Ethelred
abbey a vestment
to this
the Unready) gave
his
to the
Emma
Queen
Abbeys
altar-cloth
is
described as of blood-red and green
orphreys.
Aldhelme, Bishop perfection
to
who
which the needlework
He
England had attained.
widow
Romsey and One
of
finest embroidered altar-cloths
tions the
(the
em-
and vestments.
Croyland the
of Sherborne,
of silk
with golden
silk
died in 709, menof
women
the
of
describes a robe in his possession "of
a most delicate thread of purple, adorned with black circles and
peacocks." Aelfled, the
century, gave
widow
to
of a
Northumbrian chieftain
the Cathedral of
in
the ninth
Ely a hanging embroidered
with the heroic deeds of her husband.
Queen
Editha, wife of the
Confessor, embroidered his coronation mantle, and other garments of
Confessor
the
recorded
are
having
as
been
sumptuously
embroidered with gold by her hands. It is
recorded that St. Dunstan (a.D. 924), by the request of
a lady, tinted a sacerdotal vestment for her, which she afterwards
embroidered
in
gold thread.
dered works were skilful
of
Most the
tinted,
first
draughtsmen and beautiful
tinting they are frequently
vestments
but this
;
does not
of these elaborately embroi-
monks
in
illuminators.
days being
those
From
this
custom
spoken of as painted or pictured imply that
they have
been
not
subsequently worked.
Ingulph
Church
of
tells
us of
some splendid hangings given
to the
Croyland by the Abbot Egebric that were ornamented
with birds wrought
in
gold and sewed on (cut work)
;
and
later
on we read of an account of some vestments at Exeter that had "
nothing about them but true needlework." C 2
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
12
About
this period,
and before the introduction
of
mural paint-
ings in the thirteenth century, wall hangings were decorated with
subjects
in
The bareness
a coarse kind of embroidery.
warmth
buildings in these early times necessitated hangings for
Walls and
and comfort.
pillars,
and even
roofs,
of our
were hung with
Em-
needlework long before they were either carved or painted.
broidered hangings, indeed, were at this time customary throughout
We
Europe.
read of a set of hangings twenty
with scenes out of Charlemagne's
Bayeux
tapestry,
age preserved
which
is
the
life
;
and
ells
later
long,
worked
on we have the
most important work
of its size
and
to us.
The hangings
of this period
were of coarse canvas, adorned
with needlework in thick worsted.
term only employed
for
Broderie was at that time a
needlework on
fine linen or silk.
Anglo-Saxon workers were so quick and clever they could
make
the loom.
The
their
embroidery look as
stitches
— or
if
threads, rather
at
The
the needle that
had been done
it
—were
laid
in
upon the
surface side by side, and not always drawn through the canvas, but
bound
at intervals
by cross-fastenings, thus,
if
gold thread or
silk
were employed, saving considerable expense.
Domestic embroidery was practised
at this time in all middle-
class English
homes, and was applied not only
and luxury
the adornment of the home, but was employed very
in
to articles of use
extensively upon articles of dress.
From
ancient Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, which are generally
illuminated with
details,
we have
of the period, both for
men and
the most minute
abundant evidence that the dress
attention
to
women, was decorated with embroidery. In the illuminated
MS.
of the
Psychomachia (describing an
imaginary battle between the virtues and vices) of Prudentius, a Christian poet
we meet
who wrote about
the beginning of the
fifth
century
with charming illustrations of the Anglo-Saxon dress of
ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. the period, and here
we
embroidered robes.
The
13
and
find the virtues clad in scarlet shoes
date of this
MS.
is
about the end of the
tenth century.
The
dress of the Anglo-Saxons was simple and uniform in
its
character.
The
over-froc, which reached as low as the middle of the leg,
The
had usually an embroidered border.
made
and was ornamented with borders
of linen,
Over
came
this
waist,
and the
which was
women was
of needlework.
Both were confined
the giiiiua, or gown.
at the
was decorated with an embroidered border
giiiuia
and
to the skirt
kyrtle of the
The mentel
sleeves.
upon the
fastened
right
(mantle), or short cloak,
shoulder
with a
fibula,
The
brooch, was frequently embroidered with gold and colours.
Men
borders were often very rich. hrec (breeches)
;
and hose
bound round with stocking,
appear
first
of costly materials
precious
fillets
and
The name
In later years
tells
of this period.
us
hose bands.
richly embroidered,
were
even
occurs
in
at
Sandals were often
and even enriched with this
early
period
not
Anglo-Saxon poetry.
we sometimes meet with
An
Buskins, or
descriptions of the
English Dominican Friar writing
in
1360,
notice of St. Oswald, Archbishop of York, in the
his
in
,
the eleventh century.
.c^/^y"
rooc, or tunic,
were worn upon the legs, frequently
{Jiose-beiidas)
Gloves
stones.
unknown.
work
in
{Jws)
wore besides the
or
year 976, that his chasuble, a purple one, adorned with needlework in
gold and precious stones, and
kept
in
as beautiful as ever, was
the church at Beverley.
Another chasuble
of
orphreys,
Friar, writing in
Anglo-Saxon
one
celebrated
silver
still
at
imitating
Aix.
the thirteenth century, describes a
work which It
is
jeweller's
exactly
resembled
the
adorned with the richest golden work,
enriched
with
pearls
and
bells.
Altar curtains or veils were used by the Anglo-Saxons,
made
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. colour, flowered with garlands of
of rich silk of crimson or rose
pearls running round imagery illustrative of sacred subjects.
The
MSS.
shoes, as represented in
of
down
with a thong, and have an opening
period, are tied
this
the instep.
Except
in
the case of great persons they are painted black.
After the Conquest there were great alterations,
ancient manuscripts, in
in
During the whole
period there had been very
the
MS.
ornamented
of
in.
of
the Anglo-Saxon
variation in the dress, but after
little
the Conquest changes crept in
learn from
the costumes of the people, and especially
dresses of ceremony.
see
we
The
we
outer vest of the ladies,
Prudentius (eleventh century), were of richly
presumably needlework.
stuffs,
Under the Normans the costume
of
the ladies underwent
became
far
more splendid.
considerable modifications, and
The
tunic, instead of being loose
and flowing, was laced
show the form
This fashion the Saxon ladies carried
to
of the body.
close, so as to
such an extent that an early Anglo-Latin poet accuses them
of covering themselves with gold
and gems
of perforating their ears in order to
fasting their
and bleeding themselves
waists and
busts
colouring their hair
in
in
in
;
of painting their eyes
hang them with jewels
;
;
of
order to look pale; of tightening
order to
order to give
it
mend
their
a yellow
shapes
tint.
;
and
of
CHAPTER ANGLO-NORMAN WORK
The
Bayeux
monument times
tapestry
has
that
— not
— THE
BAYEUX TAPESTRY.
undoubtedly
is
been
from
alone
III.
preserved intrinsic
its
ancient work, but as a chapter
Queen Matilda, shut up
in
us
to
value
weary hours while her lord delayed
lofty
of
feudal
example
an
as
of
history.
beguiling
tower,
coming,
his
interesting
intact
contemporary
her
in
most
the
by
depicting
and
with her active needle the story of his conquests
the
battles,
has bequeathed to posterity, as an old writer, Stukeley, speaks of
the noblest
it,
monument
in
the world
relating
to
our
old
English history.
Since
it
was brought
light
to
having been
1724, after
in
lost sight of for several
centuries, until the present time,
been the
warm controversy between
was
It
subject
probably
of
a
worked
by
Matilda,
wife
of
it
has
antiquaries.
William
the
Conqueror, between 1066 and 1068, though some writers assert that
it
was worked under the direction
daughter of Henry
I.
It
having been worked at the is
bears internal evidence of
earlier period
no trace throughout of the armorial
leopards
—
of
a
many and such had of
certainly
it
the
later
time,
varied devices
which in
Empress Matilda,
of the
claimed for bearings
certainly
is
the
costume
There
— the
would,
Norman among so
the borders, have found a place
been worked under the Empress Matilda. figures
it.
of
the
period
of
The costume the Norman
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
i6
men
Conquest, and the
represented
all
wearing
as
which was customary among the
long,
hair
are
Saxons, while
succeeding reigns the fashion of close-cut hair prevailed.
seems no reason
doubt that
to
first
many Saxon
wives
and
their
There
Normandy, when
return to
came
him.
with
In
probably the Saxon ladies would have assisted her
case,
in
was worked by Queen Matilda
it
and her maidens on William's nobles
their
this
in
the
work.
The
details of
interesting
giving
as
architecture
treatment
is
very
curious
inspection
of
the
buildings
There are examples
time.
manor-houses,
each
other
The
by
compartments,
Conquest
Duke
of
of
trees
each
letters of the inscription are
The
Its entire
Is
the
Intention
worked
226
The technique worsted threads
laid
life
of William,
inscription
the
Norman running
The
figures.
coarse
Is it
and
homespun
to the colour of It
is
at
saints' days.
in
linen,
brown
feet broad.
It
Bayeux, for which It
contains 530
which are females.
Is
very curious.
The
on the surface side by
by cross fastenings, the seams, a species of twist.
the
of
houses,
Avorsted about an inch
In
feet,
the
in
in
Latin
a
is
was used as a hanging on certain
figures, three only of
same
seventy-two
are
incidents
went exactly round the nave of the Cathedral It
the
separated from
are
There
Age has reduced
length
the
at
dwelling
or scenes,
material of the ground
probably unbleached. holland.
humble
buildings.
There
explains
permitting
and without
representing
Normandy.
The
of churches, palaces, castles, towers,
subjects, or
the
of
period.
conventional,
within
extremely
crude,
the
of
England, and stirring scenes
throughout, which
height.
and
cathedrals,
forts,
besides interiors.
however
representations,
and
buildings
existing
wonderful piece of work are
this
The
joints,
faces,
and
figures are side,
bound
worked with at intervals
folds being indicated by
hands, and legs of the figures,
ANGLO-NORMAN WORK. when
1
bare, are merely outlined in green, red, or blue, the features
being worked
in
any reference
to their natural colours.
All
yellow.
the objects are represented without Perspective, too,
wholly
is
neglected, and the effects of light and shade are curiously repre-
Thus, for example, a red horse has
sented. in
and a green horse
blue,
There are eight
different
and
of blue, green,
coloured worsteds employed,
The borders
red.
red
legs.
shades
in
are worked in narrow bands
of green
edged with faded crimson, and with a very
ing scroll
in
borders are very fantastic, containing
thin undulat-
The designs
same colours between them.
the
worked
legs
off
as having
represented
is
its
kinds of animals
all
— fables
camels, minotaurs, dragons, birds, sphinxes
of
in
—
the
lions,
^sop and
Phaedrus, scenes of husbandry, &c.
There
a curious representation of the exterior of West-
is
minster Abbey, earliest
some workmen
with
pictorial
representation of
rudely delineated, there
A
design. in
is
use
its
curious feature in
it
the clear and
is
is
undoubtedly very rude,
spirited, and,
bold
sketched, as
is
Every thread serves and shows as an
needlework.
However
England.
in
singular spirit and expression
which the outline of the figures
drawing
a weathercock, the
fixing
the
manner were, in
The
outline.
remarkably
but
it
in
bold
and
however exaggerated, shows great truth and force
of expression.
A
Bayeux
the
of
frieze
sculpture court of South is
shown
to
visitors
under glass, and bucket from a
is
at
us,
visit
to the
in
the
seen
in
the
cathedral
out
at
Bayeux.
by a process
like
It
is
kept
drawing up a
well.
Matilda, the
recounting the
Abbey
adorned with
may be
Kensington Museum, and the original
rolled
This same Queen tells
Tapestry
chronicler Vitalis
incidents connected
of St. Evroul,
" orfrais,"
Norman
with
the
royal
brought with her an alb richly
and presented
it
to
the
She
church.
D
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
l8
also
by
left
will
" chesable,"
a
wife of one Alderet,
worked
and a cloak worked
at
Winchester by the
made
in gold,
and two golden girdles adorned with emblems.
related that
is
on
Winchester was
and abounded with able needlewomen.
at this time a royal city, It
England,
in
the
return
of
William
the
Conqueror
to
Normandy, the Normans were as much struck with the splendid embroidered garments of the Saxon nobles
in his train,
as with
the
who accompanied him. Domesday Survey mention is made of
who
held two hides of land, which Earl Godric granted
the beauty of the Saxon youths In
Alunid, to
her
There
on is
condition also
of
her
damsel,
teaching his daughter embroidery.
another mention
a certain Leuide,
a
in
the
who made embroidery
Conqueror's for the
survey
of
use of the King
and Queen. At the end
of
the
eleventh
century, Christina,
Markgate, worked a pair of sandals, we are of surpassing beauty,
for
Pope Adrian IV.
told,
Abbess
of
and three mitres
CHAPTER VESTMENTS OF
IV.
THOMAS
ST.
A
BECKET.
In the study of the decorative arts we cannot too highly value importance of being able to refer to examples the date of
the
which
unquestioned.
is
Of the
early Plantagenet period
a beautiful
Thomas
Syon cope, and
the
in
vestments, worn bv
earlier ecclesiastical
still
St.
example
we have
a Becket, are preserved
in
the
treasury at Sens.
The
interesting old tiful
work are faded, but the beau-
and elaborate designs, and the exquisite
old stitchery,
it
remain after the lapse of
still
The gold work
seven centuries. that
most deeply
original colours of this
resembles weaving.
may
the chasuble
to
so perfect
the neck of
be seen the characteristic
Anglo-Saxon ornament which seems
On
is
called
" the
have been kept
flower,"
use
in
for
ecclesiastical vestments for several centuries. It
occurs on the vestment found on the body
of St. Cuthbert
seen
on
figured
brasses on drals.
wrought
"
1104), and
cumbent
episcopal
The in
(in
flower "
may be
effigies,
tombs
in
often
and old
our
cathe-
consisted of a
gold, which
spread
Mitre of St. Tliomas a Becket at Sens.
itself
mass in
of
broad
rich
needlework
thick
branches
D
2
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
20 over
the
all
breast,
and upon
the
higher
part
of
the
back,
while round the neck of the vestment ran a broad band of gold
studded with jewels.
The
gold embroidery. white,
Thomas
mitre of St.
and are
the
All
The
precious stones.
we
English mitres
old
are told,
in
of the
ground with
of white
existence are
in
The Bishop
Anglo-Normans and
embroidery and sparkling with gems.
most costly materials, and
needlework representing passages from Holy Writ, or saints,
or overspread with
gold.
Thin beaten plates
intricate designs
of
gold were
orphreys, which were sprinkled both pearls
and
The orphreys
jewels.
of
was covered with pearls and
chasubles, too, of the
Plantagenets were rich
They were made
is
embroidery and jewels.
rich in gold
Lincoln's mitre (1203),
a Becket
in
done
storied with lives of
threads of
in
hung upon the
often
and behind with
front
and fourteenth
of the thirteenth
centuries appear from the old inventories of religious
have been particularly rich
in
the
houses to
goldsmith's work and jewels.
the inventory of Lincoln Cathedral a chasuble
described
is
In " of
red cloth of gold, with orphreys set with pearls, blue, white, and
and with plates
red,
Enamels seem
at
These enamelled There
is
of gold
this
time to have been a favourite ornament.
;
sewn upon the work.
plates were
a mitre at Munich of the twelfth century, white and
gold, embroidered with the
on one side
enamelled, wanting fifteen plates."
of St.
martyrdom
of St.
Thomas
Stephen on the other.
This was the age, indeed, of goldsmith's work. to
sew a great deal
ments and all
the
French with
and
stuffs
work upon
period,
until
gold.
The custom
ecclesiastical vest-
wear prevailed through
the wars of the Roses.
so ornamented were said to be
hammered five
of goldsmith's
articles intended for personal
Norman
a Becket
Norman-
" batuz," or
King John gave an order
beaten
for five tunics,
banners with his arms upon them, "well beaten
in
gold."
Mitre.
White and St.
Thomas
gold, embroidered with the
h Becket.
Martyrdom
(English, 13th Century.)
of
VESTMENTS OF
Among
BECKET.
A
the church furniture provided for the chapel at Hereford
by Richard
An covered
On
THOMAS
ST.
II.,
example
interesting
curious
this
of
the grave of h!dward
in
"
were two altar curtains beaten,
I.
when
it
rydell batuz."
ii
work was
old
was opened
in
dis-
1774.
the body of the king, beside his silken robes, was a stole-like
studded
band
with
broidered with pearls
wrapped
in
said to be little
silk
for the
quatrefoils
gilt ;
in
and em-
work,
filigree
from the knees downward the body was
The
a cloth of gold.
wrought
in
pure gold
old English stole might often be It
was woven with the help
into a kind of metallic web, leaving at intervals
of a
spaces
working of the figures of saints by the needle, and
fastening on jewels.
Sometimes
little
bells
of
for
as well as
silver,
beautiful fringes of gold knotted " fretty-wise," were attached to
the ends of the stole.
Lord Willoughby de Broke has one
later date with thirty-eight shields of
10 feet long and 2 inches wide
arms worked upon
from the heraldry
;
it
it
;
of a it
is
about the
is
date of Henry VI.
The
garments
liturgical
embroidery and gold and times too heavy feeble. this
for
Matthew
of this period
silver
the
were so loaded with
enrichments that they were some-
wearer, especially
Prior tells us
of one
if
that
he were old and
was broken up on
account, and the rich embroidery thrown into the flames to
get the gold out of
it.
Ladies at this time were not
above pursuing the
The men,
embroiderers for profit as well as for amusement.
appears from an old close " travailed " at
roll
of the time of
Henry
the orfeirie department, while the
craft
of it
HI., usually
women
did the
more elaborate needlework.
The metal work
style of the Plantagenets, as
it
is
described,
often resembled in design the spreading scroll-like ornaments from
the Gothic hinges on a church
door, though
sisted of medallions inclosing figures
it
sometimes con-
and subjects, surrounded by
—
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
22
metal work, and bands of gold and silver threads alternating with
Gold and
smaller medallions.
silver gilt
and bigger than spangles,
imitation of goldsmiths' work, broader
On
sewed upon the embroidery.
stars often occurred, in
orphreys embroidered on parch-
ment, coral, gold beads, seed pearls, small bosses, and ornaments gilded silver stars
in
gold and silver
ments
were
— sometimes
— are mentioned
sprinkled
rayed
with
gemmed
coral
and
Borders of vest-
as being used.
sometimes representing flowers and often
large spangle-like plates in
in
stars trefoils
with stones set in
gold
of ;
heads
and
and
silver
gold,
were
of saints
besides
silver gilt,
pearls.
This
style
ornament
metal
of
upon
stitched
liturgical
garments, knights' coats of arms, heralds' tabards and pennons
was much more common than we now confined
to
Ladies'
these.
On
sumptuous manner.
But
believe.
were also adorned
dresses
II.,
the
sum
of
£80
the Close Rolls (1252),
In
robes
the best
of
queen, with
was
the queen for
brocade
" orfrais "
the best
Henry
— two
and gems
of the
III.,
for
each square containing a
rente it
it
in
of
The one
An
order
is
still
was
king, one of which little
to
for
extant
be of
leopards
in
His sandals also to be fretted with gold, lion or leopard.
sayde that on a
embroidered robe of
Queen
the king and two for the
Holinshed relates a curious incident " It is
London
occurs an order for four
of various colours.
same
this
our currency to £i/^oo).
in
purple samit, embroidered with three
and three behind.
front
(equal
to be with " queyntisis."
making the robes
in
a State occasion the Sheriffs of
paid for an embroidered robe for Elinor of Aquitaine,
Henry
was not
it
stryving to put
it
Henry
I.
:
day King Henrie put on an
festival
scarlet, the
of
cape whereof being
over hys heade
would not serve him, he layd
brother Robert have this garment,
it
aside and
;
strayte,
he
and perceyving sayde,
'
Let
my
who hath a sharper head than
THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY.
BAVEUX TAPESTRY.
23
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
24 I
have
'
when brought
the which
;
not being sewed up, he discovered
had worne "
Duke Robert,
to it,
and asked whether any man
before.
it
The messenger
matter how
the whole
told
Herewith Duke Robert took much griefe of his brother, that he
perceyve like his
waxed wearie
my
happened.
it
mocke
at the scornefulle
and sayde,
of his life
have lived too long, that
I
the rent place
'
Now
brother shall clothe
And
almes-man, with his cast-rent garments.'
I
me
then cursing
the time of his nativity refused from henceforth to eate or drink,
and so pined away, and was buried
King John Cornhull,
gave an order
(April, 1251)
furnish
to
embroidered with
without
delay
Edward
gold.
at Gloucester."
in.) ordered a banner of white
five
to
one Reginald de
banners
of
arms
his
Westminster (1252, Henry
of
be embroidered with the
silk to
representation of the Crucifixion, with effigies of the blessed Virgin
and
St.
John embroidered
in orfrais,
and on the top a
and a
star
new crescent moon.
We
also
read
and
banners
records of the
in
caparisons
of
the
siege of
and
knights
accompanied Edward were embroidered on
Carlaverock, the
silk
soldiers
and
satin
who with
the arms of their owners. In the Cottonian of
Henry
I.
Henry
MSS. we have
and King John. I.
has an embroidered gold border to his long cloak,
and King John's tunic in
gold,
and
The
an interesting representation
is
embroidered with fleur de
his short cloak
figure
is
chiefly
lys
and
lions
has a gold-embroidered border.
remarkable
for the
very singular high
clogs worn by the king.
Mention chasuble
is
made
representing
in
the
an old chronicle of the period of a Crucifixion,
the
martyrdom
of
St.
Stephen, &c., late thirteenth century work, belonging to Margaret de Clare, Countess of Cornwall, worked with four coats of arms
THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY.
25
HAROLD SAILING FROM DOSHAM TO PONTHIEU.
HAROLD KECEIVING THE CKOWN
BAYEUX TAPESTRY
E
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
26
This must have been worked certainly before 1294,
on a maniple.
when the countess was divorced from her husband.
W.
Mr. A. piece
needlework
of
Apostles
ground
of the subject
and
displayed
representing
is
Lord
our
a curious
addressing
Gethsemane and The Betrayal
the Garden of
in
Museum, possesses
Franks, of the British
the
the
;
wrought with gold, diapered with eagles
Executed
gryphons.
England
in
late
the
in
thirteenth century. In
the thirteenth century English ladies used to
themselves process
gold
the
needed
thread
consisted, generally,
gold round a
We
in
make
for
their
embroidery
twisting
long,
narrow
for
the
;
strips
of
line of silk or flax.
learn from the Chancellor's Roll (1271) that
the gold used in the frontal of
Abbey was made
the
in
this
way
high altar at Westminster
the gold being flattened out by gold beaters
;
into a sheet as thin as the thinnest paper.
This frontal took four to work.
three years and three-quarters
was wrought with seed
It
buncles set
women
in
gold
;
pearls,
garnets,
and
car-
and, besides larger pieces of enamel, 886
smaller ones.
This
frontal
was presented by Henry
III.
to
Westminster
Abbey. In the
ment
The with
of
is
armorial
specimen
The this
and gold embroidery on
silk
pattern
is
Museum
South Kensington
a very interesting frag-
linen,
fourteenth century.
an interlacing strapwork, forming spaces worked bearings
of
England and other blazons.
This
rather rudely worked.
military
costume
of the time afforded a
The
kind of armorial decoration.
shrouded by
is
his basinet of steel,
wear some device embroidered on recognised by his friends.
It
it
wide scope for
face of the knight being
was necessary that he should
his dress
whereby he should be
became, therefore, the custom
to
— MILITARY COSTUME OF THE MIDDLE AGES. charge the jupon,
open
We
and
and cote hardie of the men, and the
of the females with
surcoats
wearer.
cointise,
meet with
27
the
heraldic
on
this continually
badge
ancient
all
the
of
monuments
ef^gies.
This custom prevailed extensively during the age of chivalry.
Even so
late as
enrichments
They were in
low
silken
relief
continued.
stuffs
hang very
and were hammered up
lightly,
the design represented upon them.
" beat betyn with gold
In the original
and
bill
a coat for
my
for heralds beat with
among
staffs
:
other items occurs
Lord's body beat with fine gold, two coats
demi-gold
holding a ragged
grififin
own
its
when Beauchamp,
for fitting out the ships,
and eighty yeards
length,
show
silver."
Earl of Warwick, went over to France,
one
to
This process of
metal work ornamentation had a technical expression of
for "
sewing
of
usually cut out of very thin plates of beaten gold or
so as to
silver,
upon
metals
precious
of
Henry VI. the practice
the time of
in
staff,
:
a great streamer forty yeards in
breadth, with
poudred
in
bear and
great
a
betyn gold
full
ragged
of
three pennons of satten, 16 standards of worsted, entailed
with the bear and a chain."
Of
this mediaeval style of costly
our beefeater's dress
The
ancient
very ingenious. it
was intended
it
really
was the of
is
of putting a
to repair,
and so instead
Hence the
healer of clothes.'
patching
in
in
preserved.
is still
patch
in
metal work
a garment was
was invariably embroidered upon the
adorned them. "
the only example that
method It
ornamentation
We
of
being a disfigurement
name
classical
for a
meet with samples
the garments recently
fabric
found
in
the
patcher
of this kind
Fayum
in
Egypt.
Old work has so often been transferred rations that
sample.
in
succeeding gene-
sometimes one meets with two or three layers on one
The few examples
that
remain to us of the beautiful E
2
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
28
work
of the
Middle Ages, the
" orfrais
'"
that continental churches
were so anxious to obtain, are only to be met with that
and
have been transferred in
"Large Ship
Arms
Embroidery in
till
Rome,
to priests' vestments.
of the 15th century, the sail
of the Earl of
with the Bear and
fragments
from time to time to altar cloths,
the case of the Church of
with the
in
embroidered
Warwick, and the streamer
Ragged Staff."— Cott. MS.
the thirteenth century
was practised
chiefly
convents and religious houses, and the ladies who practised
learnt
was
it
with the rest of their education
at first
in
convents.
it
Their work
simply for personal or domestic use, or votive offerings
MILITARY COSTUME OF THE MIDDLE AGES. to
the
Church.
The growth
Middle Ages, with fashions display,
its
of
the social burgher Hfe of
29 the
increase of wealth, and the introduction of
from other countries, developed a taste for luxury and
and embroidery then became the prevalent decoration not
only of royal and military costumes, but also of the lay and
civil
dress of the people.
From trade.
this
time the art of the embroiderer became a recognised
CHAPTER
V.
THE ORDER OF CHIVAI.RY, AND HERALDRY.
Throughout of
Ages
the Middle
there was a perpetual recurrence
same forms, ever appearing and reappearing
the
varieties
and modifications according
in
endless
to the caprice of the artist.
Those who could not create were content
to repeat the familiar
conventional designs of their predecessors, with, perhaps, a slight
At
variation.
least
from
English ecclesiastical work a
wheel
—
occurs
it
emblematic
of
of
twenty per cent,
indeed,
the work being
the
early
of
the figure of the cherubim on
bore
frequently,
so
always a presumption lilies,
to
fifteen
Virgin,
also
that
presence
its
English.
frequently
A
is
vase of
occurs
and
;
every variety of animal and living creature, even to insects and reptiles,
as
God
may is
be found on early ecclesiastical vestments.
typified
under the figure of a
The
the mythical figure of a unicorn. wilful
lion
gical vestments of
the
lions,
thirteenth
must remember that the canticle used to be said
daily,
and that
the very garment of the priest In the
of its
God-man
in
man as a hare To account for the
— leopards, &c. — embroidered on
strange variety of creatures
as
soul of
wrong-doing and mischief as a monkey.
porpoises, fish, elephants,
;
Christ
;
caterpillars, squirrels,
the
hem
of litur-
and fourteenth centuries, we
"The Three Holy Children" use was thus emphasised by
who chanted
it.
age of chivalry and romance there was a symbolism
attached to every article of a knight's armour, to every colour
— HERALDIC DEVICES. he wore
that
symbolism of colours was as much
indeed, the
;
regarded by the
We
by the clergy.
laity as
31
must always bear
in
Green
most
budding
year,
symbolises the Resurrection, the regeneration of mankind.
The
mind
significance
this
and
occurs,
frequently
The
work.
old
colour
the
this,
red cross on vestments
on the Cross.
examining
in
the
of
a symbol of the atoning blood shed
is
by Christian warriors, were emblematic
of the Trinity.
There was often a deep religious significance chosen
devices
The
sun, with
"
Psalmist,
hath
His
set
days,
early
Richard
clouds,
heraldry.
of
emblem
the
bring to mind the words of
II.,
The heavens
declare
tabernacle
the
in
the heraldic
in
infancy
the
beams issuing from the
its
grandfather of
of the
the
these
in
much used
banners, which were
tripated
the glory of
The
sun."
white
He
"
God," hart,
the
cognisance of the Fair Maid of Kent, the mother of Richard brings to mind the hart panting for the water brooks.
grew out as sacred first
symbolism.
of
Very soon
upon
may have adopted Later on
it.
they invested
painted
them
patient art,
her
hand,
in
reproduced them
cell,
chapel
in
it
case might be.
and
loom
his in
with deeper significance
the
;
hall
;
embroiderer,
the
;
The weaver
monk, illuminating colours
his brilliant
and they remain
may
be
until
this
day,
the artist
her
with
symbol
modifications
of the Christian ;
the
chapter of
to
though
their
true
a wheel
is
a
very
lost.
The four-winged cherubim standing on
first
the
in
worked them on the materials that came nearest
significance
early
it
from Eastern nations and improved
it
wove the chosen symbols his
represented secular as well
personal recognition and distinction,
religious, political, or historic, as the
in
Heraldry
Probably the Crusaders originated
things.
place as a method of
or they
it
II.,
Church.
It
appears under various
symbolism of the figure
Ezekiel.
The
beautiful
is
described
signification
in
of
the
the
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
32
presence of apostles, and martyrs, and saints, nimbed with glory,
amid winged seraphim standing upon wheels, symbolising heaven
now thrown open
is
and that he
made
is
to
that
redeemed man by the atonement,
a fellow companion of angels and cherubim.
This symbol appears under endless modifications of the fifteenth century.
It
is
until the close
one of the characteristic
distinctly
allegorical decorations of early English work.
The
displayed
eagle
is
another emblem of
very
frequent
occurrence on ecclesiastical vestments of the Middle Ages, and
seems
to
have been
considerable antiquity.
of
mentioned by Ezekiel,
allusive, in the first instance, to the eagle
but of
it
had another
also
signification.
power and supremacy.
Homer
the old sculptures of Nineveh
we
calls
see
the heads of Assyrian conquerors.
standards, and
was the device
it
Saracens borrowed regarded
as an
it
of Saladin
same form, adopted
in
Germany
of
to
it
the bird
The Romans bore
evil,
age
it
on their
The
Emperors.
Indeed, the especial badge
of victory.
the Middle
Ages was the double-headed was adopted by the
It
as their blazon, and
this day.
is
still
first
borne, in the
Other European nations subsequently
it.
Birds of prey have always been regarded as or
In
of Jove.
flaunting in triumph over
it
of the Byzantine
wings outstretched.
its
was always an emblem
from the Crusaders, as they superstitiously
emblem
and Egypt
eagle with
Emperors
it
It
may have been
It
omens
of
but perhaps the birds that were most venerated
of chivalry
were the swan and the peacock.
gather the most romantic associations, and we
may
good
in
the
Around these be quite sure
— and we meet with them continually Ages — that there some touching or
whenever we meet with them in
relics of
chivalrous
the Middle story
is
connected with them.
period abound with references to the
The swan and
the peacock were
"
The romances
of
the
vowis of pecok and swan."
deemed
royal birds,
and emblems
HERALDIC DEVICES. The
royalty before prowess.
of
knights
God
of
No
knightly banquet was
being the principal dish.
and the skin afterwards sewn it,
" its
and
he plunged the knife
vow
his
On is
its
The
raising his
in,
without the peacock to roasting,
an old writer describes
crested head and neck upright,
fan-like tail spread out.
its
vowed
ever given
on, with, as
angel fethers bright,"
their
dedication or enterprise by the
was skinned previous
It
and
kings
warrior
great
made their solemn vows of Heaven and the royal birds.
33
who carved
knight
it,
hand on high above the
ere
dish,
peacock.
of the
the border of an old brass of the fourteenth century there
a representation of a peacock served up at a banquet, and a
knight making his vows.
This vow was either religious generally bound at the
similar
him
join
to
in
or
some crusade.
table would follow his example, and
The
vows.
feathers
were woven into a crown
and presented
himself,
future occasions
and
at
both,
and
Other knights
bind themselves by
plucked from the
for the minstrel
to
or
military,
who most
him by the queen
of
tail
the bird
distinguished
On
of beauty.
tournaments he wore
all
about his hat, as
it
a knight wore his lady's glove, or sleeve, or favour
in
his
helmet
at a joust.
We
find
the heraldic
broidery
of
examples
devices of
is
presumable
blazon
is
swan and the peacock mingled with
knights
and noble families
in
the em-
age of chivalry, and these facts give them a
the
They occur on
special interest. it
of the
in
this
represented
the border of the
Syon cope, and
and other cases that the knights whose
bound themselves by
religious
vows
of
peacock and swan.
The
Star of
Bethlehem often appears
in
connection with
them, overtopping the Islam badge of the crescent blazons
of the
Crusaders.
The swan was
also
moon on
the
employed as a F
— OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
34 symbol
and majestic beauty
of stainless purity
women, and was
in
therefore often represented in connection with the Virgin.
women's heads, and they often occur
are examples of swans with
on orphreys
of
There
the fourteenth century.
Lincoln there was a
In
cope having an orphrey set with swans of gold, and there are instances of shields supported by gold swans.
Other birds are frequently introduced symbolically.
Parrots
are represented in ecclesiastical work in connection with the wise
men
of the
Epiphany and
have whispered
Queen
to the
They were
from Sheba.
gifts
Sheba the doings
of
Wherever met
St. Paul's.
Solomon, and
They appear on
brought round their necks letters from him.
vestments of old
of
fabled to
the
with, they have an
Eastern significance, and denote wealth and greatness, with an
Solomon
the glory of
especial reference to
or the gifts of the
Magi. In mediaeval embroidery
were leopards of gold, black round
their
necks,
with
the favourite conventional devices trefoils,
chains
white harts having crowns
silver
gilt
;
Catherine
falcons, swans, stars, fieur-de-lys, archangels, lions,
moons,
peacocks,
dragons,
eagles
No doubt
leaves and flowers.
own and were not introduced and
displayed,
griflfins,
wheels, hearts,
and conventional
all
these had a meaning of their
into
a design without forethought
intention.
In "
"The Order
of Chivalry," published
Unto a knight
to signify
how
is
given a sword
in
by Caxton, we read
semblance
of a cross,
Christ vanquished death in the Cross, so likewise
a knight oweth to vanquish and destroy the enemies of the Cross
by the sword. " Chivalry
made
to
cut
is
on
to
both
maintain justice, sides,
to
therefore
signify
the
the
sword
is
is
bound,
The
iron, or
knight
with the sword, to maintain chivalry and justice. "
To
a knight
is
given a spear to signify truth.
HERALDIC DEVICES. head
of
35
the spear, signifieth strength, which truth ought to have
above falseness. "
The pennon,
sign that truth showeth to
all faith
and hath
;
no dread or fear of falseness or treachery. " Verity
sustaining
is
of
hope,
which
shewed
is
by
the
spear of the knight. "
The
'
Hat
Steel'
of
is
given
knight
to the
shamefastness, for a knight without shamefastness
to
signify
may
not be
oheysant to the order of chivalry. "
The hawberk
signifieth a
castle or fortress against vices
or defaults. "
to
Chauces
of
iron,
keep and hold surely "
" "
to
much "
harness, are
and
his legs
from
alone
trust affye,
The
or knife with a cross to
and
arms
his
to
to
a knight
peril.
given to signify the
is
lift
up
hands
his
in
so
God.
to trust in
shield
show that he ought
or strength, but he ought
" Gauntlets that he should touch
nor
feet
given
The spurs are given to signify diligence and swiftness. The gorget is given to signify obedience. The mace is given to signify strength of courage.
" Misericordi,
not
or leg
no
oflfice
of a knight.
foul or dishonest thing,
a false oath, but rather
lift
them up
in
thanking God. "
The
saddle signifies surety of courage, the charge and the
burden of chivalry. "
An
"
A
horse to signify noblesse of courage. bridle,
to
signify that
a
knight
ought
to
refrain
his
tongue, and speak no foul or false words, and also that he ought to
refrain
his
hands,
in
hardiness he should have attemper-
his
ance. " Reins, to signify that
Order
the knight ought to go wherever the
of Chivalry will lead or
send him. F 2
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
36
"A for
must
coat, in significance of the great travails he
suffer
honour and chivalry.
The banner
"
honour
and
of his lord
MSS.
and they are probable
of dress.
find
a
of
piece
of
illuminated
In
numerous examples
extremely useful
often
history
fashion prevailed very exten-
articles
Ages we
the Middle
of
century a
symbols on
sively of figuring
ought to maintain the
of his land."
fourteenth
the
In
to signify that a knight
in
date
the
fixing
work by the
old
of this,
and
decorations
employed. Blue and red were then, as now, the royal colours of England,
and we frequently meet with a seme
of
feathers on royal
ostrich
apparel and trappings, the ostrich feather
gold being one of
all
the badges of royalty.
The
ostrich
the chosen
feather, first
device
of
his
assumed by the Black Richard
son,
was
flags
and
his
for
II.,
Prince,
personal garments.
The of
Yorkists, and
the
and the white swan were the cognisance
ostrich feather
is
it
The broom-pod was
copes of the period.
and
Plantagenets,
white
The
which date
a
is
hart,
chain,
Richard
The
time.
park
white
falls
of
found
is
chiefly
in
orphreys and
the symbol of
conjunction
with
the the
and the sun's rays darting upward from behind a
hart,
cloud.
it
on
frequently figured
II.
with
crown on
its
neck, from of
the
emblem, indeed, was national
at
the
hart collared and
Richard's
royal
embroidery
occurs
— the
a
frequently
in
green
lodged beneath
own emblem,
trees in a
so also the greyhound collared
and conrant.
This was the King's own dog Math, and a touch-
ing history
attached to
in
ornamental
favourite his
is
collars
it.
It
was the fashion
embroidered with gold, and
greyhound so arrayed used
two fore
feet
to array
on his shoulders.
to
On
caress
the
the
dogs
King's
him by placing
day that Richard
HERALDIC DEVICES. was dethroned, the dog
master and leaped to the Duke
his
left
37
caressing him as he formerly used to
of Lancaster's shoulders,
caress the King.
Math
This sycophant animals It
Duke as
heraldy to the end of the fifteenth century.
in
very curious to remark that
is
of Lancaster blazoned on a
Old
leopards.
regardant
as
^
leopardes"
"lions
and the
A of a
represented
— the
in
the
leopards
the royal arms of the
frequently
suggest
heralds
in
banner the lions are represented
indeed,
writers,
Some
" leopards."
face,
frequently occurs with other emblematic
allude
the
that
English
termed
were
represented
full
lion in profile.
rampant has always been considered the
lion
the
passant
lions
arms,
being always
to
From
hero.
the
very earliest
time
that
emblem
possessed
they
C0AT-Cr-.>.7.i:3.
14th Century.
armorial lions
the sovereigns of England have always borne
insignia,
him the early heralds held "
Only when
early
by
A
on their royal shields.
his
in
walking and looking about
be acting the part of a leopard.
rampant attitude,"
Boutell
consider any lion to be a
heralds true
to
lion
name.
"
The
English
tells
lion,
us,
guished a
name
lion
in
bore
it
kings knew
only as an heraldic
the
and blazon him that
title,
a particular attitude, but drawn
lions
in
The animal
the attitude of their lions were heraldic leopards.
bearing the
" did
which in
distin-
every other
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
38
respect as other heraldic Hons, without spots or any leopardish distinctions whatever.'"
In "
The Shrewsbury Book,"
MS.
a Royal
superbly illumi-
nated, presented by Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury to Margaret of
Anjou
marriage
her
after
Henry
with
VI.,
embroidered banner bearing the arms
of
quartered, with a variation of the motto,
"
One of the
Plantagenets that
is
once crimson,
existence
is
embroidery
the jupon of the vest
padded with cotton, and quilted
into
his
tomb
at Canterbury.
for
such work in
gold.
tabards or surcoats of the knights of this period were rich
or cloth
silk
often, indeed, with
circumstance
in
the
some of
life
scarf, usually the
by her hand
and embroidered with the
family
to
which they belonged,
some
fanciful device symbolical of
the wearer. of
gift
was called the
this
;
gold,
of
noble
armorial devices of the
worn a
of heraldic
Droit."
embroidered with the arms of the Black Prince
It is
The made of and
mon
gamboised [ganiboise), as the term
longitudinal folds, is.
is
est
France
The
Black Prince, suspended over of velvet,
in
still
magnificent
a
England and
Dieu
most interesting examples
of the
is
his
Over the surcoat was
lady-love,
lac if amour
—
and embroidered
tie of love.
Ladies, indeed, often presented to a knight scarves, hoods, sleeves, dress.
own
mantles, and knots of ribbon detached from their
The
made
sleeves of the period were
bodice, and fastened to
it
by strings
;
hence they could be easily
age
In the tournaments of the
detached.
separate from the
of chivalry the
com-
batants wore embroidered badges, and shields of arms of the four juges-diseurs, or umpires, were distributed beforehand, and the
reward of
embroidered It
contest
the
was usually
carefully
covered
with
an
scarf.
may be
that
employed
on
capricious
decorations,
the
some
of
needlew'ork not
the of
escutcheons this
and
interesting
symbols
period
properly heraldic bearings.
are
Ladies
HERALDIC DEVICES. were
the
heralds
of
these
chivalrous
39
days,
and the beautiful
productions of their pliant needles, that soothed the cares and fears of long, lonely hours while their lords were absent in
Crusade, have outlived the
pious
The
memory
of their valiant deeds.
noble heroism of the Christian warrior
faded
bit
of stitchery that
symbolised
it
some
is
forgotten,
alone remains.
and the
CHAPTER
VI.
THE SYON COPE. The
most
Ages
is
beautiful relic of the
the Syon cope.
It
embroiderers' art of the Middle
undoubtedly the most remarkable
is
The
existing specimen of English mediaeval embroidery. of its preservation through
very remarkable.
It
all
history
the vicissitudes of the centuries
is
belonged to the monastery of Syon, founded
at Isleworth, Middlesex, by
Henry V.
in
The nuns
1414.
of Syon,
with the few relics which they saved at the dissolution, took refuge at
Here
Lisbon.
quakes, country. Earl
of
and,
their
after
convent
several
In 1825 the order
was twice destroyed by earth-
migrations,
was
still
they
returned
to
this
existing in Staffordshire.
The
Shrewsbury took the refugee nuns under
protection,
and
in
this, their
most precious
Earl of Shrewsbury generously bequeathed
occupies the place of honour
among
it
is
a convent near Coventry
the thirteenth centurv.
The ground
with interlaced barbed
quatrefoils, in
subject, the higher part of the
to the nation,
The and
it
Museum.
This beautiful ecclesiastical vestment in
relic.
the historical objects of art
collected together at South Kensington
of the
said to have been
in
cope
the second half of is
green, covered
each of which
is
a sacred
back having the Assumption, or
the Crowning of the Virgin, the Crucifixion below St.
especial
gratitude for the kindness he showed them they
presented to their benefactor
worked by nuns
his
it,
and beneath
Michael overcoming the Dragon, the Apostles, and winged
THE SYON COPE. Cherubim standing on wheels. of shields trious
The orphreys
are two broad bands
charged with the armorial bearings
English
emblazoned
families,
shields.
and bordered
with
The morse and hem
armorial bearings worked
in
a
of
our most
illus-
narrow band
of
are also wrought with
gold and silver and various coloured
Part of the Orphrey of the
silks.
41
Syon Cope.
English (13th Century).
There was formerly an inscription on the hem, which has
been cut up, and only two or three heraldry, swans
letters
and peacocks are wrought
remain.
Besides the
at the corners,
deeply interesting on account of their symbolism.
The
which are star,
G
the
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
42
swan had each
crescent, the peacock, the
worked with the needle
figures are
much
The
faded.
The zigzag
are
The
silk
of various hues,
now
devices are worked in cross-stitch.
heraldic
diapers
in
own meaning.
its
the
of
class
of
laid
opus
stitches,
pulvinariiim. All
the
present figures
new
and the
style
example
wonderful
this
in
Gothic art of the period are
characteristics of the
portions
raised
are
ancient perfect
mechanism
needlework and
of
of
The
peculiarity of this
consisted
In
won
"
that
of for
itself
opus Aiiglicanum."
work, which long puzzled archaeologists,
the use of a fine split-stitch, so arranged as to give
in
the appearance of the
examples
that
from admiring Christendom the appellation of
The
stitchery.
This
a bas-relief.
especially noticeable in
is
modelling of faces and nude parts of the figure delineated.
working the figures the stitches
of the
further
cheek and worked
had
side
straight
when they
throughout
lines
begun
in
the centre
circular, not straight, lines, until
been reached,
flowing
or
in
were
the
fell
rest
naturally
the
of
the into
figure.
This was a sort of chain stitch throughout, and then a simple
mechanical appliance produced the effects of
and shade.
A
was pressed
into the parts of the face
was required. of light
thin iron rod with a sm.all knob,
By
and pressing out by
effected,
this
and hollows to the figure
of
light
slightly heated,
and figure where elevation
and the working
in circular lines,
mechanical process, gave distinct ;
relief
not the face only, but the dress and
extremities were wrought in the
draperies are worked
The orphreys
and
these hollows, thus permanently sunk, a play
and shadow was
The
relief
same manner.
in
feather stitch {opus plumariuni).
are not so old as the body of the cope.
the armorial bearings are those of knights
Probably
who bound themselves
by a solemn vow, exemplified by the swan and the peacock, to fight against the
Moslem, and
this
would account
for the
presence
THE SYON COPE. swan and the peacock, the
of the
the promise of the Saviour, "
The symbol
star."
and the crescent, close
star
The
on the orphrey of the cope.
their blazons
to
43
am
I
the
star
had reference
bright
and morning
had a deeper meaning, sym-
at this time
bolising not only our Lord himself, but His gospel
The
were directed.
symbol
its
at
was an
ecclesiastical
emblem
fulness.
"The
eye-speckled
feathers,"
Osmont
writer,
never too
own
his
is
grown, changes
full is
cygnet
the
tion
plumage
period
preserved
is
was found secrated
at
outline on
white
Worcester red silk
silk
;
wrought
work
resembles
preserved a
This
(1236). It
in
tomb
the
in
being
at
an
Anglo-
warn a man that
wide
and gaze
open,
workings."
secret
its
when
bird,
so
;
us that
man, who
becomes by regenera-
sin,
adorned with the garb of innocence.
Another interesting example
in
apart
watch-
of
wrote
to intense white
darkened by the blackness of
first
duty
dusky hue, the
a
of
the
we have already
a liturgical garment reminds
always
its
should
and know
from
light
the so
eyes
his
heart,
The symbolic swan upon while
cleric,
can he have
often
inwardly upon
the
"
of
symbolical
The peacock,
knightly vow, of which
of the
spoken,
Norman
her
getting
but
first,
with the lamb,
and growing larger day by day.
true Sun,
from
moon
crescent
Church, small
of the
— Christianity
Mahometanism, against which the crusades
contradistinction to
in
to
the cathedral library at Worcester.
It
Walter de Cantilupe, who was con-
of in
1236.
It
gold
of
thread
Bayeux
remnant in
a
of
in
the
the
stitch.
flat
tapestry. of
worked
Also
at
gold on purple
(thirteenth century)
is
dark red being
figures
The canopy Worcester
cope of William
is
Bois
of
silk.
has been claimed that the beautiful cope of
Rome
a
work between the outlines
the in
is
hands
faces and
in
worked
work
this
the rest
the
beautiful
of
all
small is
the
;
of the
English embroidery.
St.
Sylvester
The Gothic G
2
;
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
44
canopy work, the cherubim on wheels, the
style of the shrine or
angels
gold
clothed
was one
it
Rome, about
the fine split-stitch,
feathers,
drawing, are
this
on the continent, and specimens had found
Even
foreign courts.
We
are
(1246),
very
told
our garden
and where
there
the abbots of
for his choir
His
—
catalogue of subjects
in
thence
may much
were despatched to
England, and they were
nothing
for
at
a
later
benefactions to various the
of
a well inexhaustible
letters
official
nativity,
represented upon them.
the
made,
England
if
they could
We may
—
date,
in vain.
enumerates
and
his
in
vestments with
churches,
passion,
yet, at
be quite sure
age the Pope's request was not made
Anastasius,
librarian,
" Truely,
from
events, to purchase things so estimable.
that in that pious
most
some
were
they
is
it
abundance,
great
Cistercian order
the
urged to procure
sooth
in
Accordingly,
be extracted."
all
is
into
ecclesiastics
where
inquired
delight,
of
the
of
England, he exclaimed
in
way
their
prized
Pope Innocent IV.
that
Paris
copes
the
orphreys,
desirable
and being is
on
time highly
they were very greatly admired.
Matthew
informed by observing
Rome
at
over to
sent
thirteenth century, by order of
were at
orphreys
the
English.
distinctly
all
vestments
English
the
of
the middle of the
English
Pope.
the
and the
grounding,
Probably
peacocks'
in
the
resurrection,
Doubtless these were English orphreys.
There are special characteristics by which the English work
may be
identified, the peculiar process of
limbs into
The
shrine
with hot irons, the peacock feather wings of the
relief
angels, the
moulding the faces and
seraphim on a wheel, the beautiful gold grounding.
work
of the design
also a noticeable feature, the Gothic character
is
is
unmistakable, the
pillars
being often formed of
twined stems bearing vine leaves, oak leaves, and acorns.
Reference
is
made
the Librate Roll of
to
Edward
the beautiful III.,
Gothic
shrine
where a garment
work
for the
in
King
THE SYON COPE. is
described
tabernacles
as of
being gold.
"
inwrought
The
with
tabernacles
45 pelicans,
were
like
images,
and
niches,
with
pinnacles and roofs."
Perhaps the most conclusive evidence faces of the figures.
and
of
all
the
men
In
English
is
afforded
work the face
are clean shaven round the
by the
Our Lord
of
mouth and upper
Dalmatic of the Fifteenth Century.
This was a purely English custom.
lip.
beard
is
In Continental
allowed to grow into the moustache, and
is
work the
represented
as closely surrounding the mouth.
The term Dalmatic
applies to an ecclesiastical vestment, in
the shape of a long robe or super tunic, with short sleeves, partly
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
46 open
the sides, which
at
times
— from
was the custom
it
In early
for the
Pope
who
dalmatic as a privilege on bishops,
turn to their deacons.
in
it
—
the fourth century
to confer the use of the
granted
worn over the chasuble.
is
Later, the privilege of wearing
the dalmatic under the chasuble was granted to abbots, and finally
conceded
when
kings and emperors, both at their coronation, and
to
The dalmatic formed
assisting at high mass.
part of the
coronation robes of the kings of England at a very early date.
King John, and Richard II., coronation, and Henry VI. is said
Richard their
"as a bishop
on this occasion
Dalmatian
white
(whence
with purple stripes
silk,
become
have
to
origin
less
extant
descriptions
of
the
have been attired
to
should
that
dalmatic and a stole about his neck." of
wore dalmatics on
all
I.,
sing
mass, with a
Originally this vestment,
composed
was
name),
of
but afterwards the colour seems
;
specimens
arbitrary,
as
there
dalmatics
of
purple, crimson,
are
blue,
and
and
gold tissue, covered with costly embroidery, like the one represented
in
our illustration.
The chasuble is
is
the part of the ecclesiastical costume which
worn by the Catholic clergy
archbishop
—
broidered or to be
saying
in
— from the
mass.
It
priest
shows a large em-
generally
emblematical of Christ's sufferings.
round opening
the
in
was
It
centre,
head was passed, covering nearly the whole lifted
up by the arms.
Bayeux
still
with the
preserved its
in
in
a peak.
at first perfectly
through which the figure,
except when
the eleventh century, as shown in the
was made much shorter
The chasuble
of
Thomas
in front,
a Becket,
the Cathedral of Sens, shows ample folds, and
peaks descended to the mid-leg before and behind.
sixteenth
sequence
In
tapestry, the chasuble
and terminated
to the
cross on the back, and a pillar in front, designed
gilt
circular, with a
and deacon
of
century the
the
change
sides of
had
material
to
be reduced
from
silk
to
in
In
con-
thickly
THE SYON COPE.
47
embroidered cloth of gold, and, instead of draping chasuble now sat
folds, the
and
behind.
Our
illus-
the
front
shows
tration
fiat
and
in
graceful
on the wearer before
stiffly
part of a chasuble of this kind.
At
embroidery
of
introduced,
was
mixture of
a
opus pliininriii in
the old
new
with a
the
of
century a new
thirteenth style
end
the
style of needle-
work and mechanism.
known on
This was
Continent under the
the
name
distinctive lish
An
work."
was made effects
of
of
attempt
produce the
to
has
reliefs
embroidered
the
"Eng-
in
figures,
which were represented flat
in
stitches in medallions
with
beautiful
sometimes
with
foliage,
golden
grounds.
The gold
so
original
laid
stitches
permeated
ground as
the material the
ance
of
in
the
to give
Chasuble, Si.xteenth Century.
appear-
being woven with gold thread.
In
some instances the
flowers on this gold embroidery are produced in jeweller's
with real stones.
Spangles
seem
to
have
been
work
used at quite
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
48
an early period to give brilliancy of the
worked
often
are
figures
stitches, the faces
and limbs
outlines in black.
The
in
The
effect.
basket-work and thickly
laid
a split-stitch, with finely drawn
in
and shadowy parts
hair
draperies of
of the draperies
gold and silver thread, with dark outlines.
in
most beautiful work of the Gothic type
All the
is
of the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries, before the Renaissance crept over
Europe.
Early
the fourteenth
in
The
very beautiful English work.
century we have examples of
com-
subjects are generally in
partments surrounded by twining branches of
foliage,
generally
oak, of remarkable beauty and execution.
Much
work
of the
Flemish schools
may
being distinctly
an
details of the
period attributed to Italian and
of this
be identified by the foliage introduced, oak
English
decoration
and the architectural
;
tabernacle work, which are generally very minutely
The
rendered, bearing the impress of an Earlv English character. careful rendering
of the
minutest details of Gothic tracery
special feature of this early work.
ment
given
for
embroiderer's art
the is
careful
is
a
That there was great encourage-
and painstaking practice
down
evident from the values handed
the
of
to us in
the old Rolls of the period.
Henry
In the Librate Roll, 24 of a
payment
Bishop
of
;^24
of Hereford,
for the royal chapel.
money
is.
and
6d. for a 1
7
(fifteen times greater
cope
for
III.
of red silk given
than at that period)
paid as large a
"
made
is
to the "
chesables
to the present increased value of
Hereford's cope would have cost ÂŁ'^61
Edward
(1241), a mention
two embroidered
for
According
III.
sum
the
Bishop
2s. 6d.
as
140 (now equal t0;;/^2ioo)
a vest of velvet embroidered with divers work for his
chaplain.
Some
idea of the great
of
number
own
of ecclesiastical vest-
ments worked by English ladies before the Reformation may be gained
by looking over the catalogues
of
church embroideries
THE SYON COPE. which were preserved
49
the cathedrals of York, Lincoln, London,
in
and Peterborough. Lincoln alone were upwards
In
wrought with divers kinds
manner
in
we cannot help being struck with the splendour
of
the bald
They
these ancient vestments.
terms
as
silk.
which they were described
in
inventories
and gold, upon
of needlework, jewellery
Indian baudekyn, samit, tarterain, velvet, and
Even
hundred vestments,
of six
"an
orphrey "
descriptions of
in
are constantly spoken of in
goodly needlework," and we read
of
knights jousting, lions fighting, amices barred
with amethysts and pearls "
;
the altar embroidered with
veils for
a representation of the Holy Trinity and twelve Apostles
The Bishop
around whose heads were sewn pearls. bequeaths to the
(1310)
such
cathedral
embroidered with many small images
ornamented with small pearls and
vestment
a
Durham
of
of
gold,
in
red
samit,
of saints standing in circles,
silk
;
and an alb
same
of the
work with gold platys about the edge, surrounded with small pearls of divers colours. It is
way
to foreign lands,
held
in
where
high estimation
Bishop
Ages.
John,
special
bequest
orfrais."
work found
certain that a great deal of this beautiful
In
of
1360
in
it
was much
the Latin church
of Marseilles,
his
pri.'ied,
alb
Cardinal
that
wrought
Talairand
embroideries on a costly set of vestments raine of the
same period bequeaths
to
speaks ;
was
made
(1345) with of
the
and a Bishop
his
it
through the Middle
his will
in
was
all
and that
its
"
a
English English
of
Tour-
cathedral a cope of
beautiful old English work.
H
CHAPTER MATERIALS EMPLOYED
VII.
MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERY.
IN
" Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful."
Sam IT was chivalry
and romance.
brightness,
And
again
in
refers to
old
in
Rime
silk
of Sir
it,
it
of the
Rose
" :
merry thought,
Thopas
"
he speaks of
it
slit
MSS.
illuminated
up
of
in front,
the
being
Knights
as
we
period.
see
Its
it
old
exsamit, shortened to samit, and the origin of
It
number
of threads in the
was woven probably
The web was wrought
whether
it
happened
to
first
in
warp of
England
so thick and strong
be
six threads, while the weft
hemp
was
or
silk
in
entirely of flat
much affected by early Kings and Queens, and mention is made of it until time of Elizabeth. The wardrobe of Edward I. was so rich in
gold
the
in
of
of samit
reference to the
that each string,
our
The Romaunt
and sewn with golden ornaments.
armour robes
with solid gold wire.
dazzling
of
samette, with birdes wrought.
the texture, six-threaded.
the warp, had
in "
in
name was
name had
it
young he was, and
pictures and
Byzantine the
their
fabric
the knights and courtiers of the Middle
Full
the "
excellence of the age of
was a shining
And
embroidered with
wore over
It
much worn by
Chaucer
Ages.
par
the material
distinctly
shreds.
This cloth of gold was very
that the nobles were allowed to
In the " Antiquarian
Repertory"
buy
is
it
out of the Royal stores.
a record of the cloth of gold
2, 3, Bronze Needles (Pre-historic). Bronze Needle (Pagan Saxon). Found near Mildenhall, Suffolk. P'g^- 5. 6, Bronze Needles (Roman). Found in Cambridgeshire.
Figs.
I,
Fig. 4,
Fig.
7,
Bronze Needle, the head of an unusual form, prolonged beyond the
eye,
which
is
small and oblong, for two-thirds of an inch, and expands into a thin plate with a square end.
Found
at Haslingfield,
F"ig. 8,
Cambridgeshire.
Bronze Thimble (Roman).
Post-Roman.
Found
in the
was evidently worn on the thumb. Early Bronze Thimble (Saxon). Found
neighbourhood
of
Cambridge.
From
un\isual size, this Fig. 9, .'\11
these objects ai^ in the
Museum
of
at Chesterford, near
Cambridge.
General and Local Archajology
at
Cambridge.
the
MATERIALS FOR MEDI/EVAL EMBROIDERY. ordered by Richard set of
coronation.
III. for his
vestments presented to the altar of
Duchess
were
of Clarence
Henry
It
was
was buried
III.
diapered brocade, which was in
1429 a sumptuous
Albans by Margaret
St.
of " samette," set with precious stones
and exquisitely embroidered. with a pattern.
In
still
diapered
read,
a wrapping of beautifully
in
entire
we
often,
when
was opened
his coflfin
Cloth of gold, according to the old English
1871.
51
allowed to be taken for white, when that colour was
ritual,
named
was
for use in
the rubric. " Ciclatoun, shortened to cyclas, sometimes spelt " siglaton
or " siklatoun,"
was a
similar material, lighter in
its
texture, but
Cendel, or sandall, was a less costly
very bright and shining.
and somewhat thinner material
of silken stuff with
golden threads.
many
In the " Roll of Caerlaverock," in 1300,
rich caparisons
are mentioned embroidered upon cendal and samit. of
Ijncoln
with
hoisted his
banner made of yellow cendal blazoned Flags and
rampant purpre.
a lion
were made of cendal
and cendal.
Piers
And
and other vestments being made
Ploughman
born ladies of his day
banners at this time
Frequent mention occurs of
silk.
old inventories of albs
Lacy Earl
employment
speaks of the
poem
in his delightful
{circa
ye lovely ladies, with your long fyngres silk and sandal to sowe, when tyine
That ye have
it,
too, in
of samit
of high-
Edward
III.)
:
is,
Chesibles for chapeleyns. Chinches to honoure.
"
De Fundata
network like
of gold,
"
was another name given
used about
a fisherman's net.
A
this time.
specimen of
an Archbishop of York buried Fustian,
a
It
in
it
to a cloth, or rather
was woven
was found
in
of pure gold,
the grave of
the seventeenth century.
kind of cotton plush,
is
also
mentioned
in
the
thirteenth century.
Buckram, an Asiatic
fabric,
was often woven with cotton.
was a kind It
is
of silken plush, but
mentioned frequently
H
2
it
in
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
52
and thirteenth centuries.
inventories of the twelfth
much used
times called fustian, and was
and
of dress.
Anne Boleyn's gowns and mantles were
hangings of a richer material, and articles
lining
a tiny jacket
is
Queen Elizabeth Satin
of
Mary.
Rome
at
long before
it
The Lady
"
century,
and
of silk
In
Chaucer
cushion.
satin
the
of
is
are of
it
thirteenth
frequent mention
described as sitting on a throne
is
covered with flame-coloured
of rushes
ballad
East
the
in
early examples of
the Fountain," there
of
King Arthur
satin.
was used
It
Welsh
a
The
embroidered on thick blue
is
The
reached England.
crimson colour.
a fiery
it.
the baby clothes prepared by
and has never been transferred.
satin,
with
lined
mentioned about the fourteenth century.
dalmatic of Charlemagne
red
among
it
for her sister
is first
some-
is
domestic purposes,
for
for sheets,
There
It
refers
and supported by a
satin,
to
" satin
as
it
riche and
newe." Silk
and the date in
was brought
first
— as
examples
The
or
less
from the East at a very early time,
which we have any clearly ascertained
of
that found on the
character.
more
to us
body
silk tissues of
Oriental
the Middle
design, often
in
—are
of St. Cuthbert
Ages
are
figured with
antelopes, parrots, and with mottoes and inscriptions
objects
"
Sometimes they are described as
— that
is,
in
peacocks, in
Testament
— once
only,
Apocalypse, where dise that
St.
was brought
Ezekiel,
translators
and again have
the
including as
ouvrage d^oultre
the style of the Levant.
There are very few
in
indeed,
we now conventionally term Byzantine, was described
Saracenic.
mer
all,
woven
Everything that had an Oriental appearance,
fabric.
Byzantine
allusions to
indeed,
John
is
in
silk
the
in
New
the Old
and
Testament,
in
New the
reckoning up the costly merchan-
in
ships to the mighty city.
in
Proverbs
;
but
in
It is
mentioned
both these places the
misunderstood the original
Hebrew.
Probably
MATERIALS FOR MEDI/EVAL EMBROIDERY. linen
was
describing
silk
fine
meant.
Virgil
a
of
as
sort
53
makes a very curious mistake,
herbaceous
growing upon
fleece
trees.
Taffetta
was a thinner and
costly
less
Sarcenet, which frequently occurs
in old
than cendal.
stuff
inventories,
began
the
in
fifteenth century to take the place of cendal.
Camoca, generally used
and
" his large
at
was
very
draping beds of state,
in
The Black Prince bequeaths
vestments.
bed of red camora
" with his
in
arms embroidered
each corner, and another bed of camora powdered with blue
eagles.
as
camek,
camora,
as
the fourteenth century
in
in ecclesiastical
his will,
described
often
it
It
was extensively used
purposes. silk,
was probably an agreeable material
It
working upon,
for
at this period for a variety of decorative
was an Asiatic
fabric
woven
and
of fine camel's hair
preceding the soft cashmere of a later time.
Of velvet we have no mention
The
century.
was practised
art of velvet in
until the
end
weaving originated
France long before
it
of
in
the thirteenth
the East, and
reached England.
it
was
It
a favourite material with Royalty, and for robes of state, and was
used extensively all
the
examples
old
applique.
in liturgical
vestments, and for altar cloths.
that
are
preserved
the
In
embroidery
is
Velvet, having a shifting surface, was difficult to work
upon, so the design was worked upon some other material, such as linen, canvas,
edges
being
silk,
usually
afterwards cast over
or vellum,
bound {e)i
and sewn upon the
{galonner)
with
cord,
guipure) with gold or
silver
velvet, the
which was tambour.
Diaper was a term originally applied to a silken fabric find a
mention of
characteristic
it
so early as the eleventh century.
was that by the arrangement
of
Its
;
we
special
warp and woof,
both of the same tone of colour, a design could be produced on the
web which had
the appearance of being raised in relief above
the seemingly dusky ground.
Cloth of gold was diapered with
54 designs
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
'
in
this
way.
Exeter
Cathedral,
in
an inventory dated
1277, had a cope of white diaper with half moons, and St. Paul's
Cathedral one with parrots done
in
green.
Figured Silk, Fourteenth Century.
The meaning of the word diaper gradually widened, came to be used when the same pattern or ornament was or
when
the
so that
it
repeated,
pattern was sprinkled or powdered over the surface.
MATERIALS FOR MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERY. Embroidery
The
Middle Ages.
canum was
gold was very
imitate diaper in
to
ground
beautiful golden
usually dotted
of
55
general
the
in
Opus Angli-
the
This
over with a repeating pattern.
all
apparently mechanical method was capable of infinite variety, and
formed the most effective backgrounds, and that
examples
different
in
had some beautiful vestments made
Old
diaper.
In the inventory of 1295 a
Paul's
very remarkable
is
work the same diapers seldom
of old
appear.
St.
it
cope of white diapers
is
of
men-
tioned covered with trees and diapered birds, of which the heads,
and
breasts,
Baudekin
thread. nicles
gold
name
shot
with
of baldakin.
Worsted
in
coloured
other coloured
silk
often
is
was much worn on
is
Cloth
silks.
state occasions.
Norfolk produced a soft woolly fabric known as
domestic purposes.
fourteenth
It
mentioned under the
-worsted, of which vestments were made, and for
chro-
old
in
gold
in
than any other material.
writers
gold, or with
It
were woven
flowers,
more frequently mentioned
is
shot with
silk
the
as
well
and by mediaeval
a rich of
as
feet,
is
It
mentioned
where there
century,
"
worsted embroidered, and
is
an old
in
bequest
a
was much used
it
will
of a
the
of
bed of red
cushions of best red worsted."
Technique.
remarkable, when we
It is
a
little
variety there
in
is
come
to
stitches.
examine them
The
closely,
design, the
materials
employed, vary from age to age, but the stitches are but
changed
:
they have
come down
to us
and we employ them now, the selfsame
what
little
from the earliest times stitches, with little or
no
variation.
The grouping direction
of
the
of
separate stitches
stitch,
whether short
straight, or upright or crossed,
the variety.
They
are
all
together, or
long,
make what we
the length or or
slantinsf
or
are pleased to term
performed with one implement.
The
;
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
56
down
needle has been handed
made
has been
of various materials
Paleolithic cave-dwellings
gold and bronze, but It
it
;
has varied
Long Crandon
at
valued
"
Gammer The
in
of a
Cambridge,
stitches
Opus Opus Opus Opus Opus Opus
met with
in
of
first
They were the
that that
1566.
It
so the
loss of
was performed
was
entitled,
embroidery of the Middle Ages
we have any
may
:
Plumarium Consutum
Plumage, or Feather Work. Applique, or Cut Work.
Pulvinarium Pectineum
Woven,
Phrygium
Passing, or Gold
Filatorium
Lace, or
Cushion, or Shrine
Feather work [Opus plmnariiini)
is
or
Work.
Comb Work.
Work. Darned Work.
the earliest work of which
record, perhaps from the reason that the materials
were ever at hand.
Feathers used entire, or woven into a web to
form a ground, were employed later period the feathers
or gold thread.
The
purposes of decoration, and
for
were supplemented by needlework
ancient workers
in
for
like the
plumage
in silk
embroidered.
The Opus pliimariuni was the general term employed The stitches were time for what we now call embroidery. lengthwise (never across), and
at a
feathers were called Plii-
and pliimata (feathered) was another term
another
;
Gurton's Needle."
be classed under the following heads
viarii,
fishes
They were
comedy
in
the
in
century that we
England.
Elizabeth,
of
and
it
;
form.
Buckinghamshire.
was the subject
College,
Christ's
made
in
reign
the
in
village needle
at
little in
not until the middle of the sixteenth
is
highly
of stone, as found
:
of the bones of animals
hear of steel needles being
made
from pre-historic times
to us
so arranged as
to
at this laid
overlap
on
one
of a bird.
All flat stitches are included
under the term plumage work
the stitches not being counted, only laid on at
freedom and scope to the worker.
will,
give more
—
MATERIALS FOR MEDI/EVAL EMBROIDERY. Edward
In
57
Lythington, Abbot of Croyland, gave
church nine copes of cloth of gold, exquisitely feathered
to his
that
IV. 's time
;
embroidered
is,
in imitation of feathers.
The Opus pectineum was
kind of woven work
a
and used as such.
of embroidery,
was wrought with the
It
assistance of a comb-like instrument; hence the
This work was very
(comb-wrought).
loom by women, and several examples
imitation
in
name
may
it
pectineum
done
skilfully
of
"
small
a
in
"
be seen at South
Kensington Museum.
Opus piilvinarium (cushion work) tabernacle work,
This stitch lends
itself
ventional patterns and mosaics
done
in
;
;
hence the
" point
French
geometrical and con-
well to
a great deal of Eastern work
mediaeval embroidery
In
it.
or
cross or canvas stitch covering square spaces,
counted by threads of the fabric comptee."
often applied to shrine
was used mostly
it
is
foi
cushion work, being a coarse, strong kind of stitchery for kneeling
upon, or holding the books at the heraldic devices, for which
it
altar.
well
Cope
consutum appears only
to
are
worked
in
It is
it
is
it.
in
the
worked on the
such as bed furniture and hangings of rooms
often called " ballings."
Figures were very often represented out of
of
generally found mixed with embroidery, especially
large pieces,
hence
in
for
Some
have been employed
principal parts of the design, the accessories being
ground.
adapted
was extensively employed.
the arms on the border of the Sion Opu'\
was
It
silk, satin,
in
it
;
they were shaped
and sewn on the ground, and
velvet, or linen,
the features were afterwards worked by the needle in very narrow lines
done
extremities
edging
in
silk or
were
fine
painted.
thread.
At times the features and
Sometimes
it
was
framed with an
of silk or gold thread, or leather, exactly like the leadings
of a stained-glass
window.
The
were shown by thin lines worked
body
features and outlines of the in
brown
silk.
The edge where I
;
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
58 the figure
sewn on the ground
is
The shading
cord.
is
covered with a
was sometimes put
of the figures
or gold
silk
with a
in
brush instead of needlework, while the small accessories were
all
'
embroidery.
The
-
faces, the flesh,
and the clothing were often done
in silk,
cut out, shaded, and the features indicated in colours with a
The
needlework.
invention of this beautiful and effective work
has been attributed to the Florentine is
said that he used
employed on one There
it
evidence that
it
was so employed, but there
it
was practised
It
is
other.
abundant
England nearly a century before
in
was very
It
used
effectively
in
the sixteenth
Beautiful arabesques, after the
century for wall hangings.
made
Botticelli.
show through on the
should not
side
the time of Botticelli.
that Raphael
Sandro
artist,
for banners, with the intent that the colours
no doubt that
is
little
manner
so popular, were cut out in velvet and silk and
brocade, and applied on rich grounds with every variety of stitch.
There are some notable examples
The term Opus designate this and
consiitum
of
So
was employed
work)
(cut
work wrought by
all
existence.
in
it still
itself
upon canvas, and
1295 we meet with the
sewn on
to another ground.
term
an inventory of the vestments belonging to
in
The
Cathedral. only
not
a
entry
of St.
Opus
Paul's," occur
pulvinariiiin
;
work
of the nature
inventory, which
this
a very interesting one, as
of the
description
methods employed, but In
is
early as
the
cut work,
period
the
of
and variety
may be found Opus
to
in
pliiuiariiini
Consiitum de
St.
gives us
it
and
of the
of the stitches.
Dugdale's ;
Paul's
"
History
Opus pectineum serico, or " deserico
consuto." Ingulph, speaking of the hangings of the Church of Croyland, in
describes
gold,
into
the
them as being ornamented with
and sewed on cut work stuff.
A
— others
bishop preaching
in
birds
with the
the fourth
wrought
birds
woven
century,
up-
MATERIALS FOR MEDI/EVAL EMBROIDERY.
59
braided his people for " arraying themselves like painted walls, with beasts and flowers
a more serious
over them, while others, pretending
all
dressed
tone,
the doings and w^onders
of all
with
clothes figured
in
These pictures
Lord."
of our
pictures
and were wrought
were necessarily on a small scale,
in
out-
embroidery,
and
line.
Opus Phrygium golden
work),
(gold
were just
outlines
gold
flat
and, later,
invented,
a thick raised
gold thread was used to imitate goldsmith's work, carvings, or
The
jewellery.
employed
The
the
of
by
obtained
age
this
in
artists
quantity
"
Thus we see
nursing golden
angels
nimbed
with
twist of
silk
babes,
in
another,
work.
are
of
often
They were
and crescents, and
A
great.
it
was
materials.
and golden
crowns,
was too
rich
taught him to use
Gold
for
his
generally
the
costly
was seldom used
in
a
wound round a small
in
of metal.
form of bugles, beads, pastes
imitation of jewels, with this golden
Spangles
tion.
was very
sometimes even cord or twine was used,
or flax,
Glass occurs also mosaics,
not
sparingly.
whipped over with a thread
for
stones
golden grounds, and gilded
on
Nothing
Art had
wire-drawn form,
solid
precious
costly
of
golden
with
gold."
and
wisely
splendour
abundance
an
kings
gilded
embroiderer's use.
and
gold,
barbaric
of
of
virgins
materials
silver,
day believed that rich effects could only be use
the
of
gold
or
met with cut into a rings,
silver in
sewn
in
examples
variety
rows,
of
of forms
and sometimes
this
and
[siiialti)
ornamentabeside
one
curious
old
sizes,
stars
solid pieces of gold.
curious custom prevailed of presenting the garments worn
by royalty on state occasions to cathedrals and churches.
A
whole set of Mass vestments at Windsor were made out of
the crimson and gold cloth powdered with birds, the bridal dress of
a royal princess.
Queen Philippa gave
to the
Bishop of Ely the 1
2
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
6o
gown she wore Prince.
It
powdered
her churching
at
described as being of
is
with
golden
three copes for the rich
as
squirrels,
rode
coronation
;
in
also a
state
gown
vestments were made.
"
birth
murrey
"
and so ample
To
choir use.
mantle of cloth of gold he
after the
St.
of
the
Black
coloured velvet, that
it
made
Alban's was given the
and velvet that Henry V. wore
through of green
London and gold
the
day before
velvet, out of
his
which
St.
Elizabeth of Hiingary Tapestry Panel of the Sixteenth Century.
CHAPTER
VIII.
DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. In the age of chivalry
all
domestic decorations began to assume
Carpets were spread over the rushes on the
greater refinement.
and walls were hung with embroidered hangings, and rude
floor,
The
benches and tables were covered with dainty needlework.
chancels of country parish churches used to be spread with rushes the introduction of carpets.
until
Mention
bequest by an abbot to his church at
woven with
cloths
made "
days of the Apostles."
all
made
at
Arras
until
to
fourteenth
the
walls of our
Tapestry was
century,
so
all
earlier
Wall painting
have been contemporaneous with tapestry, and hangings
wrought by the needle.
It
was the custom,
in
the absence of
needlework, to paint the walls with historical subjects.
we
of a
two large foot
The damp, bare
pictured hangings were the products of the needle.
seems
992
over with flowers,
English castles demanded some kind of hangings. not
in
be laid out before the high altar on
lions, to
great festivals, and two shorter ones trailed for the feast
is
Croyland of
find the
Bishop of Lichfield commanding the great
In
131
hall of his
episcopal palace to be painted with the coronation, marriages, wars,
and funeral
to this
custom
of his patron.
King Edward
of mural paintings
And
soth to faime
my chambre was
Ful well depainted
And
And
again
all
the wals with colours fine.
:
On
the wals old portraiture
Of horsemen, hawkis, and houndis.
I.
Chaucer
refers
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
62
The
subjects depicted by the brush were portrayed
less
skilful
manner by the
and
needle,
in
a more or
by the lovely pro-
later
ductions of the looms of Arras.
The designs and rude, as we
hangings were often unskilled
these early
of
see
Bayeux tapestry
the
in
from
but
;
descriptions preserved to us in ancient inventories and State
and
in
the rolls,
the pages of poets and historians, they must have been
very bold and spirited.
The Anglo-Norman
ladies,
dames
the Grecian
like
of
old,
were accustomed to embroider the exploits of their husbands and
kinsmen on the hangings
of their
Andromache, Homer
chambers. the
us, at
tells
moment
of distress apprised her of the death of Hector,
chamber a
was working
secret apartment
of
purple, which she
had ornamented with various
less during the
her high
found her chief consolation lord.
in
flowers.
walls,
in
Doubther lofty
mediaeval matron
the
representing the heroic deeds of her
There were few other amusements
could while away the long lonely hours, or
in
which she
which her talents
in
Apart from the exercise
could be employed.
the
in
cloth resplendent with
stormy days of the Crusades, shut up
chamber, within her gloomy castle
absent
that the cries
of
hawking,
it
was
probably her only recreation.
The women
the Middle
of
embroidered history.
Deeds
Ages may be of
chivalry
well said to
provided
have
them with
endless subjects, and the romances of the period, though they
sometimes chose more ambitious themes from the of
Greece and Rome.
subject skilful
;
the whole of
needlework
;
The Tale
of
the
we
Iliad,
classic histories
Troy was a very favourite are told,
was wrought
in
the story of Arthur and the Knights of the
Round Table, and their wondrous achievements, clothed the walls The subjects were of many a lady's bower with romantic history. generally explained by short lines, or mottoes in Provencal or old
DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY.
63
Often the hangings were decorated alone with metrical
French.
descriptions, called Proverbs.
In Jubinal's beautiful collection of
we see how general
ancient tapestries
names
explaining the subject, but often
and beneath the
figures,
this
custom was, not only
upon the
are embroidered
and across the towns and
buildings,
of
rivers
to identify them.
Domestic embroidery was, doubtless, factor
in
Young
the walls. in skilful
sure,
time an important
Moral and
the progress of civilisation.
we may be
at this
were taught by the
dumb
religious lessons,
pictures that clothed
noble families were trained
girls of
in
nunneries
embroidery, not only as an accomplishment, but a house-
There was so
hold duty.
little
and that so very
furniture,
bare, in
the Middle Ages, that needlework was the only refinement possible to
make a home
and benches, and chairs
and
chair in a room,
*
-
canopy
—gave
hangings thrown over tables
—-there
was generally only one
stood beneath an embroidered
often
the effect of splendour, which at a later time was its
sister arts.
formed the dining
table,
A
plain
was thrown a
coverlet,
rich
" bancaria
Cushions seem to have been
bareness.
and
earliest time,
in
all
(fauteuil),
remedy the want
we
of
find
" ;
in
curtain, this
The
and
this
and over
concealed
use from
old illuminated manuscripts
ornamented with embroidery. " faldestol "
board laid upon
and an ordinary bench or form
Behind the bench was suspended a
the seat.
buildings,
rich
state
of
this
supplied by carving and trestles,
The
beautiful.
seat of state
we
the
quite the find
them
was known as the
always had a rich covering.
accommodation
it
To
for seating visitors in ancient
a stone seat projecting from the wall, running
sometimes round the room, and divided by arches into compart-
ments
to
accommodate two
or
more persons
for
convenience of
conversation. In the
wardrobe accounts of Edward
II.
mention
is
made
of
an order given to a mercer of London, "for a green hanging of
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
64
wool woven with figures of kings and earls upon
it,
for the king's
service on solemn feast days in London."
"Tapestry verd
was the name given
"
to wall
hangings
of a
blue-green colour, representing woodland scenes, landscapes, and figures,
and animals, the chase being a very favourite subject.
Chaucer makes frequent mention
Wall hangings were not
of these.
There was no glass
only a luxury at this time, but a necessity.
used for windows, even by the wealthy,
When
the
window spaces were not
designed to be
shaved horn,
in
until
open, as they were really
left
Norman and
our old
parchment,
the fifteenth century.
early English architecture,
mica was used as a substitute
or
for
glass.
The in
very
mention of glass being used
first
a register of
any record were
The
1239. at
first
windows
glass
Hexham Abbey
England occurs
in
of
which we have
Northumberland
in
were made by some French workmen who brought the
They were
England.
so very
they could only be used
The
first
in
costly
art
several centuries
for
to
that
palaces and churches.
windows used
glass
these
;
in
England were so made that
they could be taken out of their frames, and carried about by their
owner when he travelled from one place houses the grooves
may
still
be seen
In ancient
to another.
the stonework
in
windows where the frames that contained the glass were
So
late
as
1573,
when the
Earl
of
general use
A
in
of their
Until the reign of Charles
I.
the
fitted in.
Northumberland
Alnwick Castle, the windows were taken out laid carefully by.
of
left
frames and
they were not
in
middle class houses.
fashion for rich stuffs for coverings for tables and benches
prevailed in the fourteenth century.
and devices
in
Velvet emblazoned with arms
heavy gold embroidery was extensively used. Above
the seat of honour, generally on a raised velvet, or
some
dais,
was a canopy
rich material elaborately embroidered.
of
liiulii
uideicd Canopy, provided by Ring's College un the occasion of
(Jueen Elizabeth's
Preserved
in
visit
to
the Arch;ÂŁological
Cambridge, 1564.
Museum, Cambridge.
DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY.
65
Tables were, from a quite early time, covered by a cloth of
some kind
these cloths were called carpets, or carpett, as
;
spelt in the old inventories, to distinguish
or floor covering.
The
resting on trestles
;
we
before the sixteenth "
carpett
"
used at
them from the
tables they covered were often find very few carved or
Mention
century.
Hampton Court on
mere planks
of a
still
in
State
the
room
of
crimson velvet embroidered with
beautiful
State occasions, which was
embroidered with pearls, and cost 50,000 crowns. chair
is
ornamental tables
made
is
it
" tapet,"
There
is
a
Hardwicke Hall covered with a silver tissue of
about the same
date.
At Cambridge the
canopy that was carried over the head
velvet
Elizabeth on the occasion of her 1564.
It
Museum,
preserved, in the Archaeological
is still
measures twelve
feet
King's College Chapel
visit to
by
Queen
of
and
five,
is
in
divided into four
equal parts by broad strips of red velvet embroidered with the
arms
of
Queen
Elizabeth,
greyhound and dragon. crowned, and rose with
five petals in
College, and
footmen who carried
it
cushions,
uncomfortable
or
France, supported
There are twelve other devices,
provided by King's
The
and
England,
over the
portcullis
two rows, crowned.
Queen
for the
sum
of
^3
quysshens, which were so necessary
days of stone seats and hard wooden
which was a favourite material.
Hall,
which
some
chairs
is
It
was
afterwards redeemed from the
hung with ancient
In the
tapestry,
6s. 8d.
in
those
benches,
were covered with rich embroidery, frequently of gold and velvet,
by
silver
on
Chapel of Hardwick are
still
to
be seen
and cushions covered with beautiful sixteenth century
needlework.
With the exception example
left of
rude, being the wall
of
the
Bayeux Tapestry, we have no
the earliest wall hangings
work
;
their designs
were often
of domestic artists unskilled in drawing.
hanging of King John's time
is
A
described as being painted
K
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
66 or
embroidered with the subject
Adam
the Fall.
of
repre-
is
sented as gathering apples from a tree that barely reaches up to his knee,
and beneath the
tree
is
a figure of an angel milking.
the figures are decently clothed in Anglo-Saxon costumes
All
even the angel wore breeches and an over
MS.
In a
The hangings coverlet,
froc.
No. 2278) are some
of the fifteenth century (Harl.,
chamber
interesting details of the arrangement of a
of the period.
bed are sumptuously embroidered, and the
of the
which matches, reaches
to the
ground.
The
attendance have embroidered robes, not very unlike those worn at the present day.
In another
same
representation of a coach of the
coverings supported by brass rods.
The MSS.
waggons. patterns
employed
in
Mass were enriched and banqueting
romances
;
of
period,
It
is
in
(Harl.)
fashion
we
find a
with embroidered
very like our covered
domestic and
church
The
embroidery.
altar during the
celebration of the
with figures and subjects, generally from the
while the hanging of the walls of
A monk
of the day.
chambers
subjects from
were embroidered with
halls
Adam, Noe, and
his
the
of Chester, in the fifteenth century,
hung with English needlework, with the
describes a large hall "
MS.
ladies in
period give minute details of the
of this
hangings that surrounded the
lives of the saints
:
shyppe
" ;
story
the twelve sons of Jacob and
the plagues of Egypt.
The hangings, we were sent forward by
their royal or noble
from one castle to another, and
very
it
owners when they travelled
was the
office of the
troublesome and costly arrangement
suggested the much simpler method of painting the early as the thirteenth century mural painting
the use of hangings. in
" secca
"
— that
walls, but
grooms
of
them properly hung.
the chambers to see
This
remain on the
are told, did not
is,
The
began
to
may have walls.
So
supersede
painting was not done in fresco, but
distemper.
The
walls
of castles,
manor
DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY. and even
houses,
manner
this
middle of
the
obliterated
remains
met with
churches.
in
and churches, were decorated
cathedrals
until
these
of
67
sixteenth
the
are
rooms with wood does not appear
Panelling
no
earlier
probably quite
rude
chamber a French
said
king's
chamber
a curtain
like
of
woodwork painted
instructions for his great
green colour,
examples
reliable
have been
to
we have
;
and
in
remaining.
it
It
was
Henry HI. gives
over.
Westminster
at
often
still
practised until the middle of the thirteenth century, and certainly
Half
century.
old wall paintings
in
to be painted a
the gable or frontispiece of the
inscription should be painted
and that the
;
wardrobe should be painted of a green colour to
little
imitate a curtain.
The
The
heraldry.
landscapes subjects often
chamber
pictures painted on
figures were ill-proportioned
The
perspective.
deficient in
were executed with greater
employed
There
workmen. royal
castle
is
an order
still in
Winchester
of
and clumsy, and the
and sacred
historical
foreign
skill,
to decorate the walls of
Henry HI. imported a Florentine
the
walls were a kind of religious
artists
churches and palaces.
artist
his native
to instruct
existence for his
to
being
chamber
be painted with
at
historical
pictures as before, thus indicating that the art of mural painting
had been practised first
king
at
some
who enriched
the
earlier period.
churches he
Henry
built with
III.
was the
painting and
sculpture.
There
is
attempts at
very
little
The
art.
originality
faces
or
skill
are without expression,
without proportion, and the draperies crude and until
the
reign
of
these
in
ill
first
rude
the limbs
managed.
Henry V. do we get any attempt
at
Not real
portraiture.
In the reign of
Henry VIII. the custom
of painting walls
with subjects from history and Scripture began to decline, and
it
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
68 is
very interesting to trace
led to the framing
The
how
of pictures,
was not a
transition
the discontinuance of this practice
and hanging them on the
walls.
came about
quite
violent
one.
It
naturally.
A
custom had sprung up
for
some time past
of representing
the stories that were pourtrayed on the walls in rows
some two
three feet in height, the subjects being divided by narrow styles
or " battens."
bottom
and
to
make
It
were the
country about
framed
in
to
add
wooden
styles top
and
frames were painted black
elaborate. Probably Holbein's
England.
and the fashion
1526,
from a few years
earliest
became more
pictures
first
The
a frame.
but soon they
gilt,
was only a step
or
He came
to
this
framing pictures dates
for
later.
Evelyn, writing
in
1669,
speaks of
"a good many
put into the wainscot of the Earl of Norwich's house
pictures
in
Epping
Forest, which Mr. Baker, his lordship's predecessor, brought from
Indeed, about this time the fashion extensively prevailed
Spain." of letting
pictures into
in
the
woodwork
to
form
of the
part
decoration of a room.
The very authenticated
earliest is
attempt
at
historical
portraiture
that
is
a panel painting representing Henry V. and his
family.
This was at one time the altar-piece of the church at
Shene.
It is
probable that a great
on panel of the seventeenth
fifteenth, sixteenth,
century
many
of the pictures painted
and during some part
were originally
let
into
the
of the
wainscot
or
panelling of rooms and churches.
The
earliest fashion of
wood
panelling that prevailed
was a
wainscot, or lining of the walls from the floor to the ceiling, or a
few feet of the cornice that usually went round the room.
The
panelling of the time of the Tudors usually reached up to within
two
feet of the ceiling.
A
fashion
was then introduced
of dividing the
wood work
Tapestry
ot the
Sixteenth Ceiitury.
;
DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY. into
two
The lower
parts.
and terminating
a
in
69
about three or four feet
part,
moulding more or
less
in
height,
ornamental.
Fre-
quently the upper part was covered with tapestry, as we often see in old pictures
of interiors.
Paintings were often
the panelling of the upper part
let into
and when the fashion prevailed
framing pictures
of
in
carved and
elaborate frames, the upper part entirely disappeared, and only the
name
lower wainscoting, which we dignify by the
This
remained.
board we see
gave place
time
its
narrow skirting
to the
our modern rooms.
curious to notice that the introduction of mirrors into
It is
England
in
in
a " dado,"
of
coeval with the picture frame.
is
fifteenth centuries mirrors of polished steel of very small
sions were in use.
They were framed
and
In the fourteenth
and
ivory
in
dimen-
and
silver,
were very costly. In
accounts
century an item occurs
fourteenth
the of
silver gilt."
Henry VIII.
the king
(Edward
There
an
is
entry
payment
of a
to a
I.)
of
in
the
in
the wardrobe
"a comb and
mirror
of
privy purse expenses of for "
Frenchman
certayne looking-
glasses."
After their introduction mirrors
became
in
a larger and
a very important item
frames being usually richlv carved and
The use of tapestry,
centuries. in
it
"
household furnishing, the
gilt.
of tapestry cloth, or painting
was also prevalent during the It
was used so extensively
were embodied into a London In the will of
of
in
more convenient form,
on canvas fifteenth
at this
in
imitation
and sixteenth
time that the workers
civic guild.
Lady Hastings, 1503,
there occurs a bequest
an old hangin of counterfeit Arras of KnoUys, which
hangeth
in
the hall, and
lynen painted as
At
Exeter
all
now hang Cathedral
in
now
such hangings of old baudekyn, or the chapel." in
the
beginning
of
the
sixteenth
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
70
century there were several pieces of " stayned cloth," representing
scenes from the
When of
lives of the saints.
painting on glass
came
into general use wall
The
richly painted
large traceried
windows and
embroidery or painted canvas disappeared.
glass supplied the want of colour
in
hangings
big bare rooms, and superseded the use of painting and embroidery for the walls.
CHAPTER
IX.
BED HANGINGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. In
Anglo-Norman
the
were
beds
century,
fourteenth
middle
the
until
excluded
not
from
the
of
day
the
Indeed, they served the double purpose of beds by
apartments.
During the day, indeed, they were
night and couches by day.
among
and
Period,
the richest ornaments of the
they were
sitting-room, as
usually covered with a richly embroidered coverlet.
Ladies of the Middle Ages pursued their occupations, and received their visitors
in
their
chambers, and the custom
is
often
romance
of
"La
alluded to in the romances of the day.
daughter of a
the
Violette,"
receiving her friends
and amice
in
cunning a
little
silk
in
burgher
chanson
a
toiled
In
entering
suddenly
the
occupied
in
is
described
as
seated,
her father's chamber, "working a stole
and gold, very
cross,
In the
skilfully,
and many a
star,
singing
another romance,
chamber
of
embroidering a piece of
the
and putting
"
it
with
the while a
all
A young
ladies,
in
bachelor,
finds
them
all
the ensigns of the
silk with
lord of the castle."
The hangings itself,
seem
chamber visitors,
early
in
to
of the
bedchamber, and especially
of the
bed
have been a subject of much importance, as the
those primitive
times was
and the bed usually served
the
place
for a seat.
Middle Ages, there were so few rooms
visitors slept in the
same room as the host and
for
receiving
Indeed, in
a
in
the
house, that
hostess.
Curtains
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
72 to
the
Indeed, " Under
beds were thus extensively used.
curtain" was a term synonymous to being "in bed."
the
The bed
coverings of this period appear to have been very rich, especially in
the case of Royalty and persons of rank.
counterpane worth a thousand marks.
Pair subjects
in
of
curious old
coloured
Bed
crewels
Stow speaks
The beds
of the period,
Curtains, coarse linen, embroidered with
(English,
l6th
Century),
in
of a
we
Scripture
the
possession of Lady
the
same way as
Brougham and Vaux.
learn from
Neckam, were covered much
in
at
the present time, except that the sheets were sometimes of white silk.
pointe,
The
coverlet
or
was composed
of
quilte
pointe,
courte pointe, or counter-
green say, a woollen material, though we
learn from old inventories that richer materials were used.
BED HANGINGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. In the " Lai del in
Desire" we are told
of a coilte (quilt)
checker wise of pieces of different sorts of rich
patchwork.
In the
Romance
"
of
The
being
latter are described as
among
was a
rich quylt
bedstead and
grene sendall,
of gold.
Upon
the Sarasyns.
^
%^::}
4^
^
m
vf
^--'t
ffV
'>tr
^
^^
^
%yV
on Coarse Linen.
earliest is in
woman from
sought refuge
account
Hebrides,
in this
it
it.
Especial mention
we
meet with
who had
country.
is
made
so curiously embroidered that
ever been seen.
give
II.
M
in
Coloured Crewels
of
embroidered
century.
suffered
She was so
of her
bed
Thorgunna, a
many
skilful
was supposed that she employed witchcraft
that
will
English, late Sixteenth Century.
a legend of the eleventh
the
This
v
Curtain embroidered with Detached Flowers and Birds
hangings
bed
'fr
t^-
>
The
this
The
wrought with coten, with crimson sendel, stitched
an idea of the bed draperies of the time of Edward
%
bedde there
this
with thredes of golde, and shetes of whyte sylke."
'
is
of "
embrowdred with ymages
four square pillowes wrought
— early
its
wyrouned with gold and azure, and round about laye carpettes of syllke
stuffs
made
Arthur of Lytel Brytayne"
a very curious description of a chamber with
hangings.
73
misfortunes,
in
needlework
in
producing
bed hangings, which were
men thought nothing
like
them had
Misfortunes seemed to have followed her here.
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
74
and she warned her friends when she died that the ownership hangings would
embroidered
the
always
bring
trouble
of
the
to
possessor, and she desired them to be burned. Inventories and ancient wills of the Middle
amount
large
A
embroidery.
information
of
relating
remarkable feature
very solemn and emphatic manner disposition
the faith in
in
where he desires
and family and
Among
these old documents
in
which the testator prefaces
is
his
of
spirit
of
the
his
humble Christian hope
heartfelt
After
piety.
the
testator proceeds to mention the church
faith the
recital of his
use of
in
expresses
and earnest
prevalent
by an acknowledgment
property
his
the Trinity, and
devout
a
of
the
to
Ages supply a
be burled, and his bequests to the church
to
friends.
testamentary
the
bequests
of
Edward
Black
the
Prince was a bed of red camora to his confessor, Sir Robert de
Walsham,
"
embroidered
the arms
with
Cheyne our bed
arms embroidered
our
with
camora,
of
Hereford.
of
II.),
ostrich feathers
my new
of silver,
bed
Thomas,
Earl of Kent,
of gold."
Edward, Earl
bed of black
satin
and escutcheons will of
bed of
my of
of their
embroidered with
of leopards
mouths.
of gold, with
To my
dear son
March,
in
1380, bequeaths "our large
embroidered with white lions and gold roses,
of the
the arms of Arundel and
arms
Mortimer and Ulster."
of
we meet
John,
Warren
Duke
of Lancaster,
of the house of Lancaster)
In the
with the bequest of
"a
with
hall,
quarterly, also a bed embroidered
bed of black velvet embroidered with a
badge
dear son, the
embroidery, and the hangings of the large
with griffins."
His
bed Camak, fraied with red and rays
the Earl of Arundel (1392) silk
my
will " to
of red velvet,
and heads
boughs and leaves issuing out
To Monsr. Alayne
powdered with blue eagles."
widow, the Fair Maid of Kent, gives by
King (Richard
each corner, also
at
;
bequeaths
"
my
large
circle of fetterlocks " (the
and the Duke
of
York
" a
bed
BED HANGINGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. of feathers
and leopards, also
compas."
Mention
is
made
my
in
green bed embroidered with a
other wills of the period of beds
embroidered with lions and butterflies of
"
a bed of gold
colours "
in
;
Lady Bergavenny's
swans with branches and flowers
and another
;
75
"
bed of
silk,
will
of divers
black and red, embroidered
with woodbined flowers of silver."
While the hangings
worked
in
richest
silk,
for the
bed
for the walls consisted
thick worsted, as
and
velvet,
we see
the
in
The
hangings and coverlets.
intended to adorn, but were done the
to
Bayeux
tapestry, the
and other costly materials were employed
the embroidery were never worked on the
attached
of coarse linen
principal portions
materials they
The edges where they were
general ground.
A
over, en guipure, with gold or silver tambour.
was generally employed
scrolls
coloured
coarse kind of
of silk cord twisted with gold
Ages, and quite naturally the or
first
white laces,
darned work, followed close upon
and subjects upon
much used cloths,
and
silks.
White embroidery was extensively practised drawn
cast
embroidered design, and the
for the
and sprays were formed
were
and then
separately on linen,
applied were bound over with a cord, which was afterwards
linen
of
and
in "
in
form of
the
Darning figures
it.
various stitches, was very
linen, or netting in
church work
the Middle
in
lectern or frontal veils, or
for
corporals" for the
altar, so early as the
Pyx
fourteenth
century.
Thread embroidery, sometimes under the distinctive name of
was made
in
called net work,
" filatorium."
England was very
like
The
embroidery.
examples consist of button-hole
stitch with purl
and cut work being a mixture
of
lace
was known
first
lace that
The
earliest
ornaments
and embroidery
:
lacis
stitches.
Lacis was a network on which a pattern was darned or worked.
Cut work was more elaborate, and partook more
of the character
L 2
—
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
76 of lace,
and was often worked on a frame
EngHsh
In the sixteenth century
time
in
making
still
in
existence
ladies spent a great deal of their
Many examples
and cut work.
lacis
of
are
this
form of altar cloths, bed hangings, and
the
in
geometric patterns.
in
coverlets embroidered.
with
quilts,
among
the treasured heirlooms of old families.
are wrought with
are
or small coverlets,
emblems
still
the Evangelists.
of
the
in
taken
full
figures
seem
to
quilt,
occur
J Coverlet, Coarse Linen, Embroidered in Coloured
Crewels.
English,
Sixteenth
Century.
In
the
rhvme
they
are
The
on
Evangelists
have been a very In a cra-
subject.
dated
161
they
2,
groundwork
a
the
of
style of
Renaissance, surrounded '
the
figures
commg
seen
quilt.
with flowing scroll work, and
Possession of Lady Heathcote Amory.
Sometimes
This
the
satin treated in
the
corner.
-sized
favourite dle
Evangelists,
four
of
an ac-
is
embroidered
quilt
each
in
a
is
Durham
of
1446 there
the
one
an inventory
In
count of a with
Often they
Priory
in
met
often to be
Cradle
in
at
the
COHlCrS
out of a flower.
conjunction
with
the
old
:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John the bed that I lie on.
Guard
When to
Catherine of Braganza, the wife of Charles
reside at
Hampton
Court,
we
came
her apartments were sumptuously
furnished even for that age of reckless extravagance.
looking-glass and toilet,"
II.,
are told,
"were
"
Her great
of beaten
massive
BED HANGINGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. gold, the gift gift
of
of
the
Queen Mother.
77
Her bed hangings, the
were of
silver
embroidery on
years later there was a beautiful bed at
Hampton Court
States
the
of
Holland,
crimson velvet.
Many worked floral
for
design
Queen in silk
stitchery that
Charlotte, on purple satin, with an elaborate
and crewels.
we can venture
English embroidery.
This
is,
perhaps, the latest
to include in our
bit of
examples of old
CHAPTER
X.
LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK.
The monuments
of the
Middle Ages are our best authorities
From
the embroideries of the period which they represent.
we can judge
It
impossible, indeed, to overrate the
is
importance of monumental evidence. they are
that
the period, and that
absolutely the
the
on
the
embroidery, as
in
with
the
is
same dress and
at
Worcester
in
the
same
had been modelled from
it
the dresses of
who
in
sleep in
the case of the Black Prince at
beneath,
tomb was opened
John's the
if
every reason to
as worn by the originals
surcoat that hangs above effigy
is
the case of effigies they are clothed
same costume
The
Winchester.
in
in
There
representations of
faithful
tomb beneath, notably
surcoat
these
the prevailing style, and the details are usually given
with great minuteness.
believe
for
it.
same as the accidents
of
When King
1797, he
was found
attitude as that portrayed on the recumbent
statue, even to the bright red colour of the silk
and the jewelled
border.
Richard
London or
II.,
citizens
embroidered
who was
the vainest of monarchs, sat to two
for
his
monument,
for
the
purpose.
diapered over with of plantagenesta (the
heraldic devices,
broom
in
a
dress specially
The cloak and the
woven
kirtle
are
broom pod and sprig
plant), the device of the Plantagenets,
along with a concJiaiit hart, chained and gazing straight forward,
and above
it
a
cloud,
with rays darting up
from behind, the
The
ClK'slcrliL'ld
Cope, crimson velvet
eiiibroidei ed
(English, 14th Century.)
in .i;old
,ind
needlework.
LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. cognizance of Edward
There
III.
79
a portrait of Richard
is
II.
preserved at Wilton House, the seat of the Earl of Pembroke, representing the king arrayed covers him entirely, diapered
artists
the careful
to of
old
on
the date of this picture
we have the
sculptures,
elaboration bestowed
the
all
most sumptuous cloak, which
large circles, inclosing stags in
in
gold, with a very rich border;
Thanks
a
in
minor details
fullest
and most
of
is
1377.
by the painstaking
and
pictures
their
reliable information of the
dresses and decorations affected by our ancestors.
At
English Embroidery, the dress of the people
this period of
had become so splendid and luxurious
Edward
III.
(1363),
it
by a
statute
or drapery enamelled
of
was enacted that none whose income was
marks a year should wear cloth
below four hundred
To
that,
of
gold,
aymelez^'' or embroidered.
avoid this Act counterfeits were made, and " senden unto
the fayres of Ely, Orrerford, and Salisbury, to the greet deseit of
our soverain Ld the
Kyng and
the Issue Rolls of
In
of the
illustrative
all
his peple."
Edward
(1335) occurs an entry
III.
use of Embroidery to adorn the dress of the
period.
June 28 of that year, we
In
find
an entry of a payment
for
two vests of green velvet embroidered with gold, one with sea sirens,
and one with the arms
another entry for a robe divers workmanship,
Philippa
Queen
The device have been
This
of the is
embroidered with
gold,
against the confinement of the
of
Lady
ornament with the king.
There
is
seems
to
a painting
Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, on the north
St.
altar representing
taken about 1355.
and
Hainault,
the arms of England on his person
of
supposed
velvet
England and
England.
a favourite
on the walls of side
of
made
of
of
to
Edward
III.
and
his
five
sons.
be a tolerably correct portrait of the King
The King's
surcoat
is
quartered with the arms
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
8o
England and France, with the
of
red
lions
embossed
gold on a
in
field.
among
It is
best picture of the mediaeval
find the
and
the illuminated manuscripts of this period that life
and dress
we
of the king
his people.
Beside sculpture and painting, and the patient and careful
work
of the illuminator, ancient brasses are of the highest possible
furnishing
as
interest,
changes
and
of civil, military,
The
brass
earliest
thirteenth century,
and
most satisfactory authority
the
known, with a figure
intact,
The knowledge
another argument for their careful preservation.
work they represent with such
most
thirteenth
the
it
So
is
certainly of the
little
by
fidelity is still in existence,
Ages, and
is
it
of this period
England during the Middle
in
we have
most beautiful work
All the
and
fourteenth
and fourteenth century may be considered the
period of the arts
brilliant
to us.
of
merits might be judged.
its
The
is
of these facts should
give a deeper interest to ancient monuments, and
which
the
samples seldom occur after the close
fine
of the seventeenth century.
old
of
ecclesiastical costume.
of the
centuries,
fifteenth
so few specimens preserved
Gothic type
before
Renaissance crept northward over Europe.
the
of the
is
the
of
spirit
Towards the end
of
the fifteenth century the Gothic styles, with the Scripture subjects
on beautiful golden grounds, were replaced by the more flowing Art had been gradually emancipated
designs of the Renaissance.
from traditional ecclesiastical forms and symbolism, and naturally,
when
set
free
from
long restraint,
the opposite direction, and became
extravagance
in
unorthodox.
Ecclesiastical art, indeed,
in
England In
initial
at
quite
out
into
at
once
all
came suddenly
to
an end
the Reformation.
an illuminated manuscript letter
broke
it,
of the original
in
the Cottonian Library,
in
the
grant of the conquered provinces of
LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. France, King Edward
is
represented as presenting the document
to his son the
Black Prince.
real portraits,
there
is
The hkenesses being
no doubt the representations
The
are equally exact.
8l
figures are
drawn
in
silver
of the dresses
armour, except
The jupons
the joints of the knees and elbows, which are gold.
over the
England
armour are splendidly embroidered with the arms in
MS.
an archbishop is
blue with
white
;
in
his
century we have a fine picture of
vestments before the
are black,
the altar-piece
blue and gold squares. is
(13th Century.)
His outer robe
altar.
a red cross and lining; the bottom, being linen,
ornamented with gold
he
Saracenic Aumoniere.
of the fourteenth
his sleeves
front of
of
the appropriate colours.
Silver Braid Embroidery.
In a
each case
in
is
blue
flowers, In a
and the cap on ;
the
his
curtains
head
are
and the background
is
The
red.
green,
both
composed
contemporary MS. of John
of
is
of
Gaunt,
represented wearing a blue robe with an embroidered border.
M
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
82
Blue and red were then, as now, the Royal colours of England.
much worn
dresses were
Parti-coloured
much inveighed
against by Chaucer
"
the
in
and were
at this period,
Parson's Tale."
There are many manuscripts containing illuminations representing scenes
in
illumination in
a large
his coronation
gold
with gold flowers with white spots
The
with gold.
life
MS.
;
;
ermine
left
the Earl of Derby
in
is
white with a gold robe
in
a blue tunic embroidered
bishop on the right hand
is in
white, with
In another illumination in the
the coronation
both the bishops are
;
The young King's robe
old.
The Queen's garment
Bohemia.
an
is
Westminster Abbey representing
at
the abbot on the
representing
scene
a
There
II.
underdress of pink, elaborately embroidered
robe with gold flowers. is
King Richard
of
when eleven years
beautiful
his
;
the
is
a blue
same MS.
Anne
of his queen,
blue, the robe gold, lined with
white edged with gold.
in
of
Their
robes are pink, embroidered with red flowers, edged with gold.
Richard
In a later manuscript of
the throne
nobleman gold
at the right
hand
in
is
great length
;
The shoes of a monk carries
lamb embroidered
Museum, containing Richard
II.,
is
this
embroidered
;
in
Museum
blue,
;
the
over with
and the other
are represented as being of cross,
and
Library at the British
the Harleian
the history of the latter part of the reign of
a representation
the dark
MS.
in
all
a white flag with a red
showy and most luxurious dress gold
British
gold.
in
From another MS.
in
red,
one leg decorated with the garter
;
the
represented covered with the arms of England
is
leg in white.
the
II. in
part
of the
of a knight of the period
of rich red
sleeve
is
in
a
material embroidered
blue and the light part
white.
When seem
to
luxury.
the
knights of
have worn
dress
this
of
period were not
in
armour they
more than Asiatic softness and
LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK.
from the same manuscript represents
Another illumination the
knighting of
Henry, son of
King's garment and
The
ostrich
the
arms
of
England
of
his
feather
of
— red with
blazoned
on
The
Lancaster.
horse are red, se/nes all
The background
the badges of the sovereign.
whether of needlework or not
Duke
the
the trappings
with ostrich feathers.
83
gold,
was one
of
very elaborate,
is
gold stripes and flowers
;
a banner described as the
leopards.
Royal arms of Edward "I-, adopted used till about 1405.
From
the
tomb of Edward
in
J340 and
(^^y^,
III.
Old writers frequently allude
to
^
^orne by Henry IV. after about 1403. and down to 1603. by successive soveri;igns o j.
the leopards
some heralds
;
suggest that the lions passant regardant, as represented
arms
of
England,
were termed
being always represented
During the wars
full
of the
" luvis
face,
Roses the
art of
and, indeed, has never since recovered
obtained
in
its
Anglo-Saxon and
continental work.
and showed
m
in
profile.
embroidery languished,
the
precedence
Plantagenet
design or execution.
had
it
days above
With a few notable exceptions
little skill
quite disappeared
lion in
the
leopard
leopardes," the
and the
in
it
all
was coarse,
The Gothic
style
the beginning of the sixteenth century, and
M
2
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
OL13
gave place
new
the
to
style
most remarkable examples
of
Perhaps the
the Renaissance.
of
new
this
upon old forms
influence
were called forth by the tournament of the Field of the of
Cloth
Here the greatest ingenuity was displayed, and the
Gold.
embroiderer's
tested to the utmost to adorn the dresses and
skill
A
the banners and the tent coverings used on this occasion. different dress
sumptuous
most
the
was worn each day
which covered a space
of
328
of the tent
feet,
embroidered
mottoes and
with
fashion
The hangings
heraldic devices.
of the tourney,
ciphers,
in
and
where the kings met,
were splendidly embroidered
with gold and incrusted with pearls and precious stones.
Henry VHI.'s
foreign wives
upon the needlework
exercised
a marked
influence
Catherine of Aragon introduced
of the age.
the Spanish style of black and white silk and gold embroidery on fine linen, in
and her daughter. Queen Mary, who was also Spanish
same kind
her taste, practised the
She
black and gold.
is
reputed to have finished the beautiful
and elaborate tapestry begun by lowliness and seclusion.
time
is
still
Anne
A
costumes
mother
in
her
days of
counterpane worked by her at
of Cleves introduced the
of this
may
great worker, and
She
be seen
in
this
or cushion
designs,
stitch.
An
the Renaissance borders in the
by Holbein.
many examples certainly
German Renaissance
pnlviiiariiini,
of the old portraits
in existence.
her
existence.
in
and revived the old opus example
of lace stitchery, chiefly in
Queen Elizabeth was a
of her skill
encouraged the
and patience are art,
and her
still
portraits
represent her as having her costumes entirely covered with the
most elaborate needlework, flowers,
fruit,
the most beautiful workmanship.
all
in
ol
embroidered
cousin,
trifles
Mary Queen
among
of Scots,
her
and symbolical designs,
She made many presents
favourites.
Her unfortunate
was a beautiful worker, and during
her long imprisonments iMnbroidered a set of hangings for the
LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. bare walls of her
remember little gifts
chill
prison chamber.
that she sought of her
very touching to
is
her kinswoman's heart by
soften
to
It
own work.
The Embroiderers' Company was incorporated Elizabeth (1561). as,
the reign of
must have enjoyed considerable prosperity,
It
It
is
in
still
London
existence as a
guild,
and
its
hall
Gutter-lane.
in
A
very curious history
The
chasuble.
old
is
attached to a vestment, probably a
mother
Countess of Salisbury,
Henry
Pole,
was beheaded by her kinsman
of 70,
on the evidence of an embroidered vestment.
The
m
in
beside the wardens and keepers, the livery consisted of 115
members. is
85
Cardinal
of
VIII.,
the age
at
only evidence against her was a white silk chasuble found
her wardrobe, embroidered in front with the arms of England,
surrounded with a wreath of pansies and marigolds, and on the
back the representation Lord, and the
The
name
"
of the
Jesus"
in
Host with the
five
wounds
of
our
the midst.
peers considered this a treasonable ensign, and on this
evidence she was attainted of high treason, and beheadfcd without the privilege of being heard
in
her
own
defence.
It
has been
suggested that the armorial shields embroidered on old
garments have a value not only recall
the
more than ordinary
of
great
names
of
interest:
but
history,
may
liturgical
"They serve to
unravel an
entangled point before a law tribunal, or furnish the
lost link in
a broken pedigree."
Philip Stubbs, in his "
Anatomy
of
Abuses
" at
the close of
the sixteenth century, speaks of the great ruffs worn in at that period,
which he
tells
us were
lawne, and the finest cloth that
made
of
"
England
cambric, holland,
can be got anywhere for money
were not good enough, they had them
wrought over with
silk
work, and peradventure laced with gold and silver."
Then,
speaking of
the
costly
hose
or
breeches
worn
m
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
86 England, he says divers
fashions,
" :
so
Then they have hosen, which are
they
of sundrie
names
:
as they be of the
Venetian
hosen reach beneath the knees to the gartering place of the then
they
are
tied
finely
with rows
or
gardes.
they
be
made
that
with
And of
silk
silken
yet
velvet,
Purse, Embroidered with
precious
stuffs,
this
tlie
and
points
not
is
satin,
laid
sufficient
leg,
on also except
damask, and other
Tudor Rose.
besides they have also boot-hose which are to
be wondered at."
The shoes throughout a very important and his
lady.
the whole of the
costly
part
of
the
Middle Ages were
dress of a knight or
LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. The
Henry
effigy of
the splendour of
They
shoes.
its
Westminster
at
III.
is
87
remarkable
for
are diapered with golden inter-
lacements, each square containing the figure of a
lion.
Cardinal Wolsey's shoes were sumptuously embroidered with gold.
Walter Raleigh went to Court
Sir
jewels in value
shoes
in
covered with
ÂŁ6000.
The well-known
Queen
story of
Elizabeth and Raleigh at Greenwich
may
probably have arisen on account
the
of
and
beautiful
shoes
costly
by the Queen on
which were worn this occasion.
Some specimens of
embroidery
of
extreme and unique interest were
exhibited in
"The Tudor
Among them was
Tudor
with
the
purse
has
worked
band,
in
round
maketh mirth when
it
empty." flowers,
all
top
a
pale
"
Money
plenty, but
is
when the purse
the mirth It is
the
on
letters
motto,
is
This
rose.
yellow ground, the
small
embroi-
a purse
dered
black
Exhibition."
is
ornamented with three
worked
in
tapestry stitch.
Embroidered Dress, worn by Queen Catherine Parr.
The
centre one, a rose,
of pink, with
rim of
in
is
shades
a centre of gold
black, the
of the leaves there
leaves is
a
braid, all
edged with a narrow
and stalks pale yellow
little
green near the centre.
flowers are pale yellow, with black veinings, petals are purple, in
and the centres gold braid
;
in
the case
The two
side
the turnovers of the ;
the two lower petals
each of these flowers are purple, with pale yellow turnovers.
88
The
ENGLISH EMBROinERY.
OI,D
issuing
leaves
dark green.
case
from
the
sides
The two
the flowers are
of
pieces
flowers
of
at the
in
every
top are
purple and pale yellow, the cords and tassels pale yellow, with a strand of darker colour running throughout, the tassels matching,
and the loops
work
is
at the
worked
in
silver thread.
Another interesting example
Queen Catherine stripes
of
buff
The
Parr.
and
colour,
stitch.
bunch
pansies
of
The of
bars
three
and
material
along
leaves
between next
leaves
part
is
to
left
it,
Among cap It
the relics of
— a white
is
satin
cap
divided by rows of
white
is
a
with
repeating
Ashbridge.
at
in
minute
very
made
are
worn by
cambric,
stripes
of
the
of
band sewn down
in
Queen Elizabeth
is
left
dress
a
pansy group, and
band sewn down, and the borderings similar but larger silver
is
worked
each
of
the
Satin Embroidered Skull Cap,
pattern
The ground-
bottom are of gold thread.
a
plain
stripes
the
the
are
chain little
silver
of a
same way.
an embroidered
skull
with other things by her at Ashbridge.
silver
braid
into six
compartments, of
—
LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. which only three can be seen the right silk,
shades
green, and the
edged with a the
namely,
with
is
round
it,
the
marked
of the flowers
panel
is
whole being
the flowers
similar in in
this
pale green, edged
an entirely different manner
somewhat
spiral
used
The made of
ruffle
satin,
manner
case being
in
the
worn richly
and
same way.
the
in
cumbersome
of
as
silver
twist
gimp twisted
one thread.
represents a sort of tree, in dark green, bearing red left
yellow
in
of
Elizabeth's Coronation Ruffle.
which has a
silk,
in
and
thick
a
being
worked
Queen
coloured
and the petals
leaves
the
panel
centre
worked
brown, the whole design
stalks pale
thin silver braid,
chief veins of
The
flower,
panel on
and red centre, the leaves being of various
a yellow
of
The
the illustration.
ornamented with a large
is
with
in
89
of treatment to that in
The design fruits. The on the
right,
shades of blue and the leaves
same way with a narrow
by Queen
loosely
Elizabeth
embroidered with
at
silver braid.
her
pearls
coronation
is
and gold and
N
go
oil)
silver thread, the
of a pelican.
silver thread or braid, little
KM BROIDERY
panels having alternately an arabesque design
and one apparently
corners are
I'.NGIJSH
At the
wrist
a broad band of
is
dotted with oblong spangles, and
sprays like heron's feathers, worked
A
silk.
Queen
of exceptional inte-
is
Among
work
of
white
in
purse worked by
Elizabeth rest.
various
in
the
many
pieces
to
Queen
credited
Elizabeth,
particular
notice should be taken of
this
work
of a very excel-
is
The body
lent quality.
of the purse
knitted,
is
blue silk
and the two ends are
worked with
a
is
and
gold
The
thread.
purse
the
as
purse,
silver
lower end of the pattern
of
silver
bars with gold interstices, and at
the
points
square worked
bound ous
little
The purse
in
the tassel,
;
each of
its
strands
end with a
at the
a
blue silk in
in
buttonhole stitch of silk, has
junction
of
curi-
of silver thread.
tie
beautiful
our
embroidered
was
illustration
Purse worked by Out-en Elizabeth.
presented by Queen Elizabeth to
one of
satin,
very
feather
besques.
her Maids delicatelv
stitch,
of
Honour.
and
effectively
with a design
The two upper
The purse
of
is
made
embroidered,
conventional
circular flowers are
of white
chiefly
flowers
shaded
in
and arain
pink,
LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK.
91
The two nearer The two flowers in
the darkest colour being outermost. the
are yellow in
same manner.
the centre the lower
corners have the two upper petals pink, and the three lower ones blue,
also
Embroidered Purse, presented by Queen Elizabeth
and stalks throughout are green being darkest in
green.
purse are
The
shaded darker towards the outer edges.
(3f in
;
in
to one of her
the
Maids
case
of
of
leaves
Honour.
the
leaves
towards the outer edges, and having also veins the
other flowers, two
in
the
upper half of the
shades of blue, and the two large irregular blossoms
N
3
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
92 in
the
lower
half
are
worked
French knots, partly with colour generally Purl
dark,
purl,
with
a mixture
in
and partly
and brighter
in
the
colours.
the scrolls that occur here and
in
and the cords are twisted strands
there,
feather stitch,
in
spots of red
and gimp are also used
ways, partly
of
blue
silk,
The
purse
pale red, white, and
of
with
tassels
a
in
is
match.
to
beautiful
state
of preservation.
A
slipper
Berain, ward
and wife worked
is
P^lizabeth,
centre
tulip
graduated
stitch,
is
styles
different
The
satin.
feather
in
de
Richard Clough,
several
in
on white
Queen
of
Sir
of
Catherine
of
in
various shades of blue, from almost
deep colour, the whole
white
to a
being
edged with a twisted gold
wire.
The
loops
purl
centre circlet, which
made
is
the
Inside
thick twisted gold cord,
with a
edged with
a finer one, are alternately red and blue.
The
also
tulips,
and
stitch, at the
sides
tom
graduated
are
of
green
pink, with
two lower roses,
at the bot-
shades
calices all
feather
in
;
of
and the
worked
in
purl,
Slipper of Catherine de Berain.
are
The
four similar roses on
blue,
darkest
at
their
edges.
the upper part of the slipper are in
shades of red, with pale green centres.
The
birds
are
brown,
with red wings, having a touch of blue at the point nearest the
head
band
and the feather
;
is
shaded
in
pink,
stitch
flower
in
the
and has a green
centre of calyx.
The
the top
clouds
LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. are blue
silk,
the birds
is
sewn over with gold threads, and the ground under green
silk,
sewn over with gold threads, and
also
that at the extreme toe of the slipper silk.
rc^d
The
work
entire
gold braid has gone
below
There
it.
93
is
in
in
is
places
also a
fair
lining
is
condition, though the thick
— doubtless
good deal
The
brown.
is
saving the finer work
of gold
guimp used
in
the
various scrolls about the design.
Among
the
other
interesting
specimens of Tudor work tiful
is
a beau-
gauntlet of the time of Elizabeth,
embroidered with of gold
strips
rich
on,
laid
The
and spangles. very
gold
and
thread,
gold
flat
guimp,
edging, which
effective,
is
is
worked
entirely in gold thread.
Elizabethan Chatelaine Beadvvork.
Gauntlet (Temp. Elizabeth).
in
Also an Elizabethan chatelaine portion
of
the
chatelaine
is
in
in
the
The upper
bead work. shape
of
a
truncated
pyramid, a lady with a dog and a bird being embroidered on it
in
coloured beads
;
from
this
depend
five
pendants of bead
work, the centre one being the largest, and having as
its
end a
metal attachment with a ring, the ends of the other four being
OLD ENGIJSH RMRROfDRRY.
94
finished with small yellow bead circlets.
whole
is
dress
is
The groundwork
of a pale yellow, with brighter yellow edges.
The
of the
lady's
red and blue, and the large centre flower yellow, with
blue buds and green leaves
and
stalks.
Cap, embroidered with coloured sWks in " point " lace stitches, and gold wire and spangles. (English, l6th Century.)
Book
of
Common
Prayer, belonging to
Her Majesty
the Queen.
(See page in.)
CHAPTER
ON IHK STUMP.
ExMBROlIJliRV
By
far the
well-preserved examples
and seventeenth to
it
into
extensively.
it
of
The nuns
of
Little
England, or
at
any rate
in
Opus Anglicaiiuin
relief
was a
have prac-
to
the
Italian
and
distinct suggestion of
given to the figures was obtained by padding the
stamp, or stump, thus throwing out
above the grounding.
Henry
Gidding were said
remoter ancestors.
of our
raised portions with cotton wool or hair,
of
sixteenth
given to the figures
the relief
certain parts of the composition there
The
the
ol
The motive was copied from
cinque-cento work, and
the beautiful
have perfect and
which we
"Stump Work"
the
is
centuries.
have introduced
tised
work
most curious
XI.
and embroidering on the
the figures a good height
In ecclesiastical work,
in
VIII.'s reign, great splendour of effect
the simple process of stuffing the parts of the
the early years
was obtained by
canopies with wool
make them stand out in high relief. The canopy details mark the date, and are worthy of careful examination. A
so as to often
very frequent device at this period
was the rut Hans used on his
The
rosa, the
favourite
" rose nobles."
figures
(first
half sixteenth
badge
of
Edward
IV.,
as
'
•
and ornaments were worked on
stretched on a small frame
century)
;
linen
tightly
when completed they were backed
with paper to prevent the edges fraying, and sewn on {appligiie) to
the
ground.
Sometimes
the
figures
consisted
of
several
— OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
96 thicknesses
of
ground being worked with
the
linen,
silk,
and
the figures applique^ thus gaining greater richness of effect by the
A
added thickness.
by the
the
in
tive
details.
thin
ribbon
spangles,
diapers
The
silver
greater
they caught the
ecclesiastical
a purely
round
gilt
of
of
this
These being often
slightly
bits
by the way
style
an
in
work took
ceased to be of
it
subjects were
extraordinary
A
contemporary events.
served as a background
which
in
the metal.
of
raised
of
Scripture
character.
a
The
thread.
shaped
but
Reformation, when
personages and
the period often
silk
twisting
of
effect
employed, but they were mixed up historical
a
round,
of gold.
richness
place later on, after the
for the gold
by
and concealed the thinness
light
development
further
used was made
always
not
metal sewn on, were usually
A
was obtained
effect
backgrounds and other decora-
thread
or
which were
the
of
gold
gold
of
rounded, gave
variety of
arrangement of the stitches used
different
threads
great
for
still
way
building of
such subjects as
King Solomon and the Queen
of
Sheba, Esther
and Ahasuerus, and the figures were clothed
in
the prevailing
the meeting of
fashion,
and wore ornaments
ing grouping in this
of
new work
subjects,
of seed pearls.
The most
and the strangest conceits prevailed
followed so closely upon
that
astonish-
the old Gothic
conventional style that went out, quite out, at the Reformation.
There was a and
saintly
superstition.
but to the
then
old in
avoidance of
distinct
legends
—
of
is
everything
emblems
ecclesiastical
connected
with
the
old
Characters from Scripture history were introduced,
make everything
quite safe,
and
to disconnect
them with
associations, they were carefully habited in the costume
vogue
— the
very latest
amid modern surroundings. tent
all
fashions,
indeed
— and
placed
Thus, Jael inviting Sisera into her
clothed in a rich dress of netted work, opening
in
front
revealing an underskirt, while her sleeves and ruffles are worked
EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP. in
needle point lace stitches
draperies of the figures and the curtains
generally
are
(there
seed pearl ornaments on her hair
;
Sisera also wears pearls at his side.
and bosom.
The
97
tents
these
in
designs)
of the tents
are
twisted
of
coloured silks worked over canvas, both sides alike, or of netted
and are quite separate from the foundation, and allow the
silk,
The
figure or the interior of the tent to be seen under.
are
cotton
with
stuffed
and
wool,
raised
in
high
figures
and
relief,
dressed, and the uncovered parts embroidered over the padding.
The
faces and hands are worked
the hair and wigs
satin,
business of the hair
in
stitch
or painted on
complicated knotting or
done with
is
satin
in
little
The
purl.
locks of auburn-coloured
silk.
Often
abound
allegories
white
and
gold
of
Sometimes narrow silks
were
subjects
and
chosen,
they were generally worked or applique on a
;
ground, and
satin
borders
Arcadian
or
historical
framed as medallions, with
silver
strips
were used, and
of
gimps
wire
parchment
fastened on
raised
covered
elaborate
high
in
relief.
coloured
with
loops alternating with the
in
loops of gold-twisted wire, thus forming a most effective frame.
The
foliage of the trees
fully
managed
sions
—
lions,
caterpillars,
figures
of
moss were very
with an elaborate arrangement of knotted
The borders Every variety
and the banks
of
this
quaint
animal and
of
leopards, snails
—
all
work were very
insect
of
stags,
squirrels,
occur
in
and great conventional
quite hares,
skil-
silk.
characteristic.
capricious dimenbirds,
butterflies,
heterogeneous confusion, amid flowers,
all
raised
more
or less
from the surface.
The
various raised details of the insects,
butterflies,
the
separately and stitch,
outlined
leaves applied.
and petals
They
of
the
are worked
the wings of the
flowers in
were
made
needle-point lace
with wire to give them the rt-quired
form,
O
and
;
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
98 are
disengaged from
quite
ground.
the
ingenuity were exercised upon the curious work, and
minutest details of this very
crudeness
the
designs
the
of
especially fitted
figures
toilet
glasses.
a well-known example, and the
is
of the
decorative uses as frames of
book covers, caskets, and
mirrors,
mirror
such
for
it
atoned for
is
The boldness
by the extreme beauty of the technique. style
and
trouble
Infinite
effect
Nell
Gwynn's padded
the
of
heightened by such accessories as moulded wax and
is
Several book covers of this work are preserved as having
beads.
been Royal white
There
embroidery.
were
they
and
subjects in gold
done
in
are usually of
very
embroidered
bold
way
a folio Bible covered in this
is
Sometimes
House.
They
favourite.
arms
Royal
the
with
satin,
some Court
to
gifts
at
raised
Ham
emblematic
with
the ornaments of the figures being
silver,
seed pearls.
The
example
best
of this quaint old work, the only example,
any
indeed, that can claim this
was presented by Charles
The ground
rays,
The whole
Goliath.
the
Durham cope
Chapter
of
Upon
and borne up by wings.
David holding
represented
to
I.
the
is
Durham.
of red silk, sprinkled with bodiless angels' heads,
is
crowned with
merit,
artistic
in
the
of
the hood
hand the severed head
one
work
is
done
in
highly
is
of
raised
embroidery.
A is
workbox
an excellent example
illustrations of
we
the possession
in
description "
The
Schreiber
appeared
it
are allowed
of
this very
the
in
reproduce,
to
accompanying
of
Lady Charlotte Schreiber curious old work.
Queen
with
the
of Feb. careful
7,
Some
1891, which
and interesting
it.
very handsome workbox belonging to Lady Charlotte is
just
over-elaboration,
saved for
production, namely,
from
almost
being extreme
in
the
immediately after the
1677, the raised figures
matter of date
became mere
of
its
dolls,
EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP. and
all
and regard
taste
99
beauty of design were
for
lost
endeavour to make the actual workmanship exaggerated
in
the
every
in
possible way. " in
Even here the faces and hands
wood and worked over with long and
shoes,
and gentlemen are
the
at
of
all
necks and waists of the
real
a few eccentricities of this
and
and
work
kind, the
The
good and
use of purl of
in
delicate,
many
the box,
of the
varied
is
effective.
"The box
remarkable
is
having one or more figures on
for
every panel, as they must have been cute
is
houses at each end
the
in
ladies
little
But, with the exception of
braid.
and the designs most quaint. flowers,
King's curtains
stitches, the
bows, loops, and strings on the
are real lace, and the various sleeves,
figures are carved
of the
and
;
it
is
most troublesome
to exe-
name
worker
also very noteworthy that the
— 'Ann
Greenhill,
front of
one of the drawers
March the
and the divisions and
1677'
21,
inside.
It
drawers are
—
is
all
is
of the
embroidered on the
fitted
up as a workbox,
worked over with
silk
threads kept very long.
"The to
show what they
originally were
by time and wear.
The
much
colours generally are
In the
;
faded, but
enough
is
left
and several parts are damaged
drawings these defects are supplied. is
edged with a broad border
of tortoiseshell, the rich colouring of
which forms a most effective
entire
frame "
for the delicate
The
and
box, top
greater
stitch, generally
handiwork
part
in
"
within.
the
of
work
is
in
buttonhole
or
lace
applied over a thickly-padded groundwork, but
sometimes used alone, as and
sides,
in
the
petals of the
rose on the
lid,
the tulip, carnation, and butterfly on the front.
The
front
and gentleman.
opens with two doors, adorned with a
The
dered with a flower
in
little
lady
lady wears a bodice of white satin embroiblue and green, a pink skirt and sleeves,
O
2
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
lOO
and blue
Blue bows of narrow braid are at her neck,
petticoat.
on the sleeves and shoes, and
openwork
On
collar.
and yellow
white
yellow
with
a
braid
bows on
and a
his
The
shoes
tree are on the
and white.
and a
butterfly,
and she has a white
hair,
same panel
the
edge.
her
in
are a white
The
tree.
gentleman
carnation, a
cushion
is
blue
wears white with
pink
a yellow and white tulip, a brown stag,
;
same
The mat,
panel.
Along the top there
or carpet,
is
a blue bird, a brown rabbit,
is
and a green parrot with red wings, and various leaves and
"The and
and white a
'
supported by two
silk,
cornice
green,
of
'
bearing a design
in
The
lace.
over with yellow
silk,
hung with
is
striped yellow
of
and having curtains and
yellow
The back
coiichaiit.
canopy
a
pillars,
and
pink,
the alcove are white, worked
by two lions
and white
knee and
in
a white curtain,
also crowned, in
worked
the collar white lace.
yellow
in
their
at
in
"
is
in
of
probably
The bows
is
satin
dress, embroi-
leaves,
she has loops
her neck, and on her sleeves
;
her
open ovals with a yellow edge, and
The page has
a blue coat
of
trimmed with
the rose and the thistle
proper colours, except that the rose seems
blue and grey
The back
and
flowers
have been white with a red edge
castle
his
;
The Queen
dark green.
feet
The Royal emblems
braid.
are worked to
his
feather stitch with
white,
is
feathers,
a pale brown.
is
and wears an elaborate white
and bows of pink braid train
with
collar
his
the white shoes are green and white braid,
and the cushion between
dered
lined
is
ermine, and his dress
representing at his
cloak
of
The king wears
colours of fleur-de-lis.
striped
steps
and flanked
crown and a large wig, white lace bands and deep red
II.
Braganza, with a page supporting
The King stands under
her train.
flowers.
has a design apparently representing King Charles
lid
queen, Catherine of
his
black
the
silk,
;
but this
may
be faded.
The
with a blue door.
box has
in
the
lower panel a fountain
EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP.
lOl
with two basins, the upper one pale yellow, the lower one coloured
The
purl.
column
centre
white lace, the top white
is
yellow
and
blue
satin,
On
silk.
bows, on the
blue
left
his
wrist,
a lady
is
in
black
white petticoat spotted with in
stitch.
The
lions'
in
wavy
;
at
his
a blue
French knots, with a
in
and on the opposite panel
a
and lace
in
neck and shoulder striped
dress,
and
she has pale pink ribbons
Next
brown monkey
her
to
at
base,
its
On
is
the top
thistle
at
either
end worked
in
many-
the centre a group of strawberries in purl
in
stitch.
"The
side
pale
green
panel to the right has a lady dressed
bows,
holding a flower
in
accompanied by a brown dog, with a yellow worked
all
sportsman
side another in coloured purl.
and
butterfly
coloured purl, and
with
blue
a spirited design of a white greyhound chasing a brown
is
rabbit,
little
of
lines
a
is
her hair, at her neck, and on her sleeves.
a tree
is
open
the right of the fountain
hawk on
grey, with a blue
with
lace
in
heads are yellow, and the water worked
and white
covered
purl
in
different
of
colours,
her
white,
in
hand
;
she
is
The house
collar.
and the oak
tree, of
natural colours, in purl lace stitch, and a thin metal
thread for
the stem
stitch
the large pink
;
purl.
The
floral
design
chenille
caterpillar in
purl,
is
flower
is
worked
coloured
all
and a brown
At the top
purl.
squirrel
braid
on the bodice, sleeves, waist, and neck
of
which
is
panel opposite shows a lady colours,
The
stitch, at
wearing a white
uncommon
many coloured
knots.
is
a
tail.
dress
lady,
and
the centre, with a
in
The side of many
"
lace
in
purl,
in
work
this
and the oak tree
top panel has
in
one end a snail and
them sprays
of
the at
a very elaborate
in
petticoat, with ;
she
kind. is
made
is
yellow
an
old
The house with
centre a grey rabbit
is
French in
lace
the other a bee, and between
of flowers, all in coloured purl.
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
I02
"The box
13^ inches long by
is
inches broad, and the
11
depth 7^ inches."
Seed pearls and needlework at
ing to Charles
General
German
Queen
the specimens of
We
work.
are
all
familiar with
Elizabeth's bead work.
A
purse belong-
worked with beads, was
I.,
F^lphinstone.
into
natural colours as effectively as in
their
in
the later cross stitch
extensively
coloured beads, representing birds, animals,
in
and insects
flowers,
introduced
Indeed, frames of mirrors and pictures
this time.
were worked entirely
were
beads
It
is
GUIFT OF A FRIEND.
inscribed
possession of
the
in
capital
in
"
letters
TH
1623."
Purses, or gipcieres, were from quite an early time adorned
with
most dainty needlework, generally with some device
the
emblematic or associated with the wearer (they were worn outside the
dress
pocket), with
a
like
worker's beneath
—a
a
tender
little
device
of
the
true-lovers' knot, or a pair of turtle doves.
Doubtless, love gifts took this particular and graceful turn when the lac d'ainour was superseded. Letter
covered
gifts
white
with
and spangles often
satin
occur about the middle and latter end of the eighteenth century.
A
pocket-book
be
seen
in
of this description
the
finished in floss
on
white
Museum.
Lichfield silk,
satin
are
belonging to Dr. Johnson
and landscapes
Miniatures very delicately
Curious old pictures worked
century. floss silk
black or coloured silks
in
productions
admirable
may
in
of
the
eighteenth
coloured worsted and
were contemporary with the "sampler," with which we
They were more ambitious than the sampler, The subjects were and were certainly more mature efforts.
are
all
familiar.
generally pastoral
;
there
seen amid the green delightful
period,
was a red brick mansion often
fields, or
in
the formal flower garden, and
shepherds and shepherdesses
and deer and sheep
of
to be
in
the
costumes
abnormal dimensions.
of the
There was
Side Panel.
EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP. no attempt
at perspective,
but the work and
and the figures were out of drawing
materials were
so
beautiful,
and the design
was so charming and inconsequent that they were greatly preferred to the realistic
succeeded them.
Berlin
wool pictures
;
that
to be
very shortly
CHAPTER
XII.
JACOB AN WORK. I^
The
second half of the seventeenth century was marked by a
new
departure
studied,
Nature
was more
and conventional treatment began sensibly
to decline.
Instead of with
embroiderer's
the
in
crude and
the
flowers,
lovely
unnatural
graceful
foliage,
art.
figures, birds,
we
infinite
beautiful productions
patience
many charming examples
preserved as fresh and perfect as when they were
The ground may have
if
insects,
skill.
Of these
tiful
presented
butterflies,
delicately and minutely coloured, and worked with
and
are
less vivid
worked.
away and dropped, but the beau-
fretted
and the colours
old stitchery remains,
first
are
of the old
crewels,
than of yore, have only grown mellower and more
harmonious with the years.
The
variety of
stitches
seventeenth century was
employed
by the workers of the
One
piece of work, a coverlet
infinite.
or hanging, often displays every kind of stitch then in existence,
and
on that account alone, of careful examination.
is
worthy,
A
fashion arose about the last years of Charles
if
many
ing portraits in hair, and
miniatures are
still
in
his
prison
devoted of
locks
of work-
examples of these hair
the possession of the descendants of
The
of his faithful adherents.
from
curious
I.
of
his followers,
his
some
unfortunate monarch used to send
own
hair
to
some
of
the
most
so that the ladies of that house, while
JACOBEAN WORK. likeness in coloured
working
iiis
head
hair on
of
it
might be able to do the
silks,
with the very hair of the original.
Some
of
these likenesses were shown at a recent exhibition of miniatures,
and several are known There
a very interesting his-
is
South Kensington
torical cushion at
Museum,
said to be
enamoured
human
The
dery.
occurs
barbed,
two shades of hair
— the
The cushion
armorial
bearings
with the
initials
is
the
rolls of
worked with
and
knots,
love
crowned with
On
strawberry leaves.
the
;
probably the is
J.R.
in
one golden-
other a sandy shade,
beneath
worked
are
doubt the worker's
yellow, no
King's.
embroi-
the
in
which
in
I.,
hearts of the Royal roses,
and
seeded
worked by a lady
James
of
hair
to exist.
the
border
the figure of a female with
same golden-yellow
hair.
While upon the subject of em-
human
broidery with
from
story
had
"
we
"Morte
the
King Ryence
hair,
of
recall the
d'Arthur."
North Wales, who
discomfited
overcomen
and
Hanging embruidered
eleaven kings," had a rich
"
he insolently
beards of
sewn thereon sent
for
(English, 17th Century.) sion of
bordered round with the these kings
mantle,
full
craftily
King Arthur's
in
Crewels.
In the posses-
Lady Brougham and Vaux.
by female hands," and beard
to
complete the
pattern.
The^taste the
for art
Commonwealth,
needlework, which had languished during revived
with
other
kindred
arts
at
p
the
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
Io6 Restoration, but
that period,
absence
succeeded.
it
off
restraint
all
The work was
licence.
colouring,
threw
it
was wilder and more luxuriant than
style
early Renaissance
the
of
the
but
of
the
designs
Like
and indulged than
lovelier
were
every other art of
ever,
a season
in
and richer There was
outrageous.
in
an
perspective, and the patterns were so large that
all
they must have dwarfed
all
the other objects in the apartments
where they were displayed. is
There
scarcely an old family or an old
manor house somewhere
England
in
lumber-room most of
this
usually
not
the
Coarse
was the material
linen
employed
and every shade
in
hangings
likely,
period
fruitful
homespun
but has
away,
stored
for the
ground,
of crewel worsted,
gold, or purl, like the old
silk,
work, exclusively used for the deco-
The
ration.
prevailing design was
a huge conventional tree growing
up from a grassy sward, bank, or strip
Bed Hangings embroidered tury.)
In the
possession
of
Lady
every shade
Brougham and Vaux.
variety
beneath, primroses and
deer disport
cowslips
themselves,
lodge
among
have
delighted
and bearing every
variety of flower and leaf, done in
(English, 17th Cen-
green Crewels.
earth,
of
in blu'e-
and
of
spring
of
and every
stitch.
On
up, and
peacocks and
birds
tropical
colour
of
the
gorgeous
bank
hues
the branches, and butterflies and insects that would
a
though inconsequent
naturalist's picture.
heart
complete
The work
is
the
charming,
often quite exquisite,
and the dainty conceits, however incongruous, more graceful and pleasing than
many
later
examples of higher and more correct
A
beautiful Curtain,
Embroidered
witii
coloured Crewels. In the possession of
Tropical Flowers and Fruit on Linen
(English, 17th Century.)
Lady Brougham and
Vau.x.
in
JACOBEAN WORK. Evelyn mentions a bed for the Queen of Charles
art.
embroidery of which cost ;^3ooo, probably of on a costly ground.
This
of the Stuarts
accession of
George
when
I.,
German the new
this elaborate work-
through
the
reigns
tasteless
dynasty. taste
year 1695
sum
is
it
reign
had
taste for costly
recorded that
his bills for lace
of
of
William
Dutch
the national
and
the
Mary.
and
William
embroidery had
for
during
languished
the
heavy,
prevailed
the
patterns were imported with
The
lace,
the
to
style
II.,
reached
Some
^^2460.
the
in
of the
items of this account are very curious,
as
taste
and fashion
new
for six
the
illustrating
prevailing
Lace
of the day.
razor cloths
amounted
to
ÂŁ2go, and ÂŁ'\gg was expended on lace for twenty-four new nightshirts, and ;^663
trimming two dozen
for
Pocket handkerchiefs were
cravats.
and
costly in these days,
resting
to
learn
was employed
The sum upon
of
that
for
"cut
their
;^488
this variety of
it
was
is
inte-
work"
adornment.
expended
Curtain embroidered with Exotic Birds
needlework
for
one dozen pocket handkerchiefs
for
Plants
in
(English, early
In the possession
Lady Brougham and Vaux.
Queen Mary was
the King's use. in
her expenditure,
H er
year 1694 amounted to less than ;;^20oo. in
Tropical
i8th Century.) of
more moderate
and
coloured Crewels.
bill
for
There
is
lace
for
tlie
no mention
these rolls of any large sums expended for embroidery as
P 2
in
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
io8 former reigns, so
we may conclude
that
no longer enjoyed
it
Royal favour. no longer patronised
If
by Royalty
was
it
still
extensively
practised by ladies of the upper and middle classes for domestic
Charming examples
purposes.
the reign of
Queen Anne, and the
century, are
still
A
better
became
met with
to be
prevailed
taste
and
more
greater accuracy of
detail
lighter
grotesque and
and bed hangings
of curtains
of
earlier years of the eighteenth
old country houses.
in
at
and the designs
period,
this
Nature was copied with
flowing.
and truthfulness
The
colouring.
of
extravagant designs of the earlier reigns almost
and there was a decided leaning towards
entirely disappeared,
natural in the place of conventional treatment.
Perhaps the influence of such
Adams may have had something
to
Chippendale and
as
artists
do with
this
The Adams,
change.
designs of the beautiful mantelpieces and woodwork of
and the lovely carved perfection of
a revolution
The
detail
furniture of Chippendale, with
and graceful
exquisite
could not help effecting
lines,
public taste.
in
and couches had
dainty chairs
and
furniture
harsh, or glaring would
be covered with a
the delicate and elaborate design of
curtains to suit
the decoration
to
the windows had to be
correspondingly beautiful material, and
hung with
its
of
the
room.
Nothing crude, or
harmonize with the chaste and elegant
creations of these great artists.
Quite naturally, from their examples, and through their ence, a call
new
Queen Anne.
Georges,
but
it
not Hanoverian rite
emblem
Stuarts
— the
influ-
style arose which, for want of a better name,
in
;
It
prevailed during the reigns of the earlier
had nothing it
in
common
was Jacobean from
nearly
carnation.
we
all
this It
is
first
with
The emblem
It
was
to last.
favouof
work
is
the
met with
in
so
old
them.
the
many examples;
JACOBEAN WORK. detached
generally in beautiful its
and opening bud
stalk
stiff
flowers
emblem
(the
or introduced with other flowers and in
border,
a
m
away
hidden
or
many
of
the Pretender),
of
and out
leaves, twisted in
corner.
a
with
colours,
It
always an
is
evidence of the loyalty of the worker.
Sometimes to
be chivalrous,
young
those
in
women had
Taunton,
girls of
troubled
suffer
to
maids of honour of the Queen of James embroidering a banner for the
for
their
for
The coverings worked on
to the
Monmouth.
chairs
for
2000
^,
the price of a pardon
II.,
ill-fated
silk
The
loyalty.
recorded, had to jDay
is
it
when men even forgot
days,
and couches and
footstools at this period were of the utmost perfection of needle-
work, and of graceful and appropriate design. of
these
delightful
specimens remain to
so well;
fallen
to
pieces,
add an indescribable grace as nothing
us,
that
is
else will
the
Puritan
husbands and brothers beautiful
exile, It
They
still
room, and bring back to
bring back, "the faded light of a day
dead."
When
ladies in
it
sailed
England with
from
the Mayflojver,
they had learned
art
Let us hope
them.
an old
not fared
the ground-
and the colours faded. to
many
and are not the
sun has affected them, and
possibly the
work has
us,
The hangings have
treasured of our heirlooms.
least
Fortunately
1620, they took the
in
and practised
was a solace
to
them
their
England with
in
in their
self-enforced
and amid the many hardships they endured so bravely.
took
root
and sprang up as
all
the
other arts
they took
with
them sprang up and
fully
preserved specimens of the loving patient labour of those
old workers
may
still
where the traditions
flourished
be seen
in
in
that
virgin
many New England
of the past are
soil.
Care-
households,
held as dear as the stirring
interests of to-day.
America has
its
own school
of art
embroidery;
it
has a mixed
no
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
nationality,
and
bizarre,
but underlying
these
the
are
quaint
of
full
old
present
country
this
the
many
at
all
interchange
once to drop
common
connection
their
to
patient workers are dead, their descendants, the
still
it
by so
the brave,
American women
common
only allied to us by a
not
the
patterns.
of
and though centuries have passed, and
of to-day, are
until
the work of their sisters in
They were endeared
country.
settlers
the Mayflower.
in
New England
of
identical with
be likely
not
old
ties,
ladies
probably there was an
;
They would with
was
century,
the
of
surprises,
methods the pilgrim
brought with them from the old country
The embroidery
and
effects
faith,
and a
language, but they are fellow needlewomen, and share
with us our history and our traditions.
Tambour work on sively both in
cambric or muslin was practised exten-
fine
England and America
The
Indian dimity patterns chiefly.
drawn, and worked to
the
work
With the in
lace stitches
tambour
beautiful
lovely old
in
in
in
of
the interstices,
A
needlework.
great is
deal
addition of
certain
effect
Louis
Quatorze.
richness and
of
Still,
it
of
was
this
in existence.
still
Hanover, a heavy kind
in
embroidery
gold and silver was introduced from Germany, a kind of
Anglo-German
—
muslin was often cut and
of our quite recent ancestors
House
Queen Anne
the reign of
not
stiff
without
a
magnificence, and was suited to
the decoration of coronation robes, beds of state, and hangings for
occasions of ceremony.
for a
of
satin
was sometimes used
groundwork, and some embroidered dresses and waistcoats
the time of the
silks,
White
Georges, embroidered
are well worthy our careful study In
the recent
exhibition
of
the
in
gold and coloured
and admiration.
Burlington Fine Arts Club
(1891) were some beautiful examples of embroidered book covers,
mostly English examples, bof)kbinding exclusively an
English
art.
in
needlework being almost
Among them was
a
Bible printed
JACOBEAN WORK. in
Cambridge
in
1638, covered
on either side embroidered with the arms and
silks,
Psalms and
roses
we
in
the
New
in
corners.
gold and silver thread and coloured
initials
Testament.
crimson velvet, with the cover
in
of
velvet,
was printed
each
cover
in
A Book London
having
and with Tudor
I.,
Lent by Mr. Alfred Huth.
of
give an illustration, was lent by " It
Charles
the
in
Common
(See
Prayer,
Her Majesty 1638, and
badge
and
113.)
p.
is
of
which
the Queen.
covered
initials
of
in
blue
Charles
I
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
12
Prince of it
in
silver
thread.
The crown and
and ostrich plumes are
Psalms and
New
Testament.
handsome arabesque are worked in
work
is
King Charles
Wales, afterwards
done
all
so
Lent by the Rev. K. F. Gibbs.
border.
metal threads.
The but,
on
motto, both on blue satin,
highly raised, and
coloured silks; in
embroidered
I.,
the
is
(See
p.
113.)
jewels on
the
with
exception,
this
very
two coronets all
the
JACOBEAN WORK.
"On
the double book (lent by Alfred Huth, Esq.), covered
white satin, the embroidery
in
On
both sides,
in delicate
the middle,
of triple
from
braid,
silver
two graceful
The the
" It
New
inclosed in an
is
silver
flat
with small pieces of
filled
gauffred lent
is
is
a
little
white satin, and
in
found
1629-30.
in
adorned with a simple
The edges
pattern
of
book
of this
interlacing semicircles.
These
by the Rev. K. F. Gibbs. silk
London
pattern worked in braid and purl roses, blue
with a delicate
originally
double book containing
in
edges and yellow at the centre.
at the
wrapping cords, but
double books
little
these
now
are
rarely
intact.
" All
the
drawings are of
some missing and frayed
books,
The sacred flame
of art
beginning of the present
the
same
size
Charlotte.
worked
work
old
century.
silk
It it
was not even
was
and chenille of
not, as
at the
flickering.
many would
Witness the lovely the time
of
Queen
mouldered
into
dust.
it
Not very
examples were screens and chair covers, but exqui-
worked of
original
Every old family has some treasured example of
by hands long ago
ambitious
baskets
in
the
had by no means died out
have us believe, by any means extinguished. delicate
as
parts having been restored."
had changed with the times, but
sitely
oval
two extremities of which issue
Testament, printed
covered
is
but very effective
It
iris,
gimp, sewn on sometimes singly and sometimes double."
the Psalms and
had
flower
corners are
Another interesting example
It
worked a yellow and blue
is
padded and worked over with
scrolls,
The spaces and
silver
are
effective.
feather stitch, the three yellow petals delicately shading
shading into a darker blue.
gimp.
and
particularly simple
on the centre veins, and the two upper blue petals
red
into
in
is
in
delightful old-fashioned patterns,
flowers,
and
true-lovers'
knots, like
with vases, or the
pictures of
the old Dutch artists.
Q
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
114
A of it
fashion sprang up about the middle of the last century
copying pictures by well-known
was short
The very
excellent.
was worked about good example embroidered seen at
in
of
time
this
the
art
in
what
of
the
silk
all
productions were
Charlotte, which
mid-Georgian period.
on
purple
satin,
these faded records
our national history.
we value
hands that worked the
Queen
for
of
fortunately
is
It
a is
and may be
Court.
of affectionate interest that
the dear
Linwood's
;
bed we have before mentioned
beautiful
interesting are
a landmark
Miss
crewels and
Hampton
How
though
lived,
worsteds
artists in
grace and
it,
fashion
!
Embroidery
is
not only as an object
It
is
it,
not only for the sake of
but as of a
preserving to us some-
day long dead, bridging
over the long intervals of the centuries, and bringing us within
touch of a more pious and painstaking age. pierce the obscurity of
history, and, looking
It
enables us to
backward through
the years, see the manners and occupations of our ancestors.
The needle has been
women from
the
earliest
the comfort and consolation of English times, from
the dwellings of the Neolithic
the bone needle found
Cave-man before the
period in Britain, to the present day, and
and a delight as long as the world
lasts.
it
will still
last
in
glacial
be a solace
CHAPTER SYMBOLISM
IN
XIII.
MEDI/EVAL EMBROIDERY.
" Nothing walks with aimless feet."
Symbolism
from the
earliest
time lent
The most
significance to the embroiderer's art.
are preserved to us, or of which
that
What metaphor
distinctly symbolical.
understanding,
the to
the
symbol
a
to
is
charm and
peculiar
its
ancient examples
we have any
record,
or figurative speech
the
mind some other object than
bringing
eye,
itself
which
of
are to
is
vividly
it
is
the
type.
Holy Writ the
Pentateuch
brazen
serpent
of
full
is
the
to
symbolism, from, the bow of promise chapter of the
last
of the wilderness
priestly garments,
Aaron, the
coverings
the
The
Apocalypse.
the
journey,
stones
of
in
worn by
the tabernacle,
the visions of the prophets, the inspired songs of the Psalmist, the
wisdom
ment,
of the Sage, the divine
form
one long
roll
metaphors
through
the
of the
world's
New
Testaof
the
Basil
and
history
sublimest allegory. the early years of the Christian
In St.
Ambrose
(in
symbolism, and laity as well as It
is
Church,
St.
the fourth century) wrote elaborate treatises on it
continued
to
be a favourite study with
the clergy until the Reformation.
interesting to notice that the "
gammadion
"
the earliest symbols met with on heathen productions.
example tradition
of is
the
this
is
on
a
web
of
the
Pharaonic
handed down by the Rabbins
that
the
is
one of
The period.
first
A
mark the
Q
2
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
ii6 Israelites
made upon
sacrificial
lamb was fashioned
form
— that
The Egyptians,
Tau
the letter
in
the
of
olden
its
and
Tau on
the doorposts of the Hebrews
regarded
scathless,
as
it
the
secret
of
their
Henceforth a Tau was regarded as a symbol of
deliverance.
health and safety, of happiness and future
by
blood
the
after that eventful night of lamentation
woe, beholding the bloody
who had gone
like
with
the shape of a cross.
in
is,
doorposts
their
Rufinus
(a.d.
and
397),
It
life.
mentioned
is
by Socrates
again
On
(440).
demolishing a temple at Alexandria dedicated to Serapis, several stones
showed
were found which
the
occurs on the tunic of a grave-digger frequently found on Christian
The
Tau had
old
figure
cross,
;
four of
and
it
embroidery.
these
was
in
modifications.
gamma takes gammas fall into the form that
this
Sometimes only a
being alwavs significant of the whole.
was widened by
It
occurs on the mitre of St.
it
;
occurs, the part
ancient signification
was also regarded as a memorial
the stigmata in the hands
and
early ecclesiastical
Thomas of
feet
in
St.
The
Isle of
Man
everything around them.
minds
saw emblems
The wings
five
Thomas
another form of
early Christians, with their
resurrection of their Lord, in
is
many
Anglo-Saxon work.
and was adopted as a device by those who bore ensign of the
on
at Sens,
Our Lord's
of
It
was thus often shown
most
in
mediaeval monuments, and very frequently It
mediaeval
in
the completer doctrine of the atonement.
an edge of the tunic of the apostles
work.
shape of the Greek
Its
set forth also Christ as our corner-stone
at
Greek
and embraced, besides the emblem
Christianity,
of a " future life,"
is
the shape of a right
gamma
single
the
In
was used
it
It
Egypt.
in
alphabet the capital letter of angle
cross.
the catacombs, and
in
monuments
several
a
of
full
his
wounds,
of
name.
Assisi,
The
it.
of the
of His cross
death and
and passion
of birds flying in the air.
SYMBOLISM the boughs of
even
MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERY.
forest trees,
image that was ever
the diverging roads on a highway,
in
their minds.
There were many forms and all
varieties
which we are well acquainted.
of
II7
masts of ships on the sea they saw the sacred
the
in
IN
Cross, with
the
of
Five red marks or jewels
are sometimes seen on the extremities and centre of the cross,
these are
emblems
with
four
its
members,
equal
great
sacrifice
globe.
The
foundation
of the five sacred
extends
three
steps
Faith,
of
over the
Hope, and
Charity
lowest and widest, the foundation of cross
saltire
an emblem
usually
is
quarters
four
all
— Charity
the
triple
being
the
Christian virtues.
The
The
cross
martyrdom.
of
the
of
typify the
cross
Latin
the
of
cross,
blessings which
the
signify
equally
The Greek
wounds.
with the arms breaking into leaf and blossom are symbolical of its
triumph over
Sometimes
and persecution.
sin
spreading, like a goodly tree,
for the
shelter
is
it
shown
and protection
of
the Church.
The
He
cross
is
always the symbol of Christ, though sometimes
represented under the figure of a lamb.
is
the earliest figure
we meet with
This, indeed,
The Good
the catacombs.
in
is
Shepherd bearing a lamb on His shoulders, or surrounded by His sheep, was a very favourite symbol
in
Church.
depicted,
Sometimes the lamb only
is
the early ages of the with
invested
a nimbus, and bearing a cross, or a small banner, symbolical of Christ's victory over death
The
vine
His
typifies
is
and
hell.
also a symbol of our Lord
and passion
death
— the
;
giving
a bunch of grapes
His
of
body and
blood for man.
The
earliest figure
used
Father, was a hand issuing
was
alone
Deity.
used
The hand
up is
to
for expressing the
from
the
frequently
the
ninth
Deity,
clouds of
century
graspmg some
to
God
This
heaven. indicate
object, but
the
the
some-
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
ii8 times
it
open, with rays of light issuing between the fingers,
is
symbolic of Divine grace bestowed on man. represented
the
in
act
and
blessing,
of
It
but
occasionally,
is
it
most often
is
not always, surrounded by a nimbus.
The Holy Ghost,
Sometimes seven doves are depicted, representing
by a dove.
the Seven Spirits of
God
— the
lamps have also the same
The
triangle
times the It
secting each
is
the distinct symbol of
Three open
Some-
the Trinity.
same
Two
century.
sometimes used
are
Seven
gifts of the Spirit.
signification.
until the tenth
other
of the Trinity.
seven
or shamrock, bears also the
trefoil,
was not used
the
the twelfth century, was symbolised
until
significance.
triangles
inter-
express the infinity
to
or rings, entwined have also
circles,
same symbolic meaning.
The nimbus was adopted by
early Christian artists to express
proof
divinity or deification, or as a peculiar
nimbus,
unlike
the
behind the head
crown,
appeared only as a ring or
Christian art
Spirit
is
issuing
circular,
varieties of
from
Deity its
The nimbi and more or
of less
The pomegranate
is
hope
seeds displayed in
immortality.
it
is
it
In the
Early examples of
observing these hints.
The nimbus
The nimbus ;
of
Apostles,
Saints,
but
the
of
the Virgin,
ornamented,
of
it
and
Holy
circular
is
not
is
tri-
Martyrs are
ornamented. introduced
very
.work, generally as a border of a design.
the
After that time
usually a circular disc with
centre.
elaborately
a disc or plate
the nimbus.
is
The
holiness.
hovering over the head.
sometimes a plain triangle
and nearly always radiated.
circlet
may be approximately dated by
Persons of the
rays
three
like
disappeared altogether.
it
There are several the three
represented
the fifteenth century.
until
seventeenth century
is
of
frequently
When
into
old
burst open and
an emblem of the future
fife,
and of
SYMBOLISM The palm
The sword tyrdom
and pain
symbol
also a
emblematic
and a crown
;
and
triumph,
victory,
death and suffering mar-
are
too,
sake
for the truth's
sovereignty,
of violent
Arrows,
Christ.
for
119
generally accepted as the symbol of martyrdom.
is
is
MEDI/EVAL EMBROIDERY.
IN
glory
the
symbol
the
is
suffering
of
and
of
reward of
martyrdom.
A
circle
and earthly
of the earth
used it
persons.
living
for
is
emblem
the
and devotion
is
The anchor
is
flames issuing
it
;
one of the
hope, endurance, and of
charity,
in
out
of
it,
the catacombs
A
;
heart,
also symbolical of love
is
it
an emblem
is
and sometimes remorse emblematic
is
it
symbols
earliest
patience.
depicted pierced with arrows contrition,
emblem
square, an
used sometimes as a nimbus
found frequently
is
emblem
and
penitence
;
of
if
;
life
A
eternity.
of it
Christian art
in
besides being the
of
emblem
the
is
of
if
;
fervent
with
zeal
for
Christ.
If
A
dove
with
an
nimbus,
A
banner
of
a
of love, innocence, in
mouth,
its
of
meekness, purity.
peace
if
;
with
a
the symbol of the Holy Ghost. a sign of triumph over death and persecution.
is
An open book hands
branch
olive is
it
emblem
the
is
is
saint,
symbol
a it
truths of the Gospel
;
perfect
of
that
signifies
a closed
he
knowledge
if
in
the
was a teacher
of
the
signifies
roll
;
or imperfect
partial
knowledge.
A shell
is
lamp burning symbolises wisdom and the
emblem
of a pilgrim
An
piety.
escalop
a scourge of self-mortification
;
and penance.
sin.
A pig was A dragon
emblematic of the pollution of the world through
was the symbol
represented as a serpent.
form of an ape. cunning.
Apes
of
the
Evil
Spirit,
who
is
also
Sometimes, indeed, Satan takes the are
also
emblematic of
sin,
lust,
and
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
I20
An
apple
original
symbolical of the
is
Baptism
sin.
sometimes three fishes
fall
man
of
also represents
it
;
represented under the figure of a fish
is
in
;
the form of a triangle, the type of the
Trinity.
A
symbolises
pelican
the cross
it
;
generally depicted as shedding
is
young, which cluster round is
used as a symbol
also
it
the
are
upon
Christ
blood for
its
its
catch the precious drops.
to
of
and the phoenix
peacock,
blood-shedding of
the
The
resurrection.
lion,
used as emblems
also
of
It
the the
resurrection.
The brazen
serpent
met with
often
work
in
an emblem of the Crucifixion, and
is
The
Middle Ages.
of the
Isaac and the paschal lamb were also symbols of
is
sacrifice of
the sacrifice
of Christ.
The cup garden. The and the
The
thirty
basin and the
thorns,
the
spear,
an emblem of the Agony of our Lord
is
sword, the pieces of
the
club,
silver are
ewer (used by the
nails,
the
scourge, the
inscription,
significant
the
purple
of
dice that were used in casting lots for
robe,
crown
of
the reed, the
and the three
emblems
are
it,
the Betrayal.
rope, the
garment,
seamless
the
the ear, the torch,
lantern,
Pilate),
in
of
the
Crucifixion.
An the
eagle,
fiying
Ascension.
The
Elijah
the
in
fiery
upward
is
translation
chariot
are
often of
also
used as an emblem of
Enoch, and the
fiight
symbolical of our
of
Lord's
Ascension.
The
rose,
which appears under many conventional forms,
symbolises religious ectasy the vine
is
;
the palm, victory
an emblem of joy and plenty
the ivy, friendship
;
;
;
the olive, peace
the
oak, strength
;
;
the lotus flower representing the sun.
Christian Art accepted the old
them hidden meanings.
Pagan forms, but added
to
Every design we meet with on early
L
SYMBOLISM examples
Symbolism, which was intention
religious
or
wave
Art
decorative
of
M EDI/EVA
IN
humblest
the
we
pattern, that
2
I
Christian art, gave a
all
The key
design.
pattern,
are so familiar with, symbolises undy-
ing force, eternal unrest, continuity
suggesting the key of
I
had an intention and a meaning.
the root of
at
to
kmbroii)1':r\'
— the
locking and unlocking
Pagan
Friezes of garlands, an old
life.
ornament, generally connected with sacrifices, represent the joy of Nature, the rejoicing of the fruitful earth.
The
"
familiar
egg and tongue
"
pattern
from
derived
is
the lotus, representing the bud and blossom.
The wheel other
pattern
is
There
subjects.
The wheels
very ancient. the
also
is
"daisy" and the "bead"
have come down to us from an
pattern which
"
and are not without intention and
often enclose
unknown
age,
motive."
Reptiles and insects, besides birds, and animals, and fishes,
The
had a symbolical meaning.
virtues
and vices were com-
monly represented by animals.
exercised
beasts,
meet
Middle
the
In
department churches,
of
Bestiana^
kinds
all
of
wyverns
and
decorative
fanciful
gargoyles
church doors are
the
the
symbolism
the
on
designs
the
instances
roofs, of
of
We
artists.
every
in
The grinning wide-mouthed heads
art.
the
panum over
in
TJie'
ingenuity of
the
them
with
Ages
our
in
the tym-
this
mode
of
treatment.
The grew
in
tree
of
life
(symbolising probably the tree of
Paradise), the sacred
as a shrub bearing a series of
sometimes
it
is
its
motive.
heart,
umbels
Zoroaster, of
is
that
represented
seven flowers each
;
expressed by the cone-fruit alone, the essential
emblem, a plant within a in
tree of
life
amid
the
plant.
The palm
tree carrying a
crown oF fronds preserves the
Pomegranates, pineapples, and artichokes
same symbolical meaning.
cone
original
ha\'e als(T the
•
R
-
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
122
The
chrysoclavus, a
nail-headed design of
was also a Christian symbol. circles
touching each
closely
and
inserted,
Sometimes
interstitial
with
other,
coloured discs,
represented as
is
it
the
ornament between the
heads of saints circles.
also
It
represents the heads of the nails of the Crucifixion.
The Varieties of the Cross. Figs. Fig.
I
3.
The
and
2.
The
Anticipatory, or
Latin Cross.
brazen serpent was
lifted
resemblance
Greek
to the
The
Fig. 4. the
Church
letter
T, and
5.
The Greek
Fig.
6.
St.
Fig.
7.
The Maltese
Greek
in
used
Cross,
With three arms
Fig.
Old Testament (on which the
sometimes called the Tau Cross, from
is
It
Fcclesiastical
Rome.
of
up).
Cross of the
art
the Cross of
St.
its
Anthony.
by Cardinals and Archbishops
of
{4a) by the Pope.
Cross.
Andrew's Cross, termed Cross.
in
heraldy the Cross Saldre.
was borne by the Knights Templars, and
It
the Knights of St. John. Fig.
8.
The Cross Botonee, has
Fig.
9.
The Cross Pommee,
Fig.
10.
the extremities decorated with trefoils.
has the arms terminated by circles.
The Cross Moline, has
extremities
the
of
the
arms divided
into
two curves. Fig.
II.
The Cross
Fleurie,
has
the
arms terminating
in
triple
leaved
extremities.
Figs.
same
12
and
13.
The Cross
Patonce,
are
Greek and Latin
varieties of the
cross.
formed of four Tau Crosses.
Fig.
14.
The Cross
Potent,
Fig.
15.
The Cross
Potent rebated, seldom occurs except in heraldry.
iMg.
16.
together.
The
Cross
is
Crosslet,
comjjosed
of
four
Latin
Crosses
joined
SYMROI.ISM
IN
MF.ni.KVAL
i<
M HRO
[
DF.in'.
I
2^
The Varietiks of the Cross.
14
15
16
R 2
124
OI'l^
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
6.
5.
Fig.
I.
Emblem
Fig.
2.
The
of
Baptism under the sanction of the Divine Trinity.
Latin Cross, two only of the limbs touching the circle.
Fig. 3.
The Greek Cross
Fig.
The
Figs.
4. 5
and
Trefoil, 01 6.
in a circle.
Shamrock, emblem of the
Eml)lems
of the
Holv
Trinity,
Trinity.
CHAPTER
XIV.
EMBLEMS AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SAINTS.
From
Apostles, saints, and
the earlier ages of the Church the
martyrs were represented by symbols, and the Middle
Ages
in
all
productions of
the time of the Renaissance, they were
until
associated with them for the purposes of identification.
The
Evangelists
four
winged animals described vision of Ezekiel. is
are in
represented
four
mystic
the Revelation of St. John, and the
Jerome, writing early
St.
by the
in
the
fifth
century,
the earliest authority for their appropriation. St.
Matthew was represented wiih
his gospel
he dwells more on the
the face of a man, as in
human
nature of our Lord than
on the divine. St.
dignity
Mark by
a
of Christ,
lion,
because
his
gospel dwells on the royal
and His power as manifested
in
His Resur-
rection. St.
Luke by an
sacrificial
for sin
of our
Lord.
dwelling
upon the priesthood and
The ox
typifying
the
atonement
by blood.
St.
into
work
ox, as
John
is
represented by an eagle, from his deep insight
the divine nature of Christ, and from his soaring
in
spirit
to the
heavens, and being accorded the revelation of the future
of the
Church.
These symbols
of
the
Evangelists are
with wings, and invested with a nimbus.
usually
represented
Frequently they appear
OT.D
in
work as heads
early
EMBROIDERY.
ENGLISH
human
creatures on
of mystical
shapes,
and sometimes only the heads and the wings are represented,
and
nearly every case with a nimbus.
in
Occasionally they are
seen united together, and forming one mysterious being, which in
early Christian art
was known as the Tetramorph.
The Apostles were usually represented with their emblems in their hands, and generally carrying books emblematic of
sacred
their
oflfice
teachers
as
of
Sometimes they are represented as twelve lambs procession,
the thirteenth, symbolizing
particular or scrolls
the
gospel.
a
regular
in
Lord, being invested
our
with a nimbus.
The
lesser
have
saints
all,
nearly
or
all,
distinguishing
emblems, but some emblems are borne by more than one, and are
common
the book.
many
to It
saints,
mark
are those of
met with on sword
shears
their lives, as
The
are
saints
well
saints that
torture,
represented
as by the instru-
we have enumerated
Church which are most frequently
represented with an anvil, generally holding a
is
Agatha
in
of the
is
early examples of Christian art.
his right
St.
in
Anglican
the
Adrian
in
Many
martyrdom.
of their
St.
or used as an instrument of
of distinction.
by remarkable incidents
ments
palm and the sword and
the
necessary to observe the way the emblem
is
introduced, whether worn or a
like
one
is
hand. represented
hand, and
her
holding
breast,
a
pair
of
which was cut
pincers off,
in
or
the
other. St.
purity,
Agnes, with a lamb, emblematical
sometimes
holding a
sword
in
her
of
her
name and
hand and a palm
branch. St.
Aidan,
Bishop of
Lindisfarne,
651,
may sometimes
be
seen holding a burning torch. St. Alena, with
one arm torn
off.
An
angel encouraging her.
KM HI. F.MS OF THF SAINTS. St.
Alexandrina, spinning.
St.
Alban,
protomartyr
in
generally represented holding a scourge
in
Britain,
303,
with
a
hand, holding a cross, sometimes a pahn branch
his
St.
Ambrose
hand,
his
St.
allusion to that St.
is
alluding
Theodosius, after
massacre
the
on which
Master
his
retains
still
refusing to
in
Emperor
the
of
of the inhabitants of Thessalonica.
which
cross,
humility
his
to
excommunication
his
to
his
Andrew,
name,
his
in
on a cross similar
suffer
suffered.
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury,
beholding
1
109,
is
represented
a vision the infant Jesus and His mother appearing
in
him.
to
St.
Anthony
mendicancy Sr.
of
sword
of
of
T
cross shaped like
;
ApoUonia suffered a
she
to this
is
always
denoting his
bell
on his cloak, pig by his
martyrdom,
terrible
which she had her teeth drawn out
allusion
and
with a staff
Nitria,
in
in
the
side.
course
a barbarous manner.
represented
holding a tooth
In in
a
pair of pincers. St.
Athanasius, robed as a Greek archbishop,
open book St.
in
and the
Augustin,
St.
axe
bitter
bishop and doctor, with a
heart
arrow, allusive to the burning zeal
burning or his faith
of
repentance for the sins of his African youth.
Alphege, with the instrument of his martyrdom, a battle-
sometimes with
;
an
hands.
his
pierced with an
holding
his
chasuble
full
of
stones, being
stoned
almost to death, and afterwards beheaded. Barbara, holding a tower,
St
soned
her.
in
which her father had impri-
Discovering that she was a Christian,
it
is
said that
he beheaded her with his own hand. St.
Bartholomew, holding the knife by which he was flayed
St.
Benedict,
alive.
holding
the
broken
cup,
from
the
legend,
OLD HNGI.ISH EMHROIDERY.
128
some
of
him a cup
of
that
hand
A
with
away by
carried
cup broke, and
the
it,
bread
loaf of
poison
to
him
by offering
poisoned wine to drink, but on reaching out his
bless
to
monks attempted
his
a
serpent
a
he
perceived the
crawling
over
raven, alludes to another
plot.
being
or
it,
attempt to poison
him. St.
Barnabas, stoned, pressing a stone to his breast.
St.
Bertha, Abbess, 725, holding a church
in
her hands as
the foundress. St.
Britius,
St.
Blase,
carrying burning coals.
bishop and martyr, with crosier and book
holding a rake of Boniface,
St.
one
of
martyr,
in
iron,
;
also
the instruments of his torture. allusion
to
martyrdom,
his
is
represented thrown into a cauldron of boiling pitch. St. is
Botolph, abbot and patron saint of beggars.
always to
on the ancient boundary of a town, as
seen
be
His church
He
the church of mendicants.
is
represented
in
a seal
in
the
Chapter House, Westminster, as seated with a bishop on either side,
and a church with a St. Basil, carrying a
poor
man St.
;
a column of
star
and crescent below.
model or
fire,
church;
of a
dove at
Catherine, with a broken wheel,
From
knives.
the wheel to be
the legend,
that
tortured, an
as
angel
his
giving food to a head.
armed with saws and
she was being fastened
to
appeared and destroyed
it
before the multitudes assembled. St.
Cecilia,
a
with
small
organ,
as
the patron
saint
of
church music. St.
to her
Christina,
with
a
millstone
about her neck,
as a
allusion
being thrown into a lake, and miraculously supported by
angels, while our Saviour baptized her, giving her His St.
in
Christopher, a
little
child
upon
man
own name.
of gigantic stature, carrying our I.ord
his slioulder, in allusion
to the
well-known
EMBLEMS OF THE SAINTS. conveying Christ, bearing the
legend of
his
across the
river,
Clara,
St.
upon
his shoulders.
the order of
dress of
a
in
the world,
of
sin
holding
St. Francis,
the receptacle of the Host, with which she repulsed the Saracens
when they attacked
the monastery of Assisi.
St.
Cosmo, with
St.
Crispin,
and mortar.
pestle
patron
saint
shoemakers, generally
of
sented with shoemaker's tools, or strips of leather,
repre-
allusion to
in
his trade. St.
Cuthbert, bishop and confessor,
Cathedral,
is
with the head of
represented
Durham
a statue at
in
Oswald
St.
often
;
with animals around him, otters, &c. St.
Cyprian
in
books
of casting his
the act
of
magic
into
the frames. St.
Damian, physician, with a
St.
Dominic
sometimes
is
seen with a
always
dog lying
a
at
blazing torch, alluding to a birth
his
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that
she
bottle.
his
holding
feet,
dream
star
of
his
on his forehead, in
its
mouth a
mother's, just
should bear a dog that should set
before fire
to
the world. St.
Dorothy, bearing roses and apples
in
her
lap
;
some-
times with a basket of flowers. St.
Dunstan
is
Library,
Oxford,
in
His emblem St.
with is
is
the act
of
in
a window
seizing
the
of
devil
the Bodleian
with
pincers.
a harp and a pair of furnace tongs.
Edmund,
arrows.
represented,
In
870, king and martyr,
represented
is
pierced
the eastern window of Saxlingham Church he
represented kneeling on one
knee,
offering
a
quiver
full
of
arrows to heaven. St.
a
he
cup is
in
Edward, 979, king, his hand.
In
is
represented
in royal
the rood-screen of
robes, holding
Trimingham Church
represented with a dagger and falcon. S
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
I30
St.
Edward
the Confessor,
hand and a ring
Hungary
of
bread or roses
basket of
her hand,
in
in
allusion to the legend
was carrying bread
poor, he lifted
the napkin to see what was beneath
the bread had
become
St.
to the
and
it,
lo
!
roses.
archbishop,
Elphege,
one
represented crowned, with a
is
meeting her husband as she
that,
in
the other.
in
Elizabeth
St.
Holding a sceptre
1066.
1012,
with
chasuble
his
full
of
stones. St. in
In allusion to this he
a peculiarly horrible form.
on windows and
represented with bowel St.
tree
wound round a
holdlnij
679,
is
often seen
holding a
windlass
she
is
represented
generally
book
and
crosier
Cathedral
Ely
of
sculpture
in
is
it.
abbess,
Ethelreda,
crowned, lantern
martyr, 303, suffered martyrdom
Erasmus, bishop and
in
hand.
her
In
as the
represented
sleeping, with
crown, and
bearing a sword
a
blossoming over her head. St.
wearing a papal
Fabian,
and palm branch. St.
Faith, holding a bundle of rods.
St.
Francis of
Assisi,
1226, crowned
with thorns, with the
stigmata on his hands. St.
Genevieve
Martham Church, St.
is
in
represented spinning
in a
armour carrying a banner his
feet,
at
represented
in
Norfolk.
George, the patron saint of England,
dragon at
window once,
of
the
cross,
from the legend of
is
and treading down a his
rescuing a
king's
daughter from the power of the dragon. St.
Giles,
the
patron
of
saint
He
lepers, especially venerated
represented as an aged man,
in
England and
in
the dress of a Benedictine monk, with a hind
arrow
in
his
Scotland.
arms.
is
pierced by an
EMBLEMS OH THE SAINTS.
is
St.
Gertrude, with a
St.
Gregory the Great, pope and father
loaf.
represented with a dove on
shoulder, or near his ear, as
his
Holy Ghost.
inspired by the St.
the Church, he
of
Guthlac, hermit, 714, founder of Croyland Abbey, repre-
sented with a scourge
hand putting
his
in
devils
to
seal
she
flight,
or
with a whip and a serpent at his feet. St.
On
abbess.
Hilda,
sented as an abbess
Hartlepool
the
holding a
repre-
is
priests at an altar
crosier, with
on either side.
mother of Constantine, crowned, carrying a large
St. Helen,
to her finding the true cross.
cross, in allusion St.
on
treading
Hilary,
emblematic
reptiles,
the
of
false
doctrine he overthrew. St.
Hubert has
for his
emblem a stag
its
horns, in allusion to the legend of
to
him St.
in
wood
the
church of
and
martyr,
represented
is
in
the
Sandringham, Norfolk, bearing a blazing globe.
St. Irenaeus, St.
mysterious appearance
its
while hunting.
bishop
Ignatius,
with a crucifix between
bishop and martyr, holding the crosier and book.
James the Great,
with
as a pilgrim,
staff
and scallop
shell.
St.
his
James the
martyrdom. St.
Less, carrying a fuller's bar, the instrument of
Also, he
Jerome, naked and striking
doing penance
the
in
desert
sented bearing a church the Catholic
In general
he
To
Church.
of light are seen
that
represented bearing a cross and book.
is
his
in
church
was the founder
Petronius bearing the
more generally he
hands,
in
this
case
stone
a
with
is
;
repre-
signifies
it
render the symbol more striking, rays
issuing from
the
or
;
breast
his
in
of
the windows. the
some
hands
of
particular
a saint
church
signifies :
as
Cathedral of Bologna. S 2
St.
;
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
132
John the Baptist, bearing the cross and lamb.
St.
John the Apostle, holding a cup, from which a serpent
St.
issuing forth, in
As an
he
evangelist
dress
his
allusion
his
having drunk poison unharmed.
always
is
and green,
of red
is
to
is
accompanied by
an
eagle
the symbolical colours of divine
love and hope, particularly hope in immortality. St. Joseph, carrying a
He
it.
is
is
rod flowering, with a dove resting on
always represented as an old
man
:
part of his dress
always saffron, the symbolical colour of the goodness of God. St.
Jude, bearing a club, the instrument of his martyrdom.
Judas bistre,
His hair
Iscariot, holding a purse.
and
robe dingy yellow.
his
either grey or
is
Dull, dirty yellow being the
colour of treachery. St.
Lawrence, the
was roasted St.
deacon, with the
on which he
gridiron
alive.
He
Leonard, the patron saint of captives.
generally holding fetters
in
his
is
represented
hands.
St.
Loys with a hammer.
St.
Lucia, holding her eyes, which were plucked out at her
martyrdom, or with the wound
in
her neck of which she died,
or holding a lamp. St.
Margaret, bearing a cross and treading underfoot
dragon, which appeared to her,
might see her enemy St.
She
is
Mary,
in
answer to her prayer that she
a visible form.
in
Blessed Virgin,
the
always robed
in
the
carries
a
lily
of
chastity.
a red tunic and a blue mantle, the same
as our Lord, signifying divine love, or royalty and constancy. St.
she
Mary Magdalene,
anointed
our
bears the vase of ointment with which
Saviour's
She
feet.
is
robed
in
red,
the
colour of love. St. his
Matthew
former
carries a purse,
vocation
;
or
money bag,
sometimes with a
sword,
in
the
allusion
to
instrument
EMBLEMS OF THE of
He
martyrdom.
his
the form of a letter
Matthias,
St.
represented
also
is
SAINTS. square
with a
in
X-
apostle,
bearing
represented
is
the
halbert,
the instrument of his martyrdom.
Michael, the archangel,
St.
setting
he
is
his
foot
either
in
about he
on Lucifer, act
the
to
with
represented
is
generally represented armed,
human
a half
in
or dragon
him with
transfixing
of
down
chain him
is
weighing
scales
lance,
his
and the
souls,
;
or
Sometimes
the infernal regions.
in
form
devil
depressing one scale.
Michael
St.
good over
victory of
Eastern
ancient of
spirit
with
evil
idea
and
three
of gold
he threw into
the
children
from infamy
on
saint
;
children under his
special
sented
children
with
three
evil,
the
of
of
purses,
final
traced back to the
antagonism
between the
mingled with a Chaldaic
man.
their influence over the destiny of
originally
balls,
of
spirit
patron
Nicholas,
may be
idea
perpetual
a
emblem
received
the this
;
of
good and the
belief in angels, St.
always
is
He
Russia. signifying
represented
is
the
three
purses
poor man's window to preserve his this
account he
is
supposed to have
Sometimes he
protection.
coming out
of
a
chest
is
or
repretub,
or
kneeling before him.
hung up by her
hair over a furnace.
St.
Olivia,
St.
Odo, stripping himself
St.
Orestes, dragged by wild horses.
St.
Ozias
(or
to clothe the poor.
Orcas), holding a bird with
its
head down-
wards. St.
Osmund,
St.
Oswald, driving the devil
St.
Othmar, with a keg
St.
Osyth, carrying her head cut
St.
Paul,
in
with a church in his hand.
all
off
a rock.
of wine in his hand. off.
mediicval paintings,
is
represented holding
OLD
'34 a sword, is
allusion to his death
in
KM B1U>
F.NGI.ISH
:
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The
I
DF.R Y.
type of his countenance
traditional from a very early period.
The
great divisions
by
first
Church
Christ
of
They
separated.
is
;
of the Jews,
into
and the Church
two
of the
represented by St. Peter, and the second
Standing
Paul.
St.
Church
the
:
The
Gentiles.
Church was always divided
Christian
early
together they represent
hence
Christian
in
the
we seldom
art
universal
them
see
are usually seen standing on either side of the
Saviour, or painted on the wall on each side of the altar, or on
each side of the chancel arch. St.
tenance
Peter is
always represented holding the keys
is
also traditional; he
his
;
coun-
generally robed in blue and yellow,
is
signifying faith and constancy.
Pancras, sword and stone
St.
Peter,
St.
martyr,
is
represented
with
a
head.
his
carries
apostle,
Philip,
St.
in
hand.
his
Dominican
the
hatchet or knife sticking
in
a
cross,
significative
of
his
death. Patrick, trampling on serpents, chasing reptiles.
St.
St.
Radegundes^
veiled; captive, kneeling, holding her
beasts about her.
fetters, with a field of ripe oats, with wild
Roche bears
St.
drawn aside
plague
the
to
Piacenza. the
year
Europe St. .St.
is
to
He
and
staff,
wears a pilgrim's robe partly
expose a plague spot on contracted is
one of
in
his left
attending
the
thigh, in allusion
plague-stricken at
the later Christian saints, born
He became
1295.
at the
a
a
very
popular
saint
in
about
throughout
time of the great plague.
Ronan, hooking the
devil's leg with a crosier.
Sebastian, patron saint against plague and pestilence.
represented pierced with arrows, sometimes holding one
hand,
broken
allusion
to
his
martyrdom
by Diocletian.
It
He
in his is
pro-
bable from the representation of the arrows, that he has always
;
EMBLEMS OF THE SAINTS. been regarded as the protecting
against
saint
arrows
plagues,
having been, from a very early age, the emblem of pestilence. St.
Simeon
St.
Sexburga, queen
Stylltes,
living
upon a
pillar.
and abbess, bearing a palm branch
in
her hand. St.
and martyr, holding a scythe
Sidwell, virgin
Seven Sleepers, seven holy men asleep guarding them.
angel
a
bag and large key
rosary,
Sitha,
St.
with
her hand.
cave with an
a
in
in
book, and
three loaves,
St.
Sophronia,
St.
Sylvester
St.
Simon, apostle, carries
her
writing
holding a
a vessel and pitcher.
or
name on
dragon a
keys, sometimes
or
a
by a
saw,
tree.
chain.
instrument
the
of
his
martyrdom. Stephen, the
St.
proto-martyr, with
a
which some-
stone
times rests on his head, sometimes holding stones or in
robe,
his
in
hand.
his
St.
Swithin,
with a cross resting on his right arm.
St.
Thomas
the Apostle, carrying a
carpenter's square, as
patron of architects.
Thomas Aquinas, Dominican,
St.
his
holding
breast,
a
tabernacle of
with
a
Host
the
sun
or
star
hands,
his
in
on
sometimes with chalice and sacred Host, or guarded with angels while asleep.
Thomas-a-Becket, a very popular
St.
England with
;
the
he
is
to
pallium,
be met holding
cathedral at Oxford he before the altar.
is
with
the
in
many
saint
in
generally In
cross.
the
the act of being slain
Sometimes as washing the
generally with a sword across the back of St.
Timothy, with a club and a stone
St.
Tobias, with a
lish.
the east of
churches,
archiepiscopal
represented
in
feet
his
of
a
leper
head or mitre.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; stoned
to
death.
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY.
136 St.
Ursula
represented generally holding an arrow
is
outstretched hand
her
in
sometimes she may be seen with the crown
;
as princess, or the pilgrim's staff surmounted by a white banner
with the red cross
she
;
in
window
holding arroM^s
represented
is
the choir
Winchester Cathedral
of
hands
her
in
with
:
virgins
protected beneath her mantle. St.
Veronica, holding a
while
on
the
imprinted with the face of our
the legend that
Saviour, alluding to it
veil
way
to
wiped His face with
she
Calvary, and that the Divine
the " vera icon^^ was miraculously transferred to St.
leash,
Vitus, a
or with a
St.
likeness,
it.
cock perched on a book, holding a dog lion
Valentine,
in
a
or wolf.
giving sight to a
holding a sun
girl,
in
his
hand. St.
Vedast, a wolf
St.
Walfray
St.
Walstan,
with a goose in
Stylite, living
on a
mouth.
pillar.
crowned,
confessor,
its
holding
his
in
hand a
scythe and sceptre, two calves below. St.
Wenceslas, warrior
with white eagle, reaping St.
in
corn
armour for
altar
Winifred, carrying her head
Adam
is
bearing a
cut
red
standard
bread. off.
represented with a spade.
Eve, with a distaff or an apple.
Moses, with the tables
of the law;
his face
"horned" and
shining.
Aaron, wiih a censer and a rod.
Noah, with an
ark,
and dove with
olive
branch.
job, on a dunghill, with his wife upbraiding him.
Jonah, with a whale, and a ship near him.
Samson, with the jaw-bone Gideon, bending over a Joseph, holding a purse.
of an ass.
fleece.
EMBLEMS OF THE
SAINTS.
gateway
Ezekiel, with a turreted
hand.
his
in
137
clothed with a sack, sawed asunder.
Isaiah,
Jeremiah, with a wand.
Amos, with a shepherd's crook. David, with a harp, or as a shepherd with a shng.
among lions. aged man with
Daniel, Elijah,
Precious
diamond
The
humility,
faithful
love^
and
The
and
trial
love,
The
martyrdom.
ruby, love, dignity,
amethyst,
The
sin.
sapphire,
and
fidelity,
pearl,
sorrow,
immortality,
in
heaven, virtue,
The
contemplation.
topaz, the goodness of God, fruitful-
Other stones and mosaics used
ness, faithfulness.
The
earthly
The emerald, hope
truth.
heavenly
constancy,
The
innocence.
The
significance.
blood and suffering.
carbuncle,
victory over
sardius,
special
their
signifies light, joy, innocence.
purity,
faith,
had also
stones
power.
royal
leather girdle, or in a fiery chariot.
decoration
in
have the same signification as the colours they present. Colours were used symbolically from the earliest time regard was paid to their signification when grouped than
to
artistic
guished
by
especial
attributes.
innocence,
the
colour
faith,
;
of
White
joy,
and has the same tyrdom
Many
effect.
attributes.
life
Red
power, royal dignity ;
blood, war,
God,
of
it
;
directly opposite significance.
jealousy. yellow. sperity
Judas
Green
and
is is
It
emblem
bountifulness.
of
by
as
their
virginity,
purity,
represents
and anguish.
white,
Blue
is
emble-
Yellow and gold,
fidelity.
Dingy yellow has a
symbolises faithlessness, deceit,
generally represented the
distin-
signifies Divine love,
also
fruitfulness.
faith,
be
represents suffering and mar-
matic of piety, sincerity, godliness, the goodness
of
a subject
in
may
well
also
silver
;
the passion of our Lord
as
emblem
the
is
saints
dress
their
light,
the
of
more
;
hope,
Violet,
in
joy,
passion,
a garment of dirty mirth,
youth, pro-
suffering,
sorrow,
T
OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. humility,
represented darkness,
The
love and
fervent
five
despair,
sorrow,
I^evitical
colours,
were retained
all
lands and
in
Chaucer and the speare.
all
red,
ages
;
and
purple,
blue,
with
of
met
middle ages
with
was
also of the Virgin
humiliation.
;
the
and gold
white,
we
flowers has been cultivated
mention
find frequent
its
trailing branches,
of
but
the
favourite
lily,
the
emblem
of
it
in
Shake-
in
an emblem of
mourning, and was
much used by widows. It occurs frequently in The olive-branch, the emblem of peace and also often
death,
ritual.
was a favourite emblem
love,
deep
romances, and, at a later time,
old
The woodbine
unchanging
mourning
symbolism
or
are frequently
the symbolic colour of
is
the Christian
in
The language in
Black
violet.
in
The martyrs
truth.
examples.
early
reconciliation,
flower throughout of virginity
is
the
and purity;
Mary, and the Virgin Saints.
To minds imbued
with
religious symbolism, every
common
object around them recalls the sublime mysteries of their faith,
and the
life
of
nature
immortality and the
life
is
to
a continual
come.
THE END.
memorial
and
symbol
of
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