ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
BATSFORD'S
COLLECTOR'S
LIBRARY
PLATE A
PORTION OF A TUN 1C, embroidered with silks and silver-gilt threads on
linen. Elizabethan period. (In the possession of Mrs. Bu.vton.} bee pa^e 75
E N G LIS H
EMBROIDERY
B Y
LCTNDOlNl
B.T. BATS FORD
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNEKS SONS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii
PREFACE ......... xi
I. INTRODUCTORY i
II. THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD 6
III. NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH PERIOD ... 13
IV. THE GREAT PERIOD (CIRCA 1270-1330) . . .26
V. DECLINE AND REVIVAL (CIRCA 1330-1530) . . 46
VI. THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 67
VII. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 86
VIII. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 101
USEFUL BOOKS OF REFERENCE 107
INDEX 109
3G209t>
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
COLOURED PLATES
PLATE TO FACE PAGE
A. Part of an Elizabethan tunic. (Mrs. Buxton.)
Frontispiece
B. Portion of a band, with arms of Thornell and Fitton.
Early fourteenth century 44
C. Back of a chasuble. Early sixteenth century . . 52
D. Portion of a coverlet. Early eighteenth century . .100
OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Fragments of stole and maniple from the tomb of St.
Cuthbert at Durham. Tenth century ... 8
2. Portions of the Bayeux tapestry. Eleventh century . 16
3. Fragments from the tomb of Bishop William de Blois (?)
in Worcester Cathedral. Twelfth century . . 18
4. Fragments from the tomb of Bishop Walter de Cante-
lupe (1236-66) in Worcester Cathedral . . .22
5. Blue satin chasuble. Thirteenth century . . .24
6. Portion of the Syon cope. Second half of thirteenth
century ......... 28
6A. Detail of the Syon cope 28
7. Portion of a chasuble at Anagni. Late thirteenth
century ......... 32
8. Cope in the possession of J. Pierpont Morgan, Esq.
Late thirteenth century . . . . . .32
9. Detail of Plate 8 ....... 34
10. Cope in Toledo Cathedral. End of thirteenth century 36
11. Detail of Plate 10 36
vii
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
PLATE TO FACE PAGE
12. Cope in Civic Museum, Bologna. End of thirteenth
century ......... 38
13. Portion of cope at Pienza, near Siena. Early four-
teenth century ....... 40
14. Embroideries from Cat worth Church. Early fourteenth
century ......... 40
15. Scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. Early four-
teenth century (see also Plate B) . . . .42
1 6. Embroidered orphreys. Thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries 42
17. Red silk cope. Early fourteenth century (from a
water-colour drawing) ...... 44
18. Detail of Plate 17 44
19. Altar Frontal at Steeple Aston. Early fourteenth
century (from a water-colour drawing) . . .46
20. Scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. Latter half
of the fourteenth century ..... 46
21. Brocade chasuble, with orphrey of latter part of
fourteenth century 48
22. Altar frontal, with orphreys of fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries 49
23. Portion of a velvet cope. About 1500 . . . 50
24. Portion of a silk damask cope. About 1500 . > 54
25. Portion of a cope at Chipping Campden. Late
fifteenth century 56
26. Cope at East Langdon. Late fifteenth century . . 56
27. Portion of an altar frontal at Chipping Campden.
Late fifteenth century 58
28. Portion of an altar frontal. Late fifteenth century.
Mrs. Chester Master « 60
29. Blue velvet chasuble. Late fifteenth century . . 60
30. Black velvet chasuble. About 1500 . . , 62
31. The Sudbury pall. Late fifteenth century . . . 64
32. Altar frontal. Middle of sixteenth century . . 66
33. Bodice front. Late sixteenth century ... 68
34. Mitten and glove. Sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 68
35. Elizabethan tunic. (Viscount Falkland) . . .70
viii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE TO FACE PAGE
36. Illustration from Whitney, " Choice of Emblemes."
1568 72
37. Pillow cover. Sixteenth century. (Viscount Falkland) 74
38. Sleeves for a tunic. About 1600 .... 76
39. Late Elizabethan hanging ...... 76
40. Caps. Sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries . . 78
41. " Petit point " embroidery. Early seventeenth century 80
42. Portion of a late Elizabethan coverlet ... 80
43. Panel with monogram of Mary Queen of Scots.
Hardwick Hall 82
44. Applique' work, with initials of the Countess of Shrews-
bury. Latter half of sixteenth century. Hardwick
Hall 84
45. Applique work, with crest of Hardwick. Latter half
of sixteenth century. Hardwick Hall ... 84
46. Panel with arms of Talbot. Late sixteenth century.
Hardwick Hall 86
47. Panel. James 1 88
48. Cushion, bag and pincushion. Early seventeenth
century 89
49. Lady's jacket. Early seventeenth century ... 90
50. Box. First half of seventeenth century . . .92
51. Panel. First half of seventeenth century ... 93
52. Samplers. 1643; 1696 ...... 94
53. Wall-hanging from Hatton Garden. Seventeenth century 96
54. Hanging. Late seventeenth century .... 97
55. Hanging. Late seventeenth century . .. . .98
56. Coverlet. 1703 ....... 101
57. Portion of a coverlet. Early eighteenth century . 102
58. Portion of a coverlet. Early eighteenth century . 104
59. Panel. 1730 .104
60. Coat and waistcoat. Latter half of eighteenth century 1 06
IX
PREFACE
T is hoped that this volume will
form a reliable guide through
the main ways of an intricate
subject. To describe every
important example of English
embroidery existing would require a wider
experience and unlimited space. It has not
been thought necessary to swell the text by
pointing out every occasion where the views
therein expressed differ from those formulated
by other writers. Examples in my opinion
undoubtedly English, are described in various
works as French, Burgundian, Flemish,
German, or Italian — frequently, of course, by
writers who have had little opportunity of
examiningthe numerous embroideries showing
similar characteristics still remaining in this
country. The question of stitchery has not
been discussed. Many excellent works deal-
ing with that side of the question have already
been published, notably, "La Broderie," by
xi
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
M. L. De Farcy, and " Needlework as Art/'
by Lady Marion Alford. The principal
works which I have consulted are mentioned
in the footnotes throughout the text. Many
of the illustrations are taken from examples
easily accessible to readers who may wish to
examine the originals for themselves. Thanks
are due to those private owners whose em-
broideries, in every case of some special
interest, have also been illustrated. I am
indebted to Mr. G. H. Palmer for valued
suggestions, and to my wife for help in
various ways.
A. F. K.
November ) 1904.
While this is passing through the press,
it is announced that the cope from Ascoli
(see Plates 8 and 9, and p. 34), not long ago
acquired by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, has
been generously presented by him to the
Italian Government.
xn
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
THE FIRST CHAPTER
INTRODUCTORY
HE history of needlecraft holds
a prominent place in the art
record of any country. The
use of the needle must have
become necessary with the very
first beginnings of civilization, and plain
stitching instinctively develops into orna-
mental embroidery of some sort. In our
own country the craft has always been
popular, even at times when lack of taste
has rendered the results of no value from
an aesthetic point of view.
The earliest known specimens of English
decorative needlework carry us back to a
period when the social life of the women of
England was very different from what it has
been during the past few centuries, and they
bear the mark of the times which produced
them. There is little likelihood that such a
work as the Syon cope will ever again be
attempted with success. It is the legacy of
B I
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
an age that has vanished. The feudal castle,
or manor house, was the school both for the
sons and daughters of the knights and gentry
around. There the youth learnt the profession
of arms, and the rudiments of whatever skill
he afterwards attained in knightly exercises.
There, too, his sister acquired the accomplish-
ments suited to her station, and, among them,
learned to spin, to weave, and to sew.
The life of the men was naturally more
varied than that of their wives and sisters.
They were often away on military or political
expeditions, when the best security for those
left behind was to be found within the strong
walls of their dwellings. Books were few,
and reading was a more serious matter than
it is to-day. Many an hour, which would
otherwise have passed idly and tediously,
was spent at needlework. In this way it
happened that years of labour might be
devoted to a single task, and the production
of these wonderful monuments of skill and
patience became possible.
The circumstances favourable to em-
broidery in the house, are of double force
in the case of the cloister. Records show
that embroidery was much practised in con-
vents ; and not only there, but in monasteries
2
PLATE I
FRAGMENTS OF STOLE AND MANIPLE, embroidered in coloured
silks and gold thread on linen ground, found in the tomb of St. Cuthbert,
in Durham Cathedral. X century. See page ^
INTRODUCTORY
also, and even by men elsewhere. The names
of many men, famous in their day for their
skill in needlework, have survived from the
Middle Ages, although it would be hard to
single out any work done by them in this
country.*
The inventories of our cathedrals and
parish churches testify to the multitudes of
vestments and kindred embroideries produced
in the Middle Ages. The number to be seen
to-day by no means corresponds with such
accounts ; but it is, nevertheless, considerable.
There can be no doubt that many have been
wantonly destroyed — some for the sake of the
precious materials contained in them,f and
others for no reason at all. The lasting
character of the materials has rendered it pos-
sible for many that have survived to be still
in an excellent state of preservation. Some
have found their way into museums, others
still remain in cathedrals and churches in
* Names of men as embroiderers occur on embroideries
produced in the fourteenth century in Italy.
t Archbishop Lanfranc's worn-out chasubles and copes
were reduced to ashes in 1371-3, for the sake of the gold
in the embroidery. (See J. Wick ham Legg and W. H.
St. John Hope, " Inventories of Christchurch, Canterbury,"
P- I3-)
3
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
England — others, again, are in private hands.
On looking farther afield, we find ample
witness to the truth of the statement that
the opus Anglicanum obtained a reputation
in mediaeval times that extended far beyond
the country of its production. In Italy and
Spain especially, many a fine vestment bears
unmistakable evidence of an English origin.
Some were intended originally as offerings
to Rome,* and were distributed by the
popes, in their turn, to churches elsewhere;
others were scattered at the suppression
of the monasteries in this country under
Henry VIII., and, if not destroyed or con-
verted to secular uses, were taken abroad
by refugees.
The events just related, and the general
progress of the Reformation in England,
caused a notable decline in the demand for
ecclesiastical work. But there was still ample
scope for industry in the way of domestic
adornment and costume. Although under
changed conditions, the popularity of the art
among the ladies of England remained,
* As early as the ninth century, we find two pallia
included among King Alfred's offerings to Rome. The
term opus Anglicanum occurs several times in an inventory
of the Holy See in 1295.
4
INTRODUCTORY
perhaps, as great as ever. Royal and noble
personages still passed many hours of the
day in needlework. Catherine of Aragon,
Mary Tudor, Elizabeth, and Mary Queen of
Scots, were all very fond of embroidery.
Portraits of the period show the extent to
which the needle was used for the adornment
of costumes, and many actual examples exist
to illustrate the skill and care with which the
work was produced.
In Stuart times there was no decline in
the popularity of needlework, though we are
bound to admit that the designs leave much
to be desired. The art, however, survived its
many vicissitudes, and from the earliest times
to the present there are landmarks enough
to show that needlework has remained
throughout a great national art.
THE SECOND CHAPTER
THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
OT long after the Anglo-Saxons
had established a permanent
footing in this country, their
evangelization began from lona
by way of the north, and from
Rome by the south-east. Under the human-
ising influence of Christianity, and with the
advantages of a more settled life, they
became skilled in the arts, especially in
metal-work, ivory carving, illumination, and
needlework. The last two arts, in fact —
painting with the brush on parchment, and
with the needle on woven fabrics — seem in
general to have flourished together. Anglo-
Saxon ladies of all ranks, not excluding royal
personages, spent much of their time at
embroidery. Little or nothing remains of
domestic needlework of this period, but it
was in accordance with the spirit of the times
that their best efforts should be devoted to
the service of religion. It is therefore safe
to judge of their skill in general from the
surviving ecclesiastical works.
Little more than a century after the arrival
6
PLATE II
1*
I;."" ••' -' •
l\. Wt ' nhVN
\
ILJkLL
PORTIONS OF THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY.
XI century
See page 1 5
THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
of St. Augustine, Aldhelm, Bishop of Sher-
borne (d. 709), the scholar and builder, speaks
of the skill of Englishwomen in needlework.
By this time embroidery must have been
much practised in the convents. At the
Council of Clovesho (Cliffe-at-Hoo), in the
year 747, nuns were admonished to occupy
themselves in reading and in singing psalms
rather than in weaving and embroidering
robes. It is hardly likely that the aim was
to discourage the art of needlework in the
service of the Church. It may be that the
skill which might have been employed with
this object was too greatly diverted in the
direction of personal adornment.
There are numerous instances in the
chronicles and church records of the Middle
Ages of ordinary wearing apparel being con-
verted into vestments or ornaments for
Church use. It was not unusual for kings
and persons of rank to present their corona-
tion robes or mantles for this purpose. A
mantle presented to the monks of Ely by
King Edgar (956-978), was transformed into
a cope, and this same king presented his
coronation robe to the Abbey of Glastonbury,
to form a decoration for the altar. The
coronation mantle presented by Witlaf, King
7
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
of Mercia, in the year 833, to the monastery
of Croyland was probably made use of in
some such manner. This monastery also
owed two precious vestments to the liberality
of King Harold.
The remarkable list of gifts by King
Athelstan, in 934, to the shrine of St. Cuth-
bert, at Chester-le-Street, includes, among
other offerings, two chasubles, an alb, a stole
and maniple (see p. 9), a girdle, three altar-
cloths, seven robes, and three curtains.*
It is most probable that the greater
number of the subjects for embroideries
were designed by the clergy or by monks,
as they were best acquainted with the sacred
history and the legends of the saints. Arch-
bishop Dunstan, for example — himself a
skilled handicraftsman — is known to have
designed for embroideries.
Among royal workers may be mentioned
Eadgyth, or Edith, the queen of Edward the
Confessor. William of Malmesbury states
that this lady herself embroidered the rich
robes worn by the king at festivals.
Enough has perhaps been said to show
the wide popularity of embroidered work in
* See "St. Cuthbert," by J. Raine, M.A., p. 51.
8
THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
these early times. We are fortunately not
entirely dependent on documentary records.
It was customary from very early times to
bury kings in their robes, and ecclesiastics in
their vestments, and at the translation of
the remains of a saint or especially revered
personage, the body was often wrapped in
later vestments before re-burial. It thus
happens that a few fragments of great
archaeological interest have been preserved
to the present day.
There are in the library of Durham
Cathedral some striking examples of Anglo-
Saxon needlework, having inscriptions which
definitely settle their origin.
They are a stole and a maniple, embroidered
in coloured silks — red, green, blue, and purple
(now much discoloured) — and gold thread on
a linen ground, and lined with silk (Plate i).
These precious relics were found in the cathe-
dral in the tomb of St. Cuthbert in 1826-7.
The stole is now in five pieces. In the centre
was represented the Holy Lamb (AGN V DI)*
with probably six prophets on either side.
Eleven of the twelve figures remain, though
* The letters in capitals represent the inscriptions as far
as they can now be traced.
c 9
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
some are fragmentary^ They are Jeremiah
( ... IAS PROPHET), Daniel (DANIEL
PROPHETA), Amos(AMOS PROPHETA),
Obadiah (ABDI . . .), Hosea (OSE PRO-
PHETA), Joel (IOHEL PROPHETA),
Habakkuk(ABA . . .), Jonah (IONAS PRO-
PHE ... A), Zechariah (ZACHA . . .),
Nahum (NAVVM PROPHETA), and an-
other with the word PROPHETA alone
remaining. At the two ends are half-length
figures of St. James the Apostle * (IACOBVS
APOST) and St. Thomas (THOMAS
APOST). On the reverse side at these
ends occur the inscriptions : AELFFLAED
FIERI PRECEPIT and PIO EPISCOPO
FRIDESTANO.
The maniple is in better preservation.
In the middle is represented the Right Hand
of the Almighty (DEXTERA DI) issuing
from clouds, with two saints on either side
—St. Sixtus (SCS SYXTVS EPISCF) and
St. Lawrence (LAVRENTIVS DIACONVS)
on the right, and St. Gregory the Great (SCS
GREGORIVS PAP . . .) and Peter the
Deacon (PETRVS DIACONVS) on the left.
* It seems more probable that the figure of St. John the
Evangelist, ascribed to the stole by Raine, belongs to the
maniple.
IO
r
TJ
>
<L>
W
<U
|H
A
^T
THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
At the ends are half-length figures of St.
John the Evangelist (JOHANNES EVI) and
St. John the Baptist (JOHANNES B). On
the ends at the reverse side occur the same
inscriptions as on the stole ends. These
inscriptions are of the utmost importance,
recording as they do that the stole and
maniple were made by order of Aelfflaeda,
for Bishop Fridestan. Aelfflaeda was queen
of Edward the Elder,* to whom she was
married about the year 900, dying some
sixteen years later. Bishop Fridestan pre-
sided over the see of Winchester from 905
to 931.
The question arises how these vest-
ments, made for a Bishop of Winchester,
found their way to Durham. St. Cuthbert
(d. 687), in whose tomb they were placed,
was the last of the line of Irish bishops at
Lindisfarne. The bones of this holy man
were much revered. After many wanderings,
they found a resting-place at Chester-le-Street
in 833, being there for more than a century.
The body was thence removed to Durham,
where it has ever since remained, except for
a short period (in 1069-70) when the
* This king's daughters, according to William of
Malmesbury, were skilful needlewomen.
II
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
monks, flying from William the Conqueror's
approach, carried it to Lindisfarne for safety.
The shrine, while at Chester-le-Street, was
visited in the year 934 by King Athelstan,
who is recorded to have offered among other
things a stole and maniple. Canon Raine,
who records these facts,* concludes that the
stole and maniple are those which have been
so wonderfully preserved to us ; and as
Athelstan was stepson of Aelfflaeda, whose
name appears on the vestments, there is
every probability of such being the case.f The
embroideries- are among the most precious
existing relics of Anglo-Saxon art. The
figures are represented ftill-length, each raised
on a curious mound, and having a canopy
of foliage above. As might be expected, they
show a good deal of the Byzantine con-
ventionality which was then so prevalent.
The work is beautifully executed, and speaks
eloquently of the skill of the Anglo-Saxon
needlewomen, foreshadowing the wonderful
work which three centuries later was to
become so famous throughout Europe.
* "Saint Cuthbert," by J. Raine, M.A. (Durham,
1828). See also Architectural and Archaeological Society
of Durham, " Transactions," vol. i. p. 57.
t The maniple partly illustrated on the left in Plate i,
is also from the tomb of St. Cuthbert, but is of later date.
12
THE THIRD CHAPTER
NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH
PERIOD
HE Norman Conquest does not
seem to have given any appre-
ciable check to the production
of embroideries in England.
Among the documents bearing
on the period, the will of Matilda, queen
of William the Conqueror, is of some interest.
It was made the year of her death (1083),
and is now preserved in the National
Library in Paris. Among her benefactions
is the following —
" I give to the Abbey of the Holy Trinity
[at Caen, founded by herself] my tunic,
worked at Winchester by Alderet's wife, and
the mantle embroidered with gold, which is
in my chamber, to make a cope. Of my two
golden girdles, I give that which is orna-
mented with emblems for the purpose of
suspending the lamp before the great altar.
I give my large candelabra, made at Saint Lo,
my crown, my sceptre, my cups in their cases,
another cup made in England, with all my
horse-trappings, and all my vessels except
13
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
those which I may have already disposed
of in my lifetime ; and lastly, I give the
lands of Quetchou in Cotentin, with two
dwellings in England. And I have made
all these bequests with the consent of my
husband."*
This document affords a striking illus-
tration of the conversion of secular articles
to ecclesiastical uses.
There is a tradition that this same queen
despoiled the Abbey of Abingdon of its
richest vestments, refusing to be put off with
inferior ones.f
In the following century, there is a further
instance on record of English embroideries
having been sent out of the country. A
present of such to an English pope would
naturally be acceptable. It is therefore not
surprising that when Robert, Abbot of St.
Albans, was visiting Pope Adrian IV.
(Nicholas Breakspear, 1154-1159) at Rome,
he should have taken with him, according
to Matthew Paris, an offering of three
mitres and a pair of sandals, of wonderful
* See Arcluzologia, vol. xvii. (1814), p. 93.
t The attribution of the famous " Bayeux tapestry " to
Matilda appears to have originated not many centuries ago,
and it may be safely disregarded. (See p. 15.)
14
PLATE IV
FRAGMENTS OF VESTMENTS of embroidered silk, from a tomb in
Worcester Cathedral. XIII century. Seepage 23
NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH
workmanship, embroidered by Christina,
Prioress of Markgate.
The monkish chronicler aforesaid has
preserved an anecdote of Pope Innocent IV.
which has been often quoted, but cannot well
be omitted from a work dealing with the
subject. It is said that the pope, admiring
some gold-embroidered vestments, and asking
where they were made, learnt that they were
English. Forthwith, we are told, he caused
messages to be sent to the abbots of the
Cistercian order in England that he desired
to have some gold embroideries sent to him.
This incident is assigned to the year 1246.
The story in itself is sufficient to show that
English work was already becoming famous
on the continent of Europe before the middle
of the thirteenth century.
Among actual existing examples of the
period covered by this chapter, the first place
must be assigned to the famous embroidery
now preserved in the Museum at Bayeux in
Normandy. Although perhaps not strictly
English, but rather Norman work, it claims
a reference in this book (Plate 2). The work
is so well known as the " Bayeux tapestry "
that this title must not be interfered with. It
is, however, exclusively of needlework, executed
15
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
in wools of several colours on a band of
linen, measuring more than 230 feet in length.
It represents, in a long series of scenes, the
history of the Norman conquest of England,
explanatory inscriptions in Latin being added
to the subjects throughout.
The scenes may be thus briefly described,
following the guidance of the Latin inscrip-
tions explaining each subject : (i) * King
Edward the Confessor seated on a throne,
addresses two persons, one of whom is
Harold ; (2) Harold rides to Bosham, and
(3) enters the church there ; (4) he sets sail,
and (5 and 6) lands in Ponthieu, (7) where he
is apprehended by Count Guy, (8) conducted
to Beaurain,. and (9) imprisoned there ;
(10) Harold and Guy parley; (u) Duke
William's messengers come to Guy; (12)
William's messengers ; (13) a messenger
comes to Duke William, and (14 and 15)
Guy conducts Harold to the Duke, (16 and
17) and they both come to William's palace,
(18) where is a certain clerk and Aelfgyva;
(19) Duke William and his army come to
* The numbers correspond with those marked at a late
period in Roman figures along the upper border of the
tapestry. They do not properly indicate the successive
scenes, but are used here to facilitate reference.
16
NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH
Mont St. Michel, (20) they cross the river
Couesnon, where Harold drags some of them
out of the sand; (21) they come to Dol,
and (22) Conan flies ; (23) Duke William's
soldiers fight against the men of Dinan, and
(24) Conan holds out the keys ; (25) William
gives arms to Harold, and (26) comes to
Bayeux, (27) where Harold makes an oath
to him ; (28) Harold returns to England,
and (29) comes to King Edward ; (30 and 31)
King Edward's body is carried to the church
of St. Peter the Apostle (Westminster Abbey) ;
(32) King Edward in bed speaks to his
vassals, and dies; the crown is given to
Harold ; (33) Harold enthroned as King
of the English (notice the figure of Arch-
bishop Stigand here); (34) his men see the
Star ; (35) an English ship comes to the
land of Duke William, (36, 37, and 38) who
gives orders to build ships, (39) which are
drawn to the sea ; (40) arms are taken to the
ship, and a cart is dragged with wine and
arms ; (41, 42, and 43) Duke William crosses
the sea in a great ship, and (44 and 45) comes
to Pevensey ; (46) the horses go out of the
ships, and (47) the knights speed to Hastings
to seek food ; (48) Wadard ; (49) meat is
cooked and the servants minister; (50) a
D 17
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
feast is made, and the bishop blesses the
food and drink ; (51) Bishop Odo, Robert
and William ; (52) the last commands that
a rampart be thrown up at Hastings ; the
camp ; (53) tidings of Harold are brought to
William ; a house is set on fire ; (54) the
knights leave Hastings, (55) and come (56)
to fight against King Harold ; (57 and 58)
Duke William asks Vital if he has seen
Harold's army ; (59) tidings of William's
army are announced to Harold ; (60 and 61)
Duke William exhorts his soldiers (62) to
prepare manfully (63) and wisely for the
battle (64, 65, and 66) against the army of
the English ; (67) Leofwyne (68 and 69) and
Gyrth, brothers of King Harold, fall ; (70)
English and French fall in battle at the same
time ; (71) Bishop Odo, holding a club,
(72) rallies the young troops ; Duke William ;
(73) the French fight, and (74 and 75) those
who are with Harold fall ; (76) King Harold
is slain, (77 to 79) and the English take to
flight. The tapestry ends here, but at one
time it included two or three further scenes.
This elaborate work may seem at first
sight to have been intended for domestic
ornament, but there are reasons for thinking
that such was not the case. To illustrate this
18
PLATE V
CHASUBLE of blue satin, with embroidery in gold thread and coloured
silks. Second half of XIII century. See pages 23, 24, and 25
NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH
point, it may be permitted to refer briefly to
a work of similar character, executed in the
preceding century, but now entirely lost. It
represented the brave deeds of Brihtnoth,
ealdorman of the East Saxons, who died
fighting with the Danes in the year 991.
The embroidery was wrought by his wife,
Aethelflaed, and given to the church at Ely.
Brihtnoth had, it is true, been a great
benefactor to the monastic foundation at
Ely, and this circumstance rendered the gift
specially appropriate. He had, moreover,
fallen in battle with the enemies of Chris-
tianity and of Christian institutions. In
like manner, the Norman ladies no doubt
regarded the expedition of their lords against
the forsworn Harold as being of the nature
of a crusade. A pictorial record may there-
fore have been worked by some of these ladies
as a gift to some cathedral or monastic
foundation in Normandy. Mr. F. R. Fowke *
is of opinion that it was ordered by Bishop
Odo of Bayeux for his cathedral, and worked
by Normans in the vicinity of that city. The
evidence of the armour, of the costume, and
* " The Bayeux Tapestry." This work, the most com-
plete and reliable existing on the subject, is the authority
for the few facts here recorded.
19
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
of the style generally, point to the con-
clusion that the work was done within a few
years of the events which it portrays. It can
be traced back in documents as far as the year
1476, when it is referred to in an inventory
of the ornaments of Bayeux Cathedral.*
At that time it belonged to the cathedral,
and was hung round the nave on stated
occasions. In the eighteenth century it was
still exhibited in the same manner. It is re-
puted then to have been annually hung up
on St. John's Day,f and to have gone exactly
round the nave of the cathedral, where it
remained for eight days. When not ex-
hibited, the tapestry was kept in a press.
In the time of Napoleon's wars, the
tapestry was placed on a transport waggon
as a covering, but was rescued by the Com-
missary of Police. In 1803, it was sent to
Paris by order of the First Consul, and shown
in the Musde Napoleon, but it was returned in
the following year. It was soon afterwards
* " Une tente tres longue et etroite de telle a broderie
de ymages et escupteaulx faisans representation du conquest
d'Angleterre, laquelle est tendue environ la nef de 1'eglise
le jour et par les octaves des Reliques " (Feast of Relics,
July i.)
t Ducarel, "Anglo-Norman Antiquities" (1767).
20
PLATE VIA
Detail of the Syon Cope.
NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH
placed in the H6tel de Ville at Bayeux,
and exhibited by the barbarous method of
winding from one cylinder to another. A
building was at last erected for its reception,
where it has been on view almost without
interruption since 1842. In that year it was
relined, and the injured portions restored.
Very few examples of English needlework
of the twelfth century are known. There is
some doubt as to the correctness of the tra-
dition which assigns to Archbishop Thomas
a Becket, of Canterbury (martyred 1170), the
beautiful chasuble and mitre in Sens Cathe-
dral. The golden scrollwork with which
each is embroidered is of a simple and
dignified character. They may perhaps be
English, but the influence of Byzantine
tradition was still dominant, and national
characteristics had not strongly developed.
We are on safer ground with regard to some
important fragments preserved in the library
of Worcester Cathedral. These consist of
shreds of vestments, taken in the year 1870
from the stone coffin of a bishop, probably
William de Blois, who held the see from
1218 to 1236. Some portions of a silken
stole and maniple (?) are, beyond doubt,
earlier than this bishop's time, and may
21
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
well belong to the first half of the preceding
century. They are embroidered with gold
thread and silks of different colours or shades,
although the whole has now become almost
a uniform brown. Full-length figures of
Apostles and Prophets are separated by plain
straight bands. Some of the names may
still be read : they are BARTOLOMEVS,
IHOAN (sic\ [Ia]COBBVS, ANDRE[as],
PAVLVS, TADEVS, DANIEL.
Two other fragments are of similar
work (Plate 3). On one is the seated figure
of a king, with crown and sceptre, the name
ADELBERTVS being inscribed above.
It probably represents St. Ethelbert, King
of the East Angles, and patron of Here-
ford Cathedral, who was beheaded by King
Offa, of Mercia, in 794. The other figure
is that of a bishop in alb, chasuble, and
mitre, holding a pastoral staff of primitive
form. The inscription NICO[la]VS appears
to indicate that this figure represents St.
Nicholas of Bari, a saint who, as patron of
children (" Santa Claus "), was popular in
England as elsewhere throughout Christen-
dom. The figures are attenuated and ex-
pressionless, and do not compare favourably
with the earlier work at Durham.
22
PLATE VI f
PORTION OF CHASUBLE AT ANAGNI. Late XIII century
See pages 33 and 34
NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH
The cathedral library also contains some
later fragments'of embroidered silk vestments.
These were found in the year 1861 in the
stone coffin of Walter de Cantelupe, the
bishop who succeeded William de Blois,
and presided over the see from 1236 to
1266. The embroidery is in gold thread and
coloured silks.
The principal fragment represents a
number of kings, each with crown and
sceptre, seated amid scrolled foliage. The
arrangement suggests a tree of Jesse, a
popular subject with embroiderers. It appa-
rently belongs to the time of the bishop in
whose coffin it was found. Another fragment
of the same vestment (Plate 4), which appears
to have gone astray soon after its discovery,
has been lately acquired by the Victoria and
Albert Museum (No. 1380, 1901).*
It is interesting to compare these frag-
ments with a complete chasuble, perhaps a few
years later in date, in the museum (Plate 5).
* Some remarkable examples of embroidery were dis-
covered a few years ago in a tomb in Canterbury Cathedral.
They are the buskins and sandals of an archbishop, of silk,
embroidered with gold and silver thread. The tomb is
probably that of Archbishop Hubert Walter (1193-1205),
and the embroideries appear to be of about that time (see
Vetusta Monumenta^ vol. vii., pi. iv.)
23
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
This vestment has been much mutilated, and
it is now of the degenerate fiddle-shaped
pattern which has become popular in modern
times. The material is a blue satin with
embroidery of gold thread and coloured silks.
There is on the back a broad orphrey having
four quatrefoil compartments enclosing the
following subjects : The Crucifixion of our
Lord, the Virgin and Child, SS. Peter and
Paul, and the Stoning of St. Stephen. The
intervening spaces are covered with scroll-
work of the beautiful type characteristic of
the early Gothic period. The rest of the
back and the whole of the front are em-
broidered with lions and griffins enclosed by
scrollwork.
The chasuble can be traced back as far
as the year 1 786, when it formed the subject
of some correspondence in the Gentleman's
Magazine* There were then a stole and a
maniple belonging to it, embroidered with
heraldry, apparently indicating that they were
made for Margaret de Clare, wife of Edmund
Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall. The possessor
at the time of the correspondence had received
them from a gentleman in Wales, who had
* Vol. Ivi. pp. 298, 473, 584.
24
NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH
no traditional account of them. The work
belongs to the second half of the thirteenth
century. It shows an advance both in work-
manship and design, and stands on the
threshold of the greatest period of English
embroidery-
THE FOURTH CHAPTER
THE GREAT PERIOD (circa 1270-1330)
HE year 1300 may be taken to
indicate the middle of a period
of very high artistic attain-
ment in England. The excel-
lence is no less marked in
embroidery than in other branches. During
this period English embroidery was, in fact,
at its best. Surviving examples are to be
found in our own country, and also in France,
Italy, and Spain, and it may be elsewhere.
From them we may judge for ourselves
whether the fame which they acquired in
their day was justified. It is easy to see
faults in them. The heads are dispropor-
tionately large, the eyes too staring, the
colouring is sometimes unnatural — blue and
green, for example, being favourite colours for
the hair, — and the perspective is weak. With
all this, there is a venerableness and dignity
in the figures, and a genuine religious spirit,
which later and more correctly designed work
does not always possess ; and we are bound
to confess them to be more admirable than
26
THE GREAT PERIOD
many embroideries in which less faults are
to be enumerated.
That so many English vestments of this
early time are to be found abroad, need not
surprise us. There is documentary evidence
of some having been thus destined from the
first. For example, Edward I. made a gift
to Pope Boniface VIII. otzpluviale de opere
Anglicano, and payment is recorded to have
been made by his son Edward II. for a cope
which was to be sent to the pope as a present
from the queen. Royal gifts were also made
to churches of this country. An inventory *
of Canterbury Cathedral in 1315-16, records
the gift by Edward I. of a cope embroidered
with the Story of the Patriarch Joseph. The
inventories of this cathedral, as well as those
of London,! Lincoln, Peterborough, and
others, give evidence of an astonishing number
of embroidered vestments at that time in the
country.
The term opus Anglicum or opus Angli-
canum is applied specially to the work of this
* See Wickham Legg and St. John Hope, op. tit., p. 53.
t See "Two Inventories of the Cathedral Church of
St. Paul, London, dated respectively 1245 and 1402," by
Sub-dean W. Sparrow Simpson (Arch&ologia, vol. 1. p-
439).
27
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
period. In its broad sense it indicates simply
what the words imply, opus being of course
restricted to the work of the needle. Among
the characteristics of this " English work,'*
one which in itself has been considered to
afford sufficient evidence of such an origin is
found in the treatment of the faces. These are
generally worked in a kind of spiral starting
from the centre of the cheek; the effect is
afterwards emphasized by the pressure of a
heated iron instrument of rounded form.
There are other characteristics which will be
seen to be very usual in this opus Anglicanum
of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
The bearded figures generally present a
shaven upper lip, and the foreheads are
abnormally high and broad. The hair and
beard are often of an unnatural colour. Birds
are very frequently represented, particularly
in the spandrels of the canopies. As regards
architectural details, twisted or interlaced
columns are not uncommon, and a leopard's
head with protruding tongue — somewhat re-
sembling the mark used for English silver-
smiths' work — is often found, sometimes
taking the place of a capital. A peculiar
foliated lion's mask occurs in several ex-
amples. In foliage, the favourite types are
28
THE GREAT PERIOD
the vine, oak, and ivy — especially the first.
A great fondness is shown for the seraph
or cherub on the wheel, borrowed from the
vision of Ezekiel. Such angelic figures form
a prominent feature in English embroidery
from the thirteenth century to the sixteenth.
It is natural, too, that English saints should
be often represented. Among them, St.
Thomas of Canterbury and St. Edmund the
King and Martyr, occur most frequently.
Of course, it would not be safe to assign
an English origin to an embroidery showing
any one alone of the characteristics mentioned
above. No monopoly can be claimed for
some among them — such as the seraph and
the vine foliage, for example, — but where a
combination of these features is found, it is
fairly safe to conclude that the work is Eng-
lish. It is, of course, not possible to be
absolutely certain in every case ; but the
English origin of the examples about to
be described is strongly supported by the
evidence of the design and workmanship,
and often by tradition as well.
All are agreed that among English em-
broideries the " Syon " cope stands easily first
(Plate 6). It takes its name from the monastery
of Syon near Isleworth, which was built and
29
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
endowed in 1414-15 by Henry V. for Bridget-
tine nuns. The cope dates from the latter
half of the thirteenth century, and is conse-
quently older than that foundation ; but it
appears to have been taken there at an early
period. On the dissolution of the monas-
teries, the cope accompanied the nuns in
their wanderings through Flanders, France,
and Portugal. In the year 1830, the nuns
came back to England from Lisbon, and
brought the cope with them. Thirty-four
years later it became the property of the
nation, and found a permanent home at
South Kensington.
The embroidery is in gold, silver, and
silks of various colours, the linen ground
being completely hidden by needlework. The
*cope is covered with interlacing barbed
quatrefoils in red, with gold outline, the
intervening spaces being green. In the
middle, within the topmost quatrefoil is
represented our Lord seated on a throne,
holding the orb in His left hand, and stretch-
ing out His right arm to give His blessing
to His mother, who is seated on the throne
beside Him, with her hands upraised in
prayer. In the next quatrefoil below is the
Crucifixion, with St. John and the Virgin
30
THE GREAT PERIOD
Mary standing at the foot of the cross. In
the lowest quatrefoil is the Archangel Michael
transfixing the dragon with his lance. To
the right of the subject first described is
represented the Death of the Virgin Mary
in the presence of the Apostles, and, to the
left, her Burial. Beyond this last scene is
our Lord meeting St. Mary Magdalene in
the garden, and next, in the angle of the
cope, is St. Philip. To the left of the Cru-
cifixion group is St. Peter, and beyond,
St. Bartholomew. Below St. Peter is St.
Andrew. On the right side, next to the
scene representing the Death of the Virgin
Mary is our Saviour overcoming the Unbelief
of St. Thomas, and beyond, in the right
angle of the cope, St. James the Less. To
the right of the Crucifixion group is St.
Paul ; next, St. Matthew ; and below, St.
James the Greater. In the intervening spaces
are represented the three hierarchies of angels.
Two other figures, those of a layman and a
cleric, are placed near the long orphrey. Each
figure bears an inscribed scroll, which is now
fragmentary and illegible. This is, unfortu-
nately, not the only place where the cope has
been injured. There are now only nine
apostles, whereas there were originally twelve.
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
The heads of the three missing figures
may still be seen round the lower edge. It
was, perhaps, at the time of this curtailment
that the present orphrey, morse, and outer
border were added ; the last, as Mr. St. John
Hope has remarked, being made from a
stole and maniple.* Both orphrey and outer
band are covered with shields of arms, which
have been fully described by Dr. Rock.f
That eminent authority points out that many
of the shields belong to families well known
to have been living in the neighbourhood of
Coventry. He concludes that the orphreys,
as well as the cope, were embroidered in the
vicinity of that town.
There is in the Madrid Museum a cope,J
formerly at the Daroca College, which in
some respects resembles the Syon cope. The
subjects here are also enclosed by barbed
quatrefoils, these being united by coiling
dragons. Within the quatrefoils are repre-
sented the Crucifixion, the Annunciation, and
* A similar stole and maniple are in the possession of
Miss Weld, at Leagram Hall, Lancashire (see Proceedings
of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. xvii. p. 272).
t "Catalogue of Textile Fabrics in the South Ken-
sington Museum" (1870), p. 275.
\ Illustrated in La Broderie, by L. De Farcy, pi. 21
and 22.
32
THE GREAT PERIOD
the Story of the Creation. Angels, some
with instruments of music, others holding
crowns, occupy the intervening spaces. On
the orphrey are royal and ecclesiastical saints
under canopies. These canopies have the
lions' or leopards' heads, so frequently seen
in English work. The cope may have been
worked a few years after the Syon cope, but not
later than the end of the thirteenth century.
It is on record that Pope Boniface VIII.
made a gift to the cathedral at Anagni, near
Rome, of some English embroideries. The
treasury of the cathedral is very rich in em-
broidered vestments, but some difference of
opinion prevails as to which of them are
English. I have never seen the vestments, but
from an examination of photographs, I am
convinced that a cope, a chasuble (Plate 7),
and two dalmatics are all entirely of English
embroidery, with the exception of the orphrey
of the chasuble, which is German, and added
probably at the time that this and the dalmatics
were made from fragments of copes.* On
the cope are scenes from the history of our
Lord and of the Virgin Mary, arranged in a
series of circular compartments, with angels
* The chasuble (not a cope) illustrated by Lady Alford
(" Needlework as Art," pi. 60, p. 319) is, I think, German.
F 33
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
swinging censers in the intervening spaces.
The chasuble and the two dalmatics are
apparently made from two copes. The first
is embroidered with scenes from the life and
miracles of St. Nicholas; fragments of this
are also included in the dalmatics. Among
the other scenes represented on the dalmatics
are the martyrdoms of St. Thomas of Canter-
bury and St. Edmund the King.
A fine cope from Ascoli, now in the posses-
sion of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan (Plates 8, 9)
is somewhat similar in arrangement to that
at Anagni. The three circular compartments
down the middle enclose representations of
the Head of our Lord, the Crucifixion, and
the Virgin and Child with two angels holding
candelabra. In the other circles are represented
the martyrdoms of St. Peter and the follow-
ing popes : Marcellus (drawing a harrow),
John, Clement (thrown into the sea), Stephen
(decapitated), Fabianus ; then six canonized
popes — SS. Silvester, Hilarius, Leo, Gregory,
Lucius, and Anastasius ; and lastly, four
popes of the thirteenth century — Alexander,
Urban, Clement, and Innocent. The orphrey
is embroidered in gold with circles and
lozenges interlaced, and the small triangular
hood has two angels swinging censers.
34
PLATE IX
Detail of the Ascoli Cope shown in Plate VIII.
THE GREAT PERIOD
At St. Bertrand de Comminges, in the
department of Var, France, are preserved two
copes, evidently of English workmanship.
They are reputed to have been the gift of
Bertrand de Goth, at one time bishop of the
diocese, later transferred to Bordeaux, and
finally elevated to the papacy in 1300, taking
the name of Clement V. The gift is said to
have been made on the occasion of a visit
by him to his old cathedral in 1309. One
of the copes is covered with small circles
and ovals linked together, and having quaint
reptiles at the intersections. The circles
enclose figures of prophets, and within the
ovals are birds. The larger intervening
spaces are filled with scenes in the Passion
of our Lord. On the hood is our Lord
enthroned, with the Virgin Mary seated
beside him.*
The copes of Syon, Daroca, Anagni,
Ascoli, and St. Bertrand de Comminges, all
agree in having their entire surface broken
up into formal spaces — quatrefoils, circles,
or ovals. Another class exhibits a more
directly architectural arrangement — Gothic
* The other cope at St. Bertrand de Comminges is
described on p. 44. Both are illustrated in De Farcy, op.
«V.,pL 31.
35
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
arcading in successive zones. Copes of this
type are preserved at Toledo, in St. John
Lateran at Rome, at Bologna, and at Pienza.
Another, in fragments, was formerly kept at
Mount St. Mary's College, Chesterfield. It
has in the middle the following subjects :
our Lord and the Virgin Mary enthroned (at
the top), the Adoration of the Magi (in the
middle), and the Annunciation (below). The
arcades on either side are formed of inter-
lacing oak stems with masks, and enclose
figures of saints and apostles, with angels in
the spandrels. On the embroidered orphrey
are figures of episcopal and royal saints.
This cope belongs to the early years of the
fourteenth century.
The fine cope in Toledo Cathedral (Plates
10, n) is said to have belonged to the Cardi-
nal Gil de Albornoz (d. 1367), and is appa-
rently referred to in his will (pluviale . . . de
opere Anglicano). It is earlier than his time,
however, and must have been embroidered in
the later years of the thirteenth century. The
design is in gold thread and coloured silks
on a gold-embroidered ground. On a vertical
band in the middle are the Annunciation, the
Nativity, and our Lord enthroned with the
Virgin Mary. Gothic arcading is arranged
36
y
PLATE XI
Detail of Cope shown in Plate X.
THE GREAT PERIOD
in three zones on either side of this band.
Within the uppermost zone are represented
— on the right, the Assumption of the Virgin
and an angel announcing to the Virgin her
approaching death ; and on the left, the Holy
Trinity and the Virgin with the Infant
Saviour. In the next zone are the following
figures of Apostles : SS. Paul, Simon, Philip,
James, Andrew, Thomas, Bartholomew, and
Peter. In the outer zone are the following
saints : a bishop (unnamed), John the Evan-
gelist, Edward the Confessor, Lawrence, Mary
Magdalene, Ethelbert, Dunstan, Margaret,
Catherine of Alexandria, Thomas of Canter-
bury, Olave, Stephen, Helena, Dionysius,
Edmund the King, and John the Baptist.
Peacocks and other birds rest on the finials.
The orphrey has figures of bishops, a king,
and a queen under canopies, with angels
between.*
The cope in the Basilica of St. John
Lateran, Rome, called the "cope of St.
Sylvester/' f is of the same period as that at
Toledo. The ground is of gold embroidery,
with three main rows of arcading, and two
* See British Museum, " Report on the Historical Exhi-
bition at Madrid, 1892." By C. H. Read,
t See De Farcy, op. cit., pi. 43.
37
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
lesser rows dividing them. The scenes repre-
sented are from the Life of our Lord, and
of the Virgin Mary, and the Martyrdoms of
Saints. In the intervening spaces are angels
with musical instruments. The columns are
interlaced, and octagons enclosing birds are
substituted for capitals — a remarkable feature.
On the orphrey are figures of royal personages,
bishops, and four angels accompanied by the
symbols of the Evangelists.
The Bologna cope is preserved in the
Civic Museum there (Plate 12). It has, in the
outermost zone, the Annunciation, the Salu-
tation, the Nativity, the Angel appearing to
the Shepherds, the Journey into Egypt, the
Massacre of the Innocents, the Presentation
in the Temple, the Magi before Herod, the
Journey and Adoration of the Magi, the
Angel warning the Magi, and the Martyr-
dom of St. Thomas a Becket. In the next
zone are, the Triumphal Entry into Jeru-
salem, the Betrayal, the Scourging, the Cruci-
fixion, the Resurrection, the Descent into
Hades, and our Lord meeting St. Mary
Magdalene in the Garden. The lower span-
drels are occupied by angels with instruments
of music, and the upper by angels with
crowns. Between the rows are busts of
38
THE GREAT PERIOD
saints, and in the middle at the top are two
angels swinging censers. The introduction
of a scene representing the Martyrdom of
the English archbishop, at the end of the
lowest arcade, is remarkable, since the other
scenes are all taken from the Gospel History.
A very beautiful cope preserved at Pienza
was presented by Pope Pius II. (1458-1464),
a native of that place (Plate 13). There is,
however, little risk of error in assigning to
it an English origin. In general arrange-
ment it is similar to the Toledo cope, and it
cannot be much later in date. The subjects,
represented in three zones, are taken from
the History of our Lord and of the Virgin
Mary, and from the legends of St. Margaret
and St. Catherine of Alexandria. The lower
spandrels contain figures of the twelve
apostles, each holding a scroll inscribed
with a part of the Apostles' Creed. The
upper spandrels have figures of Old Testa-
ment kings and prophets.
Some embroideries recently acquired by
the Victoria and Albert Museum, may be
compared with the vestments referred to
above. They form the upper sides of five
small cushions formerly in Catworth Church,
Huntingdonshire, and have been sold to the
39
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
Museum with the permission of the bishop
of the diocese (Plate 14). These fragments
appear to have at one time formed parts of a
vestment. The work is in gold thread and
silks on a silk ground, now faded to pale
brown. The subjects are figures of apostles
and saints beneath canopies. The shields of
arms beneath some of the figures are of great
interest — as giving a close date to the work.
The arms are those of Clinton and Leyburne.
William de Clinton, first Earl of Huntingdon,
married Juliana de Leyburne in 1329; and
the embroideries, doubtless, have some con-
nection with that event.
A very beautiful example of embroidery *
of about the same period as the Catworth
cushions, or perhaps a few years earlier, is
partly illustrated in colour on Plate B (also
Plate 15). It is a band of deep red velvet, the
embroidery being in gold, silver, and coloured
silks. The band is in two sections, and may
perhaps have formed the apparels of an alb.
There are ten subjects included within an
arcade of broad arches, and separated from
one another by delicately wrought buttresses.
The first five subjects are taken from the life
of the Virgin Mary, and are as follows : the
* Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 8128, 1863.
40
PLATE XIII
PORTION OF THE COPE AT PIENZA.
Early XIV century
See page 39
PLATE XIV
CUSHIONS, from Catworth Church, embroidered in gold thread and silks
on a silk ground. Early XIV century. See pages 39 and 40
THE GREAT PERIOD
Angel appearing to Anna; the Meeting of
Anna and Joachim at the Golden Gate ; and
the Birth, Presentation, and Education of the
Virgin. The others are from the history of
our Lord : The Annunciation, the Salutation,
the Nativity, the Angel appearing to the
Shepherds, and the Journey of the Magi.
In the spandrels are embroidered shields of
arms of Thornell and Fitton. The work is
simple, yet of the utmost delicacy. A more
exquisite production of the needle could
hardly be imagined.
Two other embroideries in the Victoria
and Albert Museum belong to the close of
the thirteenth century. Both are parts of
orphreys, embroidered in gold and coloured
silks on linen with figures of saints beneath
canopies, having birds in the spandrels (Plate
16). The first is from the Hochon collection,
and has figures of the Apostles : SS. Matthias,
James the Greater, Andrew, and Paul.
On the second* are figures of St. John
the Evangelist and St. Mary Magdalene.
The British Museum possesses a remark-
able panel of embroidery, worked upon linen
in gold thread and coloured silks on a gold
ground. It represents our Lord discoursing
* No. 614, 1898.
G 41
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
to a group of Apostles, and the Betrayal ;
these subjects being enclosed by Gothic arches.
In the spandrels are six-winged seraphs. The
work belongs to the end of the thirteenth cen-
tury ; the embroidered inscription, MCCCXC
ROMA, on the central capital, testifies that
the panel had travelled as far as Rome by
that date.
Descriptions have now been given of
examples showing arrangements of formal
panels and zones of arcading. There remains
a third class, in which the subjects are en-
closed by branch-work with foliage. This
arrangement is, perhaps, a somewhat later
development ; and there are probably no
embroideries of this type earlier than the
beginning of the fourteenth century. The
example most generally accessible is the
fine red silk cope in the Victoria and Albert
Museum (Plates 17, 18).* It has been sadly
mutilated, but most of the figures remain.
The subject is a Tree of Jesse. From the
recumbent figure of Jesse springs a vine,
whose branches cover the whole ground of
the cope and encircle the various figures. In
the middle are David, Solomon, and the
* No. 175, 1889. The red ground has kept its colour in
a remarkable manner.
42
PLATE XVI
PORTIONS OF ORPHREYS,
embroidered in gold and coloured silks
on linen. Late XIII and XIV century
See pages 41 and 47
THE GREAT PERIOD
Virgin with the Infant Saviour ; within the
lateral branches are figures of kings and
prophets, each holding a scroll inscribed with
the name. The cope has been at some time
cut to pieces, and parts of it used for other
purposes. From the year 1718 to 1857-8 it
was kept in the Roman Catholic chapel at
Brockhampton, near Havant. It was after-
wards in the possession of the Rev. F. H.
Van Doorne at Corpus Christi House, Brixton
Rise ; from him it was bought by the Museum.
A green velvet orphrey, embroidered with
figures of angels and saints, has been pre-
served with the fragments, but it evidently
did not belong to the cope originally.
Another example of great interest is pre-
served in the church at Steeple Aston in
Oxfordshire. It is a cope which has been
cut to serve as an altar-frontal (Plate 19). The
ground is of silk, now faded to a pale buff-
colour, the embroidery being in gold thread
and coloured silks. Interlacing stems of oak
and ivy, joined by foliated masks, enclose
representations of the martyrdoms of saints,
and heraldic lions. The orphreys are of
remarkable design. They have figures of
angels playing on musical instruments and
mounted on horseback — an unusual way of
43
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
representing these celestial beings. Separ-
ating these figures are panels with animals
and fishes. The ground of the orphreys is
of gold thread.
A cope at St. Bertrand de Comminges*
resembles in many points the mutilated silk
cope at South Kensington. It also is of silk,
covered by curious interlacing stems of ivy,
oak, and vine. Upon these stems are placed
foliated masks and leopards' heads with pro-
truding tongues. Figures of the Apostles
and St. John the Baptist stand upon the
stems. In the middle is a seated figure of
the Virgin with the Infant Saviour, and above,
two angels playing musical instruments.!
There is in the monastery of Molk, near
Vienna, a fine specimen of English work of
the period, a silk chasuble, embroidered with
the Crucifixion.^
One more example should be mentioned.
It is a strip from the middle of a cope, having
for subject a Tree of Jesse. From the figure
* See p. 35.
t This cope has been much injured. The very incon-
gruous hood is of French brocade of the period of Louis
XV.
t Illustrated in Dreger, " Kiinstlerische Entwicklung der
Weberei," pi. 178.
44
PLATE XVIII
Detail of Cope shown in Plate XVII.
THE GREAT PERIOD
of Jesse ascends a vine which encloses repre-
sentations of David, Solomon, the Virgin and
Child, and the Crucifixion. Within the lesser
foliations are half-length figures of prophets.
This embroidery, formerly in the Spitzer Col-
lection, is now in the Musee des Tissus at
Lyons.*
* See illustration in Cox, " L'Art de decorer les
Tissus," pi. xi.
45
THE FIFTH CHAPTER
DECLINE AND REVIVAL (circa 1330-
1530
N following the course of the
embroiderer's art in this
country during the fourteenth
century, it soon becomes ap-
parent that the excellence
which marked the opening years of that
period was not to be maintained. The
decline is noticeable in more ways than one.
The careful embroidering of the faces — a
characteristic excellence of the flourishing
time — is seen no longer, and the work gene-
rally loses its precision and fineness. The
design follows the same downward course.
Figures become squat and awkward, and the
emblems of the saints are sometimes omitted
altogether, rendering the identification hazard-
ous. The graceful crockets relieving the
outlines of the canopies degenerate into
clumsy and formless foliations, which often
entirely fill the spandrels, to the exclusion of
the angels and birds found at an earlier period.
Examples of this time are not numerous,
nor do any show a very great degree of skill.
46
•s
I
*-
»d
s,
DECLINE AND REVIVAL
The first symptoms of degeneracy are
noticeable in an orphrey at South Ken-
sington (No. 828, 1903) acquired from the
Hochon collection. It is of linen em-
broidered in gold thread and coloured silks,
with the following saints : Helena, James the
Less, Paul the Apostle, Lawrence, Bartholo-
mew, Catherine of Alexandria, Andrew and
another (Plate 16). The canopies are sup-
ported by twisted columns, and have large
foliated crockets. This orphrey was probably
embroidered shortly before the middle of the
fourteenth century.*
As the century advances, the work loses
still more of its fine qualities. An illustration
will be found in a series of small panels
representing scenes in the history of the
Virgin Mary f (Plate 20). They are as
follows : The meeting of Anna and Joachim
at the Golden Gate ; the Birth, Presentation,
Education, and Marriage of the Virgin;
the Annunciation ; the Salutation ; the Virgin
* Photographs of two English embroidered orphreys,
with the shields of King Edward III. and John Grandison,
Bishop of Exeter (1328-1369), were exhibited at the meet-
ing of the Society of Antiquaries, December 17, 1896 (see
Proceedings).
t Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 28, 1892.
47
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
and Child, the Birth of the Saviour; the
Angel appearing to the Shepherds ; the
Purification of the Virgin ; the Flight into
Egypt ; the Massacre of the Innocents ;
and the Repose during the Flight. A com-
parison of these subjects with similar scenes
in the velvet band, illustrated in Plate B
and Plate 15, shows very distinctly the con-
trast between the work of the beginning
and the end of the century.
There is in the British Museum an em-
broidery which appears to show that even at
the end of the century work of a high class
was possible.* It consists of two panels,
now let into the modern leather binding
of a Psalter of the end of the thirteenth
century. The MS. belonged, in the latter
half of the fourteenth century, to Anne
(daughter of Sir Simon Felbrigge, K.G.),
a nun of Bruisyard in Suffolk, who is sup-
posed to have worked the embroidery. The
subjects are, the Annunciation and the Cruci-
fixion, worked on canvas in coloured silks.f
A chasuble of red brocaded damask in
the Victoria and Albert Museum (No. 935,
* The date may, however, be a little earlier,
t One panel is illustrated in Davenport, " English Em-
broidered Bookbindings," pi. 3.
48
PLATE XXI
BROCADE CHASUBLE, with embroidered orphrey. Late XIV century
See pages 48 and 49
PLATE XXII
ALTAR FRONTAL. XV and Early XVI centuries. Seepage 49
DECLINE AND REVIVAL
1901) has on the back an embroidered orphrey *
dating from the latter half of the fourteenth
century (Plate 21). At the top of the orphrey
is the risen Saviour meeting St. Mary Mag-
dalene in the garden. A male and a female
saint stand beneath each of the other canopies ;
one of the figures, a crowned abbess in a
black mantle, with a pastoral staff, probably
represents the royal abbess, St. Etheldreda
(St. Audrey) of Ely.
An altar-frontal (Plate 22) f acquired with
the chasuble is, like that, provided with em-
broidered orphreys of different dates. The
central and right orphreys are of the fifteenth
century.^ The former is now T-shaped,
and has for subject the Crucifixion of our
Lord ; the Virgin Mary and St. John stand
at the foot of the Cross, and two angels
receive the Sacred Blood in chalices. Beneath
are figures of St. Andrew and a female saint
* The front orphrey is chiefly of early sixteenth cen-
tury work. The damask is Italian weaving of the fifteenth
century. A shield of arms (Boteler impaling Le Strange)
has been applied to the back orphrey.
t No. 817, 1901.
1 The left orphrey is of early sixteenth century work.
They have all been taken from chasubles. The frontal
appears to have been brought into its present form in the
sixteenth century.
H 49
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
under canopies. On the right orphrey are
SS. Mary Magdalene (?), Bartholomew,
and Apollonia. The whole work is very
poor. The figures are short and clumsy;
the twisted columns have been replaced by
square pillars, and the foliations filling the
spandrels are large and misshapen.
Towards the close of the fifteenth century,
English ecclesiastical embroidery developed
a marked style, differing considerably from
that of earlier periods, and easily distin-
guished from contemporary foreign work.
Vestments dating from the half-century im-
mediately preceding the suppression of the
monasteries still remain in churches, others
are in private possession or in museums.
Many have found their way abroad at different
times, and through various causes, and some
of these have not yet gained recognition as
English work.*
The favourite ground material is a plain
velvet, although satin is frequently used, and
sometimes silk damask. The following is
* A characteristic piece in the museum at Padua, is
stated in the catalogue to be Flemish. See A. Moschetti,
" Museo Civico di Padova," pi. xxvi. In the Somzee col-
lection sold by auction at Brussels in June, 1904, two
examples of English work were also catalogued as Flemish.
50
PLATE XXIII
PORTION OF A COPE, deep purple velvet, embroidered with gold and
silver thread and coloured silks. About 1500. See page 53
DECLINE AND REVIVAL
generally the scheme of ornamentation of the
copes : A central subject, frequently the
Assumption of the Virgin, is surrounded by
numerous devices disposed in a radiating
manner, so as to fall into position when the
cope is worn. The devices are chiefly double-
headed eagles, fleurs-de-lys, Tudor roses, and
others of a floral character ; they are usually
extended by a curious arrangement of radi-
ating lines, dotted with spangles, a feature
which adds considerably to the lightness and
gracefulness of the work, and helps to soften
the contrast between the gold embroidery
and the dark ground. Among these devices
are almost always placed a number of six-
winged seraphs, standing upon wheels
(evidently borrowed from the description of
Ezekiel's vision), and holding scrolls inscribed
usually with the legend DA GLORIAM
DEO.* Chasubles and altar-frontals gene-
rally have devices of the same type ; frequently
they bear evidence of having been made from
copes. The orphreys are usually of linen,
* An inventory of the cathedral of Lincoln mentions
" six copes of red velvet of one suit, broidered with angels
having this scripture, "Da gloriam Deo," with orphreys
of needlework. (See Pugin, "Glossary of Ecclesiastical
Ornament," p. 79.)
51
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
embroidered with saints under canopies,
often on a gold-embroidered ground.
The canopies show a Gothic tendency in
some instances, but more frequently they are
of a Renaissance character.
We have had occasion to notice early in
our history (p. 7) the custom among kings
and persons of high rank of presenting their
robes to be altered for ecclesiastical purposes.
Even as late as the sixteenth century, the
practice had not died out. In the will of Sir
Ralph Verney the younger, proved in 1525,
occurs the following clause : * "I will that
the gownes of dame Anne Verney, late my
wife, doo make vestiments to be given to
Churches, according to the discrecion of myne
Executours."
One of the earliest examples of embroidery
belonging to this class is in the church at
Cirencester in Gloucestershire. It appears
to have been originally a cope, but it has
been much mutilated, and adapted for use
as a pulpit-hanging. The ground is of blue
velvet, with embroidery of angels and floral
devices. One of the angels holds a shield of
arms, with the inscription, " Orate pro anima
domini Rodulphi Parsons." The monumental
* Quoted in Archaologia, vol. xxxvi. p. 222.
52
PLATE C
BACK OF A CHASUBLE, of embroidered velvet. Early XVI century.
See page 53
DECLINE AND REVIVAL
brass of Ralph Parsons is preserved in the
church. He died in the year 1478.
A fine cope, a few years later in date, was
acquired not long ago by the Victoria and
Albert Museum (Plate 23.)* It is of deep purple
velvet, embroidered with gold and silver thread
and coloured silks. The subject in the middle
is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
Above are two fleurs-de-lys, and below two
roses. On the scrolls held by the three sur-
rounding angels is the legend GLORIA IN
EXCELSIS DEO. The remaining space
is covered with floral devices of the usual
character. On the hood is a seated figure of
the Almighty Father, with three souls in a
napkin. The orphreys have figures of apostles
and saints beneath canopies of Gothic cha-
racter. The date is about the year 1500.
The chasuble reproduced in colour (Plate
C) is of velvet. The Crucifixion of our Lord,
an appropriate subject for the cross-shaped
orphrey at the back of a chasuble, occurs on
this example, and also on a purple velvet
chasuble in the museum (No. 665, 1896).
Both belong to the early years of the six-
teenth century.
Two copes of the same period in the
* No. 1376, 1901.
53
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
museum, of blue and red velvet respectively,
have been cut down to serve as altar-frontals.
The central subject on each is the Assump-
tion of the Virgin Mary.
Another cope (Plate 24),* in good preserva-
tion, is of Italian crimson silk damask, the
orphrey being of dark green velvet. In the
middle of the cope is the Assumption of
the Virgin, the angels above haying scrolls
with the inscription DA GLORIA[m] DEO.
A chasuble, also of Italian material, a
figured velvet, was found with some other
vestments, a small portable altar, a crucifix,
candlesticks, and other objects, in an oak
chest in a farmhouse at Abbey Dore.f
There are many embroideries of this
type and period belonging to cathedrals and
churches in England. Besides the cope at
Cirencester already described (p. 52) there
are important examples in Ely, Carlisle, and
Salisbury Cathedrals, at Chipping Campden
and Littledean in Gloucestershire, at East
Langdon in Kent, at Skenfrith in Hereford-
shire, at Careby in Lincolnshire, at Buckland
and Stoulton in Worcestershire, at Lutterworth
* No. 230, 1879.
t The collection has been purchased by the museum,
after being on loan for some years.
54
PLATE
XXIV
PORTION OF A COPE, of crimson silk damask, with
orphrey of dark green velvet. About 1500. See page 54
DECLINE AND REVIVAL
in Leicestershire, at Culmstock in Devon-
shire, at Chedzoy and Pilton in Somersetshire,
at Wool in Dorsetshire, at Sutton Benger
and Hullavington in Wiltshire, at Romsey in
Hampshire, at Lyng in Norfolk, at Forest
Hill in Oxfordshire, at St. Gregory's Church,
Norwich, at Warrington in Lancashire, and
at Oscott College. The cope at Chipping
Campden is especially remarkable. It is of
red velvet, powdered with crowns and stars,
and has embroidered orphreys (Plate 25).
The embroidery at East Langdon is one
of the most beautiful existing examples of the
later part of the fifteenth century * (Plate 26).
It was originally a cope of red velvet, but it
has been curtailed, perhaps for use as a pulpit-
hanging. The subject in the middle is the
Annunciation. The Virgin Mary is kneeling
at a prayer-desk, and the angel Gabriel appears
before her with a long scroll bearing his
message, " Ave gra[tia] plena Dns [Dominus]
tecu[m]." On the scroll above the Virgin is
her response, " Ecce ancilla d[omi]ni fiat
michi secun[dum verbum tuum]." Under
the group is inscribed, " Orate pro anima .
* See ArchcBologia Cantiana, vol. xi. pp. 10-23. There
is no need for the supposition that the embroidery may be
of different dates.
55
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
lohis. . . ." The ground below is strewn
with flowers, and between the two figures is
a lily in a vase. The surrounding devices
present an unusual feature; upon them are
monograms representing the word MARIA
and the sacred monogram IHC.
The cope at Skenfrith is of velvet ; the
subject in the middle is the Virgin Mary
borne aloft by three angels, with other angels
around. The rest of the cope is covered with
double-headed eagles, fleurs-de-lys, and floral
devices. On the hood is a seated figure of
the Virgin Mary holding the Infant Saviour
in her arms. The orphrey is embroidered
with figures of saints beneath canopies.
A chasuble* at Hullavington has been
converted into a square hanging for an altar.
The cross-shaped orphrey from the back
represents the Crucifixion of our Lord, with
St. Mary Magdalene under a canopy below.
Fragments of the front orphrey are placed at
the corners. The remaining space is covered
with seraphim holding scrolls inscribed " Da
Gloriam Deo/' fleurs-de-lys, and other floral
devices.
At Wool, a brown velvet pulpit-hanging
* Illustrated in Proceedings of the Society of Anti-
quaries, vol. xvii. p. 242.
56
PLATE XXV
PORTION OF THE CHIPPING CAMPDEN COPE.
Late XV century. See page 55
< X
J x
DECLINE AND REVIVAL
has been made from a cope ; and at Careby,
in Lincolnshire, is a red velvet altar-frontal
also cut from a cope. The embroidered
fragment at Lutterworth, which has been
attributed to the time of Wicklif, bears
characteristic devices of the later years of
the fifteenth century.
An altar-cloth* at Lyng, preserves the
remains of three vestments : (a) a cope of
blue velvet, with cherubim and seraphim,
double - headed eagles, and conventional
flowers ; (ft) small portions of a cope of red
velvet, with half-length figures of prophets ;
(y) small portions of a vestment of orange
velvet, with conventional flowers. Fragments
of the orphreys are also included.
At Littledean, an altar-cloth or herse-
cloth is made of pieces of tunicles, the orphreys
having figures of saints under canopies. A
desk-hanging at Sutton Bengerf is similar
to the cloth at Littledean. It has been much
mutilated in the process of transformation
from a vestment. The altar-cloths at Nor-
wich and Buckland have been made from
copes.
Altar-frontals, though frequently made
* Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. xii. p. 252.
t Ibid., vol. xvii. p. 242.
i 57
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
from vestments, do not always owe their
origin to such a destructive practice. Fine
examples, well worthy of examination, exist
in the churches of Chipping Campden and
Alveley, and of St. Thomas a Becket at Salis-
bury ; another from Baunton Church is now
in the possession of Mrs. Chester Master.
The Chipping Campden frontal, like the
cope mentioned on p. 54, has a ground of
Italian damask of the later part of the
fifteenth century (Plate 27). In the middle is
the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The
floral patterns in horizontal rows on either
side are simple and effective.*
The frontal at Salisbury f has the Annun-
ciation for its central subject. The Virgin
Mary kneels to receive the angelic message ;
between the two figures is a tall lily; and
above the Virgin hovers the Holy Dove. The
surrounding space is covered with half-length
figures of angels, double-headed eagles, fleurs-
de-lys, and other designs, worked in gold
thread and coloured silks.
* See Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. xi.
p. 408.
t Figured in Hoare's "Wiltshire," plate opposite p. 589;
and in Mrs. M. Barber, " Some Drawings of Ancient
Embroidery."
58
PLATE XXVII
PORTION OF ALTAR FRONTAL AT CHIPPING CAMPDEN.
Late XV century. See page 58
DECLINE AND REVIVAL
The frontal from Baunton is of satin in
alternate breadths of red and yellow, the em-
broidery being in gold thread and coloured
silks (Plate 28). The main subject is the
Crucifixion of our Lord, with an elaborate
rebus below;* on either side are double-
headed eagles at regular intervals. The
frontal at Alveley church is of somewhat
similar arrangement.f
Two chasubles from Hexham J have
evidently been made from copes, as the radi-
ating arrangement of the devices testifies.
One is of crimson velvet; the cross-shaped
orphrey is a curious example of patchwork,
the left transom being made from the cope
morse, and the right transom from odd frag-
ments. The other chasuble, of blue velvet,
has no figures ; the floral designs are, how-
ever, very beautiful, and render this vestment
well worthy of study (Plate 29.)
A third chasuble from Hexham § was
* Suggested explanations of the rebus will be found in
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries y vol. xviii. p. 78.
t Illustrated in Mrs. M. Barber, " Some Drawings of
Ancient Embroidery," pis. 28 and 29.
| Now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Nos. 695
and 696, 1902.
§ No. 967, 1902.
59
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
used for requiem masses, and may have been
cut from a funeral pall. It is of black velvet,
with crimson velvet orphreys (Plate 30).
Angels are blowing trumpets to awake the
dead, and hold scrolls with the words
SURGITE MORTUI and VENITE AD
JUDICIUM. Figures of the rising dead
are also represented, and angels bearing
scrolls inscribed JUSTORUM ANIME and
IN MANU DEI SUNT (Book of Wisdom,
iii. i). The initials R. T. with the pastoral
staff and mitre, and the rebus, doubtless have
reference to the bishop or abbot to whom
the chasuble belonged.
Funeral palls of rich workmanship must
at one time have existed in large numbers.
Leland relates that, at the funeral of Prince
Arthur in 1502, when the offerings of money
had been made, " the Lord Powys went to
the Queere Doore, where Two Gentlemen
Ushers delivered him a riche Palle of Cloth
of Gould of Tyssue, which he offred to the
Corpse, where Two Officers of Armes received
it, and laid it along the Corpse. The Lord of
Dudley in like Manner offred a Palle, which
the said officers laid over the Corpse. The
Lord Greye Ruthen offred another : and every
each of the Three Earles offred to the Corpse
60
PLATE XXVIII
PORTION OF ALTAR FRONTAL FROM BAUNTON, now in the
possession of Mrs. Chester Master. Late XV century
See pages 58 and 59
PLATE XXIX
CHASUBLE, blue velvet, embroidered with floral designs.
Late XV century. See page 59
DECLINE AND REVIVAL
Three Palles of the same Cloth of Gould : the
Lowest Earle began first. Alle. the Palles
were layd crosse over the Corpse." *
Such palls were formerly possessed by
almost every guild or fraternity of import-
ance, for use at the burial of members. They
were sometimes of a plain rectangular form,
and sometimes provided with lappets to fall
down the sides of the coffin.
Examples are to be seen at Worcester,
Norwich, Dunstable, Sudbury, and elsewhere,
and several are in the possession of London
companies. The embroideries on the muni-
cipal pall at Sudbury may be compared with
the chasuble from Hexham. The pall is of
velvet, and is embroidered with figures of
the dead in shrouds, the inscriptions on the
scrolls being taken from the " Office of
Matins for the Dead " and the " Litany of the
Faithful Departed." It is of late fifteenth
century work (Plate 31). The black pall in
St. Gregory's Church, Norwich, has figures of
angels bearing the souls of the departed.
The pall in the church at Dunstable t is
* Quoted in Michel, " Recherches sur le Commerce . . .
des Etoffes," L, p. 146.
t Illustrated in Lady Alford's "Needlework as Art,"
pi. 79. See also " Dunstable," by W. G. Smith, pp. 91-94 ;
61
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
said to have been originally presented to the
Fraternity of St. John the Baptist at that
place by Henry Fayrey (d. 1516). The
material is velvet and cloth of gold. On it
are embroidered figures of the Virgin Mary
and St. John the Baptist, and several members
of the Fayrey family, with the arms of the
Mercers* and Haberdashers' Companies.
The Worcester pall is in the possession
of the Clothiers' Company of that city. It
bears every indication of having been made
from church vestments. The long em-
broidered bands with figures of saints are
parts of orphreys, and the embroidered de-
vices on the velvet — angels, double-headed
eagles, fleurs-de-lys, etc. — are frequently found,
as we have seen, on vestments of the end of
the fifteenth century.
A fine pall * of the same period is in the
possession of the Saddlers' Company of Lon-
don. The ground is of crimson velvet, em-
broidered with angels surrounding the sacred
monogram IHS, and with the arms of the
company. The inscription in large Gothic
and Proceedings of tJie Society of Antiquaries, vol. viii
P- 432.
* Illustrated in Shaw's "Dresses and Decorations of
the Middle Ages," pi. 89.
62
PLATE XXX
CHASUBLE, black velvet, with crimson velvet orphreys.
About 1500. See pages 59 and 60
DECLINE AND REVIVAL
letters is the last verse of the Te Deum:
"InTe D[omi]ne Speravi no[n] Co[n]fundar
In Eternu[m]." The pall is still placed on the
table, when a new-comer is sworn, as a token
of the vacancy.*
The pall of the Fishmongers' Company
also belongs to the end of the fifteenth cen-
tury. At one end is embroidered a figure of
St. Peter (as the patron saint of fishermen)
enthroned, with angels on either side swing-
ing censers, and, at the other end, the Apostle
receiving the keys from our Lord. The pall
is also embroidered with New Testament
subjects, and bears the arms of the company.
The Vintners' pallf is of Italian velvet
and cloth of gold, the lappets being of silk ;
it is embroidered with St. Martin of Tours, a
Pieta, and other subjects.
Three palls were presented to the Mer-
chant Taylors' Company in 1562, and one to
the Stationers' in 1572. Others were pos-
sessed by the Brewers', Coopers', Leather-
sellers', and Founders' Companies.
Two vestments — a cope and chasuble —
* See Hazlitt, " The Livery Companies of the City of
London."
t Illustrated in Lady Alford's "Needlework as Art,"
pi. 78.
63
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
reputed to have at one time belonged to the
Abbey of Westminster, should be men-
tioned. The first is a cope,* now pre-
served at Stonyhurst College. The ground,
of velvet and cloth of gold, is recorded to
have been woven for King Henry VII. at
Florence. The pattern differs from almost
all other known examples of the period in
having been expressly designed and woven
to suit the semicircular form of the cope.
It consists of two large rose-stems with Tudor
roses, encircling portcullises ensigned by
crowns. The orphrey and hood were most
probably embroidered in England. The
orphrey has figures of saints under canopies,
and the subject on the hood is the Annun-
ciation.
The chasuble is in the possession of Lord
Arundell of Wardour, and is preserved in the
chapel at Wardour Castle. It is of velvet,
with a straight orphrey on the front, and a
cross-shaped orphrey on the back, embroidered
with scenes from the gospel history. The
main ground is covered with Tudor roses,
portcullises, fleurs-de-lys, and pomegranates,
worked in high relief. The last device is
* Illustrated in Lady Alford's " Needlework as Art,"
pi. 80.
64
PLATE XXXI
THE SUDBURY MUNICIPAL PALL.
Late XV century
See page 61
DECLINE AND REVIVAL
that of Catherine of Aragon ; the others
refer to her husband, Henry VI 1 1.*
An embroidered velvet panel in the Vic-
toria and Albert Museum, belonging to the
early years of the sixteenth century, differs in
character from any other embroideries of the
period yet described. The ground is of plain
crimson velvet, with a figure of St. Catherine
of Alexandria in regal costume, elaborately
worked in silks and gold and silver thread.
She stands on a patch of earth, holding a
book, and resting her left hand on the pommel
of a sword. Behind her is the prostrate form
of the Emperor Maximin, under whom she
suffered martyrdom.
One more example is mentioned here on
account of the unusual way in which it has
been preserved. In the British Museum
there is an English manuscript book of the
fourteenth century, known as Queen Mary's
Psalter. Each side of the crimson velvet
binding is embroidered with a large floral
device of the form commonly found on
vestments of the early Tudor period. It is
evident that these scraps at one time formed
part of a cope or chasuble. The devices are
* The orphreys of this chasuble are of Flemish work-
manship.
K 65
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
disproportionately large for the size of the
book, and there are still traces of the long
tendrils, so characteristic of these devices,
having originally extended beyond the limits
of the binding.
An embroidery, dating from the later
years of the reign of Henry VIII., is illus-
trated in Plate 32. It is an altar-frontal, of
stamped crimson velvet, with applied groups
of figures embroidered in silver-gilt and silver
thread and coloured silks. In the middle is
the Crucifixion, with the Virgin Mary and
St. John the Evangelist on either side of the
cross, standing on a strip of ground covered
with flowers. On the left is a kneeling figure
of Ralph Neville, fourth Earl of Westmor-
land (b. 1499, d. 1550), who succeeded to the
title in 1523; behind him kneel his seven
sons. On the right is his wife, Lady Catherine
Stafford* (d. 1555), daughter of the third
Duke of Buckingham ; behind her are their
thirteen daughters.f
* The swan beside her is a Stafford badge,
t The shields of arms above are apparently of later
date.
66
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THE SIXTH CHAPTER
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
HE Reformation practically put
an end to ecclesiastical em-
broidery in England, and the
needlewomen thus lost their best
patron. Not only so, but the
skilful works of former times were, many of
them, alienated or destroyed. A large number
were taken abroad, and many were left behind
only to be burnt for the sake of the precious
metals used in the embroidery, or mutilated
to serve other purposes. The lists of Church
goods sold at the Reformation, include many
vestments which passed in this way into
private hands. " Many private men's par-
lours/' we are told, "were hung with altar-
cloths, their tables and beds covered with
copes, instead of carpets and coverlids."*
Embroideries thus transformed may still be
seen at Hardwick Hall, and in other English
mansions.
A great deal of embroidery intended for
other than ecclesiastical uses, especially for
costume purposes, was, of course, done before
* Heylin's "History of the Reformation," p. 134.
67
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
the sixteenth century ; but when we look for
examples, the number is found to be small
indeed. The reason need not be sought far.
They must have suffered to a much greater
extent from the wear and tear of everyday
use, and the influence of fashion in their case
was no doubt of a more destructive nature.
In the early Middle Ages, embroidery
often served to adorn the ordinary costume
of men and women, and was even employed
to emblazon the armorial bearings on the
surcoat of the knight. Among the tattered
coats of this latter class which have survived,
that of Edward the Black Prince is the best
known. It is still suspended, with his helmet,
shield, and gauntlets over his monument in
Canterbury Cathedral. The ground is of
faded velvet, originally red and blue, em-
broidered in gold with the Royal Arms of
England.*
A statute of Edward III., in the year
* This Prince left to the high altar at Canterbury,
among other bequests, a suit of green velvet embroidered
with gold. (See Legg and Hope, " Inventories of Christ-
church, Canterbury," p. 96.) The surcoat is illustrated in
Vetiista Monumenta, vol. vii.; pis. 8 and 9, and described
by Mr. W. H. St. John Hope. The fragments of an earlier
embroidered surcoat— that of William, Earl of Albemarle
(d. 1260) — are illustrated in vol. vi. pi. xviii.
68
PLATE XXXIII
BODICE FRONT of linen, with embroidery in coloured silks.
Late XVI century. See Pages 75 and 76
PLATE XXXIV
LEATHER GLOVE.
Early XVII century.
2.
MITTEN of crimson velvet, with
embroidered satin gauntlet.
Late XVI century. See page 77
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
1363, prohibited all whose incomes were below
400 marks a year from wearing embroidered
garments. Like other sumptuary enactments,
it was probably little regarded.
A few years later, we read thus of the
young Squire, in Chaucer's " Canterbury
Tales"—
" Embrouded was he, as it were a meede
Al ful of fresshe floures whyte and reede."
In the following century, during the reign
of Henry VI., and again in later reigns, the
importation of foreign embroideries was for-
bidden by statute.
The sixteenth century was undoubtedly
the great time for embroidered costume. King
Henry VIII. loved such magnificence, and
the monarch appears on the canvases of Hol-
bein resplendent with gold-embroidered robes.
An oil painting at Hampton Court * gives
an excellent idea of the style and use of
embroidery in this reign. The king is seated,
with his queen Katharine Parr on his left;
next to the queen stands the Princess Eliza-
beth, and on the other side are Prince
Edward and Princess Mary. The king and
queen are in rich robes, embroidered in gold
* No. 453 in new catalogue (1903).
69
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
with the small interlacing patterns cha-
racteristic of the period. A cushion beneath
the king's feet and the canopy behind his
throne are enriched in a similar manner.
Henry's first queen, Catherine of Aragon,
and her equally unhappy daughter Mary,
both sought solace from their cares in work-
ing with the needle. Of Catherine it is related
that during her seclusion at Buckden, while
waiting for the final decision respecting the
annulling of her marriage, she and her gentle-
women " occupied themselves working with
their own hands something wrought in needle-
work, costly and artificially, which she in-
tended to the honour of God to bestow upon
some churches."* The class of embroidery
known as " black work" or " Spanish work"
— generally in black silk on linen — is said to
have been introduced into England by this
unfortunate Queen. At any rate, it appears
to have first found favour in England about
her time. The sombre effect was some-
times relieved by the use of gold thread for
the stems and other details. It was often
employed for the decoration of tunics, caps
and head-dresses, covers, pillow-cases, and
* Harpsfield, quoted in "Dictionary of National Bio-
graphy."
70
PLATE XXXV
JACKET OR TUNIC, in "black work." In possession of Viscount
Falkland. Late XVI century. See page 78
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
the like. Such work became very popular
during the reign of Elizabeth, and numerous
examples are still to be found in country
houses. It survived the reign of James I.,
but appears to have gone out of fashion in
the time of his successor. One of the most
important existing examples is the tunic
belonging to the Viscount Falkland, which
will be described later.
Queen Elizabeth herself was a skilful
needlewoman. There is in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford an interesting little volume
associated with her early years. It is "The
Mirror or Glasse of the Synneful Soul,"
copied in her own handwriting by the young
princess. The volume is dedicated "From
Assherige, the last daye of the yeare of our
Lord God 1544." The embroidered binding
is conjectured to have been also the work
of Elizabeth. It is adorned with interlacing
bands in plaited gold and silver thread,
enclosing a monogram of the letters KP.
The book was intended as a present to the
queen, Katharine Parr, hence the initials.
In the British Museum there is another
manuscript recorded to have been written
by Elizabeth in 1545. The embroidered
binding resembles that above described, and
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
is probably by the same hand. It has a
large and elaborate monogram in the middle,
apparently of Katharine's name, and a small
H above and below.*
There was, however, a personage of equally
exalted rank with Elizabeth, who is still more
famous for her skill at embroidery — her rival,
Mary Queen of Scots. The number of em-
broideries ascribed to this illustrious captive
is legion. A glance is sufficient to discredit
the attribution in most cases, but, as we shall
see later, there is good reason for supposing
that some of the needlework still preserved
at Hardwick Hall is really by her hand.
Garments, gloves, hangings, curtains,
valances, covers, and numerous other things
of like nature which have survived from the
times of Elizabeth, testify to the skill and
industry of the embroiderers at that period.
The wardrobe of Elizabeth alone is said to
have included three thousand dresses, and
many of these were richly embroidered.f
* Both these bindings are illustrated and described in
Mr. Cyril Davenport's "English Embroidered Bookbind-
ings," plates iv. and v. Those desirous of studying the
subject could not do better than consult that work.
t It was from this rich collection that Anne of Denmark
had to choose for her own wear, when her husband came
to London as successor to the throne.
72
1 5
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
At this critical period of our national
history, the playfulness which characterized
so many productions of the time is remark-
able. Soldiers who made the name of Eng-
land respected abroad, wrote the quaintest
poetry at home. The language of the court
succumbed to the general tendency, and its
euphuistic affectations fitted well with the sen-
timents it was employed to express. Design,
too, did not escape. The ordered patterns
of the earlier time give place to a medley of
wandering stems with columbines, pansies,
carnations, roses, tulips, honeysuckle, straw-
berries, acorns, animals, birds, fishes, butter-
flies, and insects.
The numerous portraits of Elizabeth — in
the National Portrait Gallery, at Hampton
Court, in noblemen's houses, and elsewhere —
illustrate the extent to which embroidery was
used for costume decoration, and the style of
design in vogue. Sometimes she wears a
jacket with the favourite " black work " already
referred to. A half-length portrait at Hamp-
ton Court (No. 6 1 6) is a good example. The
sleeves are embroidered with roses, carnations,
grapes, and strawberries.*
* It may be compared with the patterns on the two
tunics of this period described on p. 74.
L 73
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
In another portrait at Hampton Court
(No. 349), attributed by some to the artist
Taddeo Zucchero, the queen wears a fancy-
dress, consisting of a long, loose robe, em-
broidered all over in colours, with stems of
roses, pansies and other flowers, and birds.
Her right hand rests on the head of a stag,
and in one of the lower corners of the picture
are some verses, conjectured to be of the
queen's own composition.
A portrait in the possession of the Mar-
quess of Salisbury at Hatfield House is
quainter still. The robe of the queen is
embroidered all over with human eyes and
ears, symbolical, no doubt, of the vigilance and
wisdom of the illustrious wearer.
There is in the Victoria and Albert
Museum (No. 173, 1869), a loose tunic with
long sleeves, dating from the reign of Eliza-
beth. It is of cream-white silk, with em-
broidery in silver-gilt and silver thread and
silks of various colours. The flowers (roses,
honeysuckle, lilies, and pansies) are enclosed
within scrolls arranged in formal compart-
ments. A tunic of similar form (No. 919,
1873) is in a less costly material, being of
linen ; the materials used for the embroidery
are the same as in the previous case. The
74
PLATE XXXVII
PILLOW
Falkland.
COVER, in
black work."
XVI century.
In possession of Viscount
Seepage 79
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
flowering stems here run over the whole
surface, without accommodating themselves
in any way to the shape of the garment.
The colour illustration (Plate A) repre-
sents a most charming example of the
needlework of the Elizabethan period : a
side of a tunic belonging to Mrs. Buxton of
Icklingham, Suffolk. There are three pieces
of the sleeves also existing, but the other
parts are now lost. The ground is linen,
the embroidery being in silks and silver-gilt
thread. The pattern throughout is a simple
repeat of roses, each on a straight stalk, with
a leaf on either side. This work displays
none of the exuberance so often seen in Eliza-
bethan embroidery, but it is very pleasing
nevertheless. For simple grace, it would be
hard to choose between this and the exquisite
embroidered binding of a Bible of the year
1583 in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.*
The book, which is believed to have belonged
to Queen Elizabeth, is bound in crimson
velvet, embroidered with a pattern of inter-
lacing rose-stems in gold, silver, and colours.
A favourite piece among students of
embroidery is a small bodice front (Plate 33)
* Illustrated in Davenport's " English Embroidered
Bookbinding," pi. 25.
75
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
of linen, with strawberries, roses, honey-
suckle, and other flowers in coloured silks.
The large cream - white satin coverlet *
from Ireland, partly reproduced in Plate 42,
is an important example of late Elizabethan
work. It has a deep floral border, and a
pattern of floral sprays in the middle, The
materials used for the embroidery are silver-
gilt and silver thread and silks of various
colours. A practice not altogether commend-
able is exemplified here. Some of the
petals of the flowers have been separately
worked, and afterwards fixed to the satin by
one edge only, so as to stand away from the
ground. Such devices are not infrequently
found in Elizabethan work. It is doubtful
whether they should be employed at all. At
any rate, we may condemn without hesitation
the exaggeration to which the practice was
carried in the succeeding period.
In the time of Elizabeth, especially at the
New Year, a favourite gift was a pair of
gloves. These articles were often very daintily
embroidered. There is in the Ashmolean
Museum at Oxford, a pair of leather gloves
with embroidered gauntlets, said to have
been presented to the queen on the occasion
* Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 348 (1901).
76
PLATE XXXVIII
SLEEVES FOR A TUNIC, in "black work."
About 1600. See page 79
PLATE XXXIX
EMBROIDERED HANGING, in black silk and silver-gilt thread.
Late Elizabethan. See page 79
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
of her visit to the University in 1566.
Tradition assigns an earlier origin to another
pair, presented, together with other works of
art associated with the Denny family, by Sir
Edward Denny, Bart., to the Victoria and
Albert Museum in 1882. They are of leather,
with white satin gauntlets elaborately em-
broidered and enriched with numerous seed-
pearls. It is believed that they are the gloves
recorded to have been given by Henry VIII.
to Sir Anthony Denny, who was successively
Groom of the Stole, a Privy Councillor, and
an Executor of the King, and afterwards
one of the guardians of the young king
Edward VI. The design, however, seems to
point to a later origin, and it is perhaps more
likely that they are the pair given by James I.
to Sir Edward Denny (afterwards Earl of
Norwich), who, as Sheriff of Hertfordshire,
received the king during his journey from
Scotland.
A pair of mittens (Plate 34) of crimson
velvet, with embroidered satin gauntlets, was
given by Queen Elizabeth to her Maid of
Honour, Margaret Edgcumbe, wife of Sir Ed.
Denny, Knt. Banneret. The leather glove,
illustrated in the same plate, is of early
seventeenth century work.
77
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
The jacket or tunic of " black work "
belonging to the Viscount Falkland has
already been mentioned. By his permission
it is illustrated in this volume (Plate 35). It
is of linen, the embroidery being entirely in
black silk. Amid characteristic floral work
of the period are a number of devices of
a quaint nature. A little flying-fish, which
has leaped out of the water in order to avoid
the gaping mouth of a large fish below, is
attacked by a sea-bird from above ; a man of
Herculean type, astride a crocodile, holds a
writhing serpent in each hand. Other sub-
jects are — Actaeon devoured by his hounds,
Bacchus beating a drum, a man on a lion, a
stag pierced by an arrow, another pursued by
a hound, a pelican in her piety, prancing horses,
a camel, an elephant, a sea-horse, unicorns,
monkeys, foxes, squirrels, birds, and fishes.
These devices resemble in many points
the quaint woodcuts so often seen in books
of the Elizabethan period, and it is from
such that they were probably copied. Three
of them are, in fact, to be found in "A
Choice of Emblemes, and other Devises,"
by Geoffrey Whitney, a book printed at
Leyden in the year 1586 (Plate 36).*
* They have been a little simplified by the embroiderer.
78
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
The jacket was given by William IV. to
the Viscountess Falkland, wife of the tenth
viscount. It is recorded to have belonged to
Queen Elizabeth. A large coverlet and a
pillow-cover (Plate 37) of " black work," also
belonging to the Viscount Falkland, may
perhaps date from a little earlier in the same
century. Each has a running pattern of vine-
stems, the large leaves being filled with tiny
diaper patterns. An embroidery of a similar
class has lately been acquired by the Victoria
and Albert Museum (No. 252, 1902). The
panels are shaped to form the parts of a
tunic, which has never been made up (Plate
38). The pattern is almost entirely floral;
it consists of columbines, pansies, acorns,
filberts, birds, butterflies, and insects. There
is a tradition that this work was done by
Mary, the daughter of Sir Henry Pierrepont
and sister of the Earl of Kingston, who was
married to Fulk Cartwright of Ossington in
1606.
Another example, a long hanging of the
period of Queen Elizabeth, is partly of
silver-gilt thread (Plate 39). It has a pattern
of pomegranates and flowers, covered with
small diaper designs, and enclosed by stems
of plaited silver-gilt thread.
79
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
A very considerable number of caps and
head-dresses worked in this way are still
existing. The caps are almost invariably of
rounded form, with turned-up edges trimmed
with gold lace. There are several in the
museum at South Kensington, including one
from the collection of Lord Zouche, and two
from that of Sir Thomas I sham of Lamport
Hall. The two latter (Plate 40) may belong
to the early part of Elizabeth's reign. The
ladies' head-dresses are commonly of a
hooded shape, drawn together by a string
at the back (Plate 40). The embroidery is
sometimes in black alone, but oftener the
stems are of plaited gold thread. It seems
probable that these caps did not go entirely
out of fashion until the reign of Charles I.
Black was not always the colour chosen. A
cap of the same form, with a pattern of roses,
pansies, and strawberries in colours, the stems
in gold, is in the museum (No. 2016, 1899).
Several private collections contain ex-
amples of black work of an earlier period,
that of Henry VIII. Such work is also
illustrated in portraits of his reign. That
of the Earl of Surrey at Hampton Court,
attributed to Gwillim Stretes, represents the
nobleman wearing a white under-tunic with
80
I
3!
PLATE XLII
PORTION OF AN EMBROIDERED SATIN COVERLET.
Late Elizabethan. See page 76
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
black embroidery in formal patterns on the
front, neck, and cuffs.
Another class of embroidery, requiring
a great deal of time and patience for its
execution, found favour in the reign of
Elizabeth, and, with certain modifications,
has never since quite lost its popularity.
It is known in France as " petit point," a
term for which there is no satisfactory
English equivalent. The work is usually in
wools and silks of various colours on a canvas
or coarse linen ground, which is entirely
hidden by the needlework. The effect pro-
duced somewhat resembles that of a tapestry,
although the dimensions are generally small,
and the stitching is fine (Plate 41).*
It is not possible to enter, to any extent,
into the attractive subject of needlework as
associated with the mansions and manor-
houses of England. Some of these are well
known to contain embroideries which have
been associated with them and their occu-
pants for many generations. The most
interesting collection of this kind, on account
both of its historical connections, and of
the variety of work which it includes, is at
* Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 299, 1900.
M 8l
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, a seat of the
Duke of Devonshire.
Hardwick is one of the many fine man-
sions erected by Elizabeth, Countess of
Shrewsbury, the famous " Bess of Hard-
wick." Within, it is full of the memorials
of this remarkable woman, and of another
who claims a higher place in history, the
ill-fated Queen of Scots. Elizabeth was the
daughter of John Hardwick, and was born
in the year 1518. She was married succes-
sively to John Barlow, Sir William Caven-
dish,* Sir William St. Loe, and George
Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. Shortly after
this last marriage, the custody of Mary Queen
of Scots was confided to the earl by Elizabeth.
Mary is well known to have been an
expert needlewoman, and the tradition that
some of the embroideries now at Hardwick
are her handiwork, is corroborated by the
examples themselves. The mansion was not
completed until after 1590, and consequently
could never have been her prison-house ; but
it replaced an older mansion, the ruins of
which are still standing hard by.
One embroidery, though not the most
* Her two sons by this marriage founded the dukedoms
of Devonshire and Newcastle.
82
PLATE XLIII
EMBROIDERED PANEL.
At Hardwick Hall. XVI century
See pages 82 and 83
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
important at Hardwick, is of particular his-
torical interest, as it bears a monogram of
the name MARIA ensigned with a crown,
worked into the pattern in yellow silk,
on the oval in the centre of the paneL
The design, too, composed of the English
rose, the Scotch thistle, and the French lily,
tends to strengthen the theory that we have
here an actual example of the queen's handi-
work (Plate 43). The small subjects in the
ovals may have been copied from some illus-
trated book of fables. There is another panel
belonging to the same set.
If these be the work of the Queen of
Scots, there are others which have an un-
doubted connection with her jailer. A set
of small velvet panels bears, besides various
symbolic devices, the initials E. S. (Elizabeth
Shrewsbury) and the date 1590.
Two other panels of appliqud work on
red velvet, with designs of scrollwork inter-
laced v/ith flowering stems have, in one case,
the same initials ensigned with a coronet
(Plate 44), and, in the other, a stag tripping,
the crest of Hardwick (Plate 45). Another
series represents the sciences and virtues —
Astrology, Perspective, Faith (with a prostrate
Turk before her), Chastity, and others—
83
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
each symbolized by a female figure beneath
an arcade.
One of the larger embroideries at Hard-
wick, worked on canvas in coloured silks
and silver-gilt thread (Plate 46), bears in
the middle the arms of Talbot impaling
Hardwick, surrounded by the Garter. The
armorial devices in the corners are as fol-
lows: (i) a shield, Talbot impaling Hardwick,
within a wreath having the initials E.S.,
G.S. ; (2) The Hardwick crest, a stag trip-
ping, with initials E.S.; (3) the Talbot badge,
a Talbot dog, with initials G.S. ; (4) the
Cavendish crest (an intertwined serpent) sur-
rounded by the motto CAVENDO TVTVS,
still borne by the Dukes of Devonshire.
The complicated heraldry of this piece is
explained by the short biographical reference
to Elizabeth of Hardwick (p. 82).
This description of Elizabethan embroidery
may be closed by a short reference to the
Broderers' Company, incorporated by the
queen three years after her accession to
the throne. The company, however, is men-
tioned at an earlier period, and it was pro-
bably in existence three centuries before.
No doubt, some of the funeral palls referred
to in an earlier part of this book were the
84
PLATE XLIV
PANEL of applique work on red velvet, with initials of the Countess of
Shrewsbury. At Hardwick Hall. Latter half of XVI century
See Page 83
PLATE XLV
PANEL of applique work on red velvet, with crest of Hardwick.
At Hardwick Hall. Latter half of XVI century. See page 83
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
work of " broderers " belonging to the guild.
The members received much employment for
ceremonial and festive occasions. By the
time of Charles I. the company seems to
have fallen upon evil days. A petition was
presented to that monarch in 1634 pleading
that " trade was then so much decayed and
grown out of use, that a greater part of the
company, for want of employment, were . . .
much impoverished." The company still
exists, but in common with most of the other
livery companies of London, it has gradually
become dissociated from the work for which
it was incorporated.*
* See Hazlitt's "Livery Companies of the City of
London." The company has lately given a stimulus to
the embroiderer's art by holding competitive exhibitions of
needlework and offering prizes (see T/ie Art Workers'
Quarterly, vol. ii. p. 103.)
THE SEVENTH CHAPTER
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
LTHOUGH much excellent
needlework was done in the
seventeenth century, the art in
some respects failed to main-
tain the level of earlier periods.
The characteristic patterns of Elizabethan
work survive her reign, but they gradually
degenerate into a stiffness and sameness
which at last finds expression in some of
the ugliest and most trivial work that ever
occupied the needle. We are obliged to take
the grotesque stump work, so popular in
its day, as the general expression of taste
among needlewomen of the seventeenth
century. It is a relief to turn from these to
the samplers which first found favour at this
period, and prove that better taste was not
altogether wanting. Many of the latter are
of excellent design and evince considerable
technical skill. Designs on a larger scale,
for curtains, hangings, etc., are sometimes
boldly drawn, and effective when put to their
proper use.
Towards the end of the century we meet
86
PLATE XLVI
EMBROIDERED PANEL, in coloured silks and silver-gilt thread;
with arms of Talbot. Latter half of XVI century. See page 84
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
with some charming examples of quilted work
with embroidered patterns in yellow silk, and
larger silk embroideries in varied colours are
often admirable.
There is in the British Museum a panel for
a cushion, which belongs to the early years of
the century. It is of canvas, worked in wools
and silks. The shield of arms in the middle
is enclosed by a wreath from which spring
carnations, pansies and other flowers popular
among embroiderers in the previous century.
An inscription round the border intimates
that the work was made for the Mayor of
Hereford, and dates it as follows TERTIO
DIE JULII ANNO SECUNDO lACOBI REGIS.
The Victoria and Albert Museum pos-
sesses a panel of similar workmanship (Plate
47). The shield in the middle bears the
Royal arms of the United Kingdom, and the
letters I R date the work as belonging to the
reign of James I. The materials used are
silks of varied colours, and silver-gilt and
silver thread, the ground being of canvas.
The name of the embroiderer, MARY
HVLTON, is so conspicuous that the work
might almost be classed among the early
samplers. A small cushion in the same
collection (No 9047, 1863) is still more
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
reminiscent of the sampler. Both sides are
broken up into small panels with a curious
combination of devices. On one side may
be seen a lady wearing a ruff, a mermaid, and
a man surrounded by stags and rabbits. On
the other are lions, unicorns, a rose, a crown
and the letters I R (Jacobus Rex). There are
also clasped hands, fleurs-de-lys, honeysuckle,
pansies, acorns, strawberries and interlacing
and geometrical patterns, on embroidered
grounds of different colours.
A piece of work in the Maidstone Museum
belongs to the beginning of the century. It
is evidently intended to illustrate the progress
of the Reformation in England. King
Henry VIII. is seated in the middle with his
foot on the prostrate figure of a friar. On
his right stands his son and successor
Edward VI., crowned and holding a sceptre
in his right hand and a Bible in his left.
Beyond is Queen Mary holding a rosary, with
a dragon at her feet. On the other side
stands Queen Elizabeth, with a sword in her
left hand, and a book in her right, on the
open page of which may be read GOOD
TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY LVK II.
The sovereigns wear the costumes of their
own times, affording an illustration of the use
88
PLATE XLVIII
EMBROIDERED BAG AND CUSHION.
Early XVII century
See pages 89 and 90
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
of earlier costume in the picture-embroideries
of the seventeenth century.*
A favourite device in the reign of James I.
is the obelisk or pyramid. It frequently
occurs in architecture, wood-carving and
silver-work, and sometimes it is to be seen in
embroideries of the period. A small canvas
panel in the Victoria and Albert Museum f
has a pyramid rising from a crown, with
rows of flowers between. In another piece,
a bag or purse,J the pyramids rest on
pedestals.
Small bags of this nature, generally square
or oblong, are frequently met with. Some
were intended to contain books ; others may
have been used for holding embroidery
materials and such articles. They generally
have a string for drawing the open side to-
gether. The usual ornament is a spray of
flowers. Such a bag is illustrated in Plate
48 ;§ it has a flowering tree embroidered in
colours on each side, on a ground of silver
needlework, and is united by a cord of plaited
* The panel forms the frontispiece to Mr. Marcus
Huish's " Samplers and Tapestry Embroideries," a work
dealing exhaustively with the subject.
t No. 1372, 1853. J No. 244, 1896.
§ Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 316, 1898.
N 89
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
silk to a small pincushion with embroidery
of a similar character. The larger cushion,*
of the same style and period, has a pattern of
flowers, fruit, birds, and insects, in coloured
silks, on a canvas ground embroidered with
silver thread. The lady's jacket reproduced
in Plate 49 1 belongs to a valuable collection
of costumes, worn by various members of
the Isham family of Lamport Hall. The
costumes range from the time of Elizabeth
to the end of the seventeenth century, and
form a unique collection. The jacket, which
is of pink silk, finds a place in this volume
on account of the embroidery. The scrolling
pattern is formed by an outline of blue silk
entwined with silver thread.
An embroidery of some historical interest
belonging to the next reign was presented
to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Sir
Edward Denny, Bart., together with other
things, in 1882 (see p. 77). It is a military
scarf,J such as may be seen in many portraits
of the seventeenth century, worn across the
cuirass and passing over one shoulder. The
floral pattern is embroidered in gold and
* Victoria and Albert Museum No. 317, 1898.
t Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 177, 1900.
t No. 1509, 1882.
90
PLATE XLIX
LADY'S JACKET of pink silk, with,, scrolling pattern formed by an
outline of blue silk entwined with silver thread. Early XVII century
Seepage 90
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
silver and colours on a ground of purple silk.
The scarf belonged to Charles I., who wore
it at the battle of Edgehill, and gave it after
the battle to Mr. Adam Hill of Spaldwick,
who rallied his troop of horse, and is said to
have thereby preserved the life of the king.*
Souvenirs of this king must have been
carefully treasured by the Royalist party. A
needlework portrait of Charles I.,f in a small
oval medallion, was formerly in the collection
of Lord Zouche. The king wears a white
falling collar, and has the ribbon of the Garter.
The portrait, entirely of silk embroidery, is
a work of great skill. It may be compared
with another representing his favourite, the
Duke of Buckingham, which adorns the cover
of a volume of " Bacon's Essays," given by
the author to the duke, and now in the
Bodleian Library at Oxford. J
A style of embroidery known as " stamp "
or " stump " work, referred to above, flourished
greatly during this monarch's reign. It
appears to have originated in the time of
* A porcelain table-service was made from the pattern
of this scarf, by Messrs. Chamberlain at Worcester, by the
command of King George IV.
t Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 812, 1891.
J See Davenport, " English Embroidered Bookbind-
ings," pi. 31-
91
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
James I., and to have remained popular
through the Commonwealth and the reign
of Charles II. Its most patent characteristic
is perhaps its grotesque ugliness ; but another,
which more effectually differentiates it, is
the high relief, produced by stuffing and
padding, introduced into many parts of the
design. Tent curtains, draperies, etc., are
so made that they can be pulled aside, the
arms of the figures are modelled in the round,
and rockeries are thrown into deep relief.
The work is, in fact, a mockery of sculpture,
and departs altogether from the legitimate
province of the needle. It is not considered
necessary to enter far into the history of this
branch of our subject. A summary of its
principal characteristics, and a short descrip-
tion of a few examples, is all that will be
attempted.* A large number are in the form
of caskets and work-boxes. Many of these
are fitted with cupboards, sliding drawers,
and secret recesses, and provided with ink-
wells, glass bottles, and other requisites for
toilet and writing purposes. Mirror-frames
are frequently embroidered in this way. Other
examples are framed and glazed as pictures.
* The whole subject is well treated in Mr. Huish's
" Samplers and Tapestry Embroideries."
92
PLATE L
BOX, in " stump " work. First half of XVII century. See page 95
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
The favourite subjects are those connected
with the royal house of Stuart. Charles I.
and Henrietta Maria, and Charles II. and
his queen, are frequently pourtrayed. Even
when Biblical, mythical, or allegorical scenes
are represented, the principal figures often
take the likenesses of these royal personages.
The work is aristocratic and royalist through-
out. The shepherd playing the pipes, and
the shepherdess with her crook, are dressed
in the fashionable costume of the time. The
following are the principal among Biblical
subjects : Adam and Eve in the Garden,
Abraham entertaining the Angels, Abraham
and Hagar, the Offering of Isaac, Isaac and
Rebekah, Joseph and Potiphar's wife, Moses
found among the bulrushes, David and
Abigail, David and Bathsheba, the Judgment
of Solomon, the Visit of the Queen of Sheba,
Jehu and Jezebel, Esther and Ahasuerus,
Susanna and the Elders, and the Daughter
of Herodias before Herod. The favourite
classical subjects are the Judgment of Paris
and Orpheus charming the Beasts. Single
figures sometimes symbolize qualities and
virtues, such as Faith, Hope, Justice, Peace,
Time, the Five Senses, etc.
A peculiarity of the work is that the
93
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
figures in a single example frequently have
costumes of different periods. Among animals,
birds and insects are the lion, unicorn,
leopard, stag, camel, hound, sheep, squirrel,
rabbit, peacock, parrot, hoopoe, pheasant,
swan, robin, butterflies, caterpillars, snails,
and moths. It has been thought that special
meanings should be attached to some of the
smaller creatures, but it is probable that their
chief function was to fill small gaps in the
designs. The flowers and fruits are largely
those found in Elizabethan work, and include
roses, columbines, carnations, pansies, tulips,
lilies, daffodils, honeysuckle, apples, pears,
strawberries, nuts, and acorns. The scenes
generally have landscape backgrounds with
castles, houses, tents, mounds, rockeries,
wells, fountains, and fishponds. Clouds and
smoke are in full force; the sun and moon
often shine together, and an angel frequently
hovers over the scene. As regards materials,
silk and metal threads are used ; pearls and
beads often enrich the designs, and pieces
of glass and mica fill subordinate offices.
A picture is occasionally worked entirely in
glass beads of various colours. The dated
pieces are mostly included between the years
1640 and 1660.
94
PLATE Lll
SAMPLERS. Dated 1643 and 1696.
See pages 97 and 98
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
The box illustrated in Plate 50 is from
the collection of Lord Zouche.* The ground
is of cream-white satin, a material almost
invariably used. The figures are in extremely
high relief, and have suffered accordingly.
The subjects include the Visit of the Queen
of Sheba, the Judgment of Solomon, Susanna
surprised by the Elders, and the Sacrifice of
Isaac: The female figures round the slope
of the cover symbolize the five senses. Various
flowers and other designs are worked on the
drawers and compartments inside.
A mirror frame in the Victoria and Albert
Museum (No. 247, 1896) is unfinished, and
is more interesting in this condition as it
illustrates the method of procedure. The
whole design has been first outlined in ink
on the satin ; parts of the flat embroidery
have been then completed, and the relief work
has, in a few instances, been added. There
is at the Guildhall Museum in London, an
embroidered panel also unfinished, the outline
of the whole design having been similarly
traced in black. It is said to have been
rescued from a house in Cheapside at the
time of the great fire of 1666.
During the period when this relief work
* Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 745, 1891.
95
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
was in vogue, boxes and panels were some-
times covered with scenes of the same kind
in flat embroidery (Plate 51).
It is hard to say when samplers were first
worked. As we now understand them, they
are supposed to serve as evidences of the em-
broiderers' skill, or as exercises. As such,
they appear to have originated in the time of
Charles I., although an embroidery like that
of Mary Hulton (Plate 47), dating from the
previous reign, might almost be regarded as
a sampler in the former sense. But samplers
have, or at any rate once had, another pur-
pose as well — that of serving as records of
patterns and lettering for reference, and
methods of stitching. In this wider sense
they go back another century at least.
The earliest dated sampler known is of the
year 1643, but the word is used at an earlier
period by Shakespeare, Herrick, and others.*
The sampler of the seventeenth century
is usually a long narrow piece of unbleached
* " We, Hermia, like two artificial girls,
Have with our needles created both one flower,
Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion."
Midsummer Nighfs Dream, Act III., Sc. 2.
" Come, bring your sampler, and with art
Draw in't a wounded heart."
Herrick, The Wounded Heart.
96
PLATE
Llll
\VALL-HANGING, one of six found in Hatton Garden.
XVII century. See pages 98 and 99
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
linen, worked with floral and geometrical
patterns in successive horizontal bands. The
work is generally in coloured silks, with a
few illustrations of cut and drawn work in
linen thread. Specimens of lettering are
added, as a rule, with perhaps the name of
the worker and the date of the production.
Many of the cut-work patterns resemble
Italian work of the time, giving rise to the
conjecture that some of the ruffs and falling
bands worn in this country may have been
the work of English needlewomen.
Raised work is not altogether wanting in
samplers, but it is usually employed in a
restrained manner. The sampler above men-
tioned, bearing the date 1643, *s reproduced
in Plate 52. It illustrates both the floral
embroidery in silks, and the geometrical
openwork in white linen threads. Some-
times the sampler is devoted entirely to the
latter class of work. The name " Margreet
May," with the date 1654, occurs on one such
piece.* In another sampler,f dated 1666,
coloured silks alone are used.J
* Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 323, 1872.
t No. 741, 1899.
J One cannot always be certain whether these samplers
have been divided or not.
o 97
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
In the later years of the century, the floral
patterns show a tendency to become less
formal, and the petals of the flowers are often
detached from the ground. One of this
class * bears the name Elizabeth Macket and
the date 1696 (Plate 52).
The development of the sampler in the
following century will be referred to in the
next chapter.
Some embroideries of the seventeenth
century, designed on a far larger scale, remain
to be briefly described.
A few years ago there was discovered,
behind an accumulation of wallpapers in an
old house in Hatton Garden, a series of
hangings, of a remarkable character, probably
embroidered soon after the middle of the
seventeenth century. When the stripping
of the walls brought them to light, they were
so dirty as to be hardly recognizable ; but a
careful process of cleaning led to a very satis-
factory result. The hangings are six in
number, each measuring about 7 feet 9 inches
high by 4 feet wide. The canvas ground is
completely hidden by embroidery of coloured
wools in varied stitches. The illustration of
one of the hangings (Plate 53) will give a
* Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 433, 1884.
98
PLATE LV
EMBROIDERED HANGING.
Late XVII century
See pages 99 and loo
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
general idea of them all. On each is repre-
sented part of an arcade supported by round
columns, with capitals of a foliated type.
Round the columns trail stems with large
flowers and leaves. Birds of gay plumage
are to be seen among the foliage, and on the,
ground below are various animals, including
elephants, camels, a lion, a horse, hounds, a
goat, deer, foxes, sheep, rabbits, a squirrel,
a unicorn, and a dragon. The panels are of
great decorative value, and the large scale is
well suited to the purpose for which they
were designed.
Many large embroideries, used as hang-
ings, curtains, and valances, have survived
from the seventeenth century. They are
generally of linen, or a mixed material of
linen and cotton, worked with large patterns
in bright-coloured worsteds. The designs
may be classed in three varieties. Some
have isolated sprays of flowers at intervals
over the whole surface ; others are divided
into narrow upright panels by borders of
flowering stems, with a row of floral sprays
running down the middle of each panel (Plate
54). Another class is more frequently found
than either of these. Along the bottom is
indicated a strip of soil, generally diversified
99
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
with little hillocks, and dotted with small
animals (Plate 55). From this ground at regu-
lar intervals rise large trees whose trunks
generally assume a serpentine form. The
flowers of various kinds and large leaves
growing from the trunks are designed with
great boldness. Birds are frequently scat-
tered among the branches, which intertwine
so as to cover the whole upper part of the
hanging. It is probable that none of these
hangings are earlier than the middle of the
seventeenth century, and the greater part
belong to the latter half of that century.*
They are sometimes in sombre colours, green
being predominant. Occasionally a piece is
found worked entirely in shades of red.
In the later years of the century, large
numbers of embroideries were produced in
England — chiefly small panels and articles
of costume — worked only in yellow silk. The
designs are usually floral, the linen ground
being quilted in small diaper patterns. A
ground quilted in this way is sometimes worked
with sprays of flowers in bright colours.f
* They have been sometimes assigned to the period of
James I.
t A quilted and embroidered petticoat in the museum of
the United Service Institution at Whitehall, is traditionally
associated with Queen Elizabeth. It is, however, a century
later than her reign.
100
PLATE D
PORTION OF A COVERLET, embroidered with worsteds. Early
XVI II century. Seepage 102
PLATE LVI
COVERLET, linen, quilted with white thread, and embroidered with
coloured silks. Dated 1703. Seepages 101 and 102
PLATE LVII
PORTION OF A COVERLET, linen, embroidered with red and green
silks. Early XVIII century. See page 102
THE EIGHTH CHAPTER
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
OWARDS the end of the seven-
teenth century, the great de-
velopment of our intercourse
with the Far East, and the
large number of Chinese works
of art brought by traders to Europe, had
introduced a strong Chinese element into
Western design. Even embroideries did not
escape the influence of the Celestial empire.
Gay birds, with tails resembling flames, like
the mythical Chinese phoenix, fly amid flowers
designed on Chinese models. This influence
gradually died out as the eighteenth century
advanced. The most noticeable change is
the increasing tendency to produce a de-
ceptive resemblance to nature — there is less
of design and more of direct imitation.
Flowers are shaded to have the appearance
of relief, and embroidery encroaches on the
province of the painted picture.
An embroidery dating from the beginning
of the century, before the development of its
chief characteristics, is illustrated in Plate 56.*
* Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 1564, 1902.
101
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
It is a linen coverlet, quilted with white
thread and embroidered with coloured silks.
One of the border compartments contains a
shield of arms with the initials E S and the
date 1703; in the others are such designs as
the following : a griffin, a lion, a horse, a
standing figure, a mermaid, a merman, a
castle, a three-masted ship, a camel, a hound,
rabbits, a duck and other birds, and fishes.
Worsted work for large coverlets and
hangings survives the seventeenth century,
but the designs are of a different character.
The cover partly reproduced in colour
(Plate D) belongs to the best type of the
earlier half of the century. In other
examples the stems are arranged in a less
ordered manner, and run over the whole field.
The use of silk for embroidery gradually
replaced that of worsteds, in the eighteenth
century, for these large pieces. There still
exist a great number worked in the former
material, sometimes on a linen ground, and at
other times on silk. The coverlet illustrated
in Plate 57 is on linen, the embroidery being
entirely in red and green silk. The honey-
suckle border is particularly effective. Some-
times gold thread was also used (Plate 58).
A great deal of embroidery was done in the
102
PLATE LVIII
PORTION OF A COVERLET, linen, embroidered with coloured silks
and gold thread. Early XVIII century. See page 102
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
eighteenth century for upholstering purposes.
The panels are generally made in shapes to fit
the backs, seats, and sides of settees and chairs,
and there are sometimes also square pieces
for cushions. The work is usually in wools,
with silks for the high lights, on coarse linen
or canvas. The favourite designs are land-
scapes, with shepherds and shepherdesses or
other figures. Sometimes the armorial bear-
ings of the family are represented, and occa-
sionally a vase of flowers or some such
ornament takes the principal place. It is
not unusual to find on these panels the name
of the worker and the date. An embroidery
in the Victoria and Albert Museum (No. 269,
1893, see Plate 59) represents a vase of
flowers in colours, the ground being covered
all over with a diaper pattern in cream-
white silk. Underneath the basket is worked
the name ELIZABETH RVSSELL, with
the date 1730. This panel may have been
intended for a cushion-cover.
The changes in embroidery designs in
the eighteenth century are illustrated by the
samplers of the period. The openwork lace
patterns disappear entirely towards the end
of the preceding century, and the sampler be-
comes more of a picture, with an embroidered
103
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
border all round. It is at about the same
time that Bible texts, mottoes, and rhymes
begin to appear. Many of the verses would
be far more appropriate in a cemetery. Some-
times, in fact, the identical verses worked
in samplers may be found also on old tomb-
stones in our country churchyards.*
Mary Wakeling's sampler, dated 1742,
bears some doggerel lines, the theme being
that " poor wretched life's short portion flies
away." Ann Woodgate, in 1794, after de-
scribing the inevitable withering of flowers,
concludes that —
" Such and so withering are our early joys,
Which time or sickness speedily destroys."
The quotations are sometimes more hap-
pily chosen. Extracts from hymns and from
metrical versions of the Psalms are met with,
besides the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Com-
mandments, the Creed, and quotations from
different books of the Bible.
A sampler by Elizabeth Cridland, of the
year 1752, with its trim little house, wind-
mill, and dovecot, is one of the earliest known
* E.g. " Man's life is like unto a winter's day,
Some break their fast and so depart away.
Others stay dinner, and then depart full fed.
The largest age but sups and goes to bed."
104
PLATE LIX
EMBROIDERED PANEL. Dated 1730. See page 103
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
of the landscape class ; above is the Lord's
Prayer, and below a verse from the Book of
Proverbs, "The hand of the diligent shall
bear rule, but the slothfull shall be under
tribute." Devices of houses, vases of flowers,
human figures, animals and birds, all of a
very formal type, are popular for the remainder
of the century. Maps of the world, of conti-
nents, or of our own country, often bear
dates as far back as the later years of the
eighteenth century.
The popularity of the sampler appears
to have greatly declined after the first two
or three decades of the nineteenth century.
One sampler* of the earlier part of that
century may be described. Besides the
customary house, with trees, animals, and
birds, it has the quaintly designed figure of
a man in a red coat — perhaps an army pen-
sioner. The little embroideress has supplied
the means of identification by working the
following inscription above the figure : " This
is my Dear father."
A great deal of embroidery of a pic-
torial type was produced in the latter half
of the eighteenth century. Figure-subjects in
bright-coloured silks were popular, and also
* Victoria and Albert Museum, No. 1373, 1900.
P 105
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
imitations of popular engravings laboriously
embroidered in black silk threads.
Copies of oil-paintings in wool-work, such
as were produced by Miss Mary Linwood
(b. 1755, d. 1845) and Miss Knowles (b. 1733,
d. 1807), "the Quaker, that works the sutile
pictures/' * represent the climax of this mis-
taken art.
A single illustration (Plate 60) exemplifies
the extent to which embroidery was used for
the decoration of costume in the eighteenth
century. It is a gentleman's coat, of the
latter half of the century, worked in floss
silks of several colours.
Of the nineteenth century we must say
very little. Taste during the earlier part of
the century was not good. Since then a
revival has set in. Excellent results have
already been attained, and there is good
promise for the future.
* Boswell's "Life of Johnson."
1 06
PLATE
LX
GENTLEMAN'S COAT AND WAISTCOAT,
embroidered with floss silks of several colours.
Latter half of XVIII century. See page 106
SOME USEFUL BOOKS OF
REFERENCE
Needlework as Art. By LADY ALFORD.
Archaeologia. Vol. XVII. (1814), Vol. XXXVI. (1855).
Archaeologia Cantiana. Vol. XI.
Archaeological Institute of London Journal, Vol.
IV. (1847).
On English Mediaeval Embroidery. By the Rev. C. H.
HARTSHORNE.
Some Drawings of Ancient Embroidery. By Mrs. M.
BARBER.
Art Workers' Quarterly. Vol. II. (1903).
Clifton Antiquarian Club Proceedings. Vol. I. (1887-8).
"A Descriptive Catalogue of Some Remarkable Copes."
By the Hon. and Rev. W. I. CLIFFORD, S.J.
L'Art de de'corer les Tissus. By REYMOND Cox (Paris,
1900).
English Embroidered Bookbindings. By C. J. H.
DAVENPORT.
Art in Needlework. By LEWIS F. DAY.
Church Embroidery. By A. DOLBY.
Church Vestments. By A. DOLBY.
Anglo-Norman Antiquities. By A. C. DUCAREL (Descrip-
tion of the Bayeux Tapestry, by S. LE THIEULLIER, 1767).
The Bayeux Tapestry. By F. R. FOWKE (1875).
Gentleman's Magazine. Vol. LVI. (1786).
The Livery Companies of the City of London. By
W. C. HAZLITT.
The History of Modern Wiltshire. By Sir R. C. HOARE.
107
SOME USEFUL BOOKS OF REFERENCE
— eontimted.
Samplers and Tapestry Embroideries. By MARCUS B.
HUISH.
Embroideries and Lace, By E. LEFEBURE (translated and
enlarged by A. S. COLE).
A List of Parish Churches retaining Special Mediaeval
Features, Vestments, etc. By H. LITTLEHALES.
Inventory of Christchurch, Canterbury. By J. WICK-
HAM LEGG and W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE.
Old English Embroidery. By F. and H. MARSHALL.
Recherches sur le Commerce, la Fabrication et
PUsage des Etoffes. By FRANCISQUE MICHEL.
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries. Vols.
VIII., XI., XII., XVII., XVIII.
Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament. By A. W. PUGIN.
St. Cuthbert. By J. RAINE (1828).
Report of the Historical Exhibition at Madrid in
1892. ByC.H. READ.
Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages. By H.
SHAW.
Dunstable, its History. By W. G. SMITH.
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of Tapestry
and Embroidery at South Kensington Museum.
By A. S. COLE.
Vetusta Monumenta. Tomb of an Archbishop in
the Cathedral Church, Canterbury. By W. H. ST.
JOHN HOPE. Vol. VII.
Kunstlerische Entwicklung der Weberei und Stick-
erei (Vienna Museum). By M. DREGER.
The Art of Needlework. By the COUNTESS OF WILTON.
1 08
INDEX
ABBEY DORE, chasuble found in
oak chest at, 54
Abingdon, the abbey of, tradition
respecting, 14
Adrian IV., Pope (Nicholas Break-
spear), 14
Aelfflaeda, queen of Edward the
Elder, stole and maniple for
Bishop Fridestan, made by order
of, ii ; alluded to, 10, 12
Aelfgyva, 16
Aethelflaed, the wife of Brihtnoth,
her work similar in character to
the Bayeux tapestry, 19
Albemarle, William, Earl of, em-
broidered surcoat alluded to, note,
68
Albornoz, Cardinal Gil de, cope in
Toledo Cathedral said to have
belonged to, 36
Albs, 8, 22
Alderet, the wife of, tunic of Queen
Matilda worked by, 13
Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne. See
St. Aldhelm
Alford, Lady, "Needlework as
Art," notes, 33, 61, 63, 64
Alfred, King, two pallia presented
to the Pope by, note, 4
Altar cloth at Littledean made from
pieces of tunicles, 57; made from
a cope, at Buckland, ib. ; at Lyng,
preserves the remains of three
vestments, ib. ; at Norwich, made
from a cope, ib. ; alluded to, 8
Altar frontal at Steeple Aston,
early fourteenth century, Plate
xix, 43, 46 ; with orphreys of
fifteenth and early sixteenth cen-
turies, Plate xxii, 49 ; portion
of, at Chipping Camden, late
fifteenth century, Plate xxvii, 58 ;
portion of, late fifteenth century,
in the possession of Mrs. Chester
Master, Plate xxviii, 59, 60 ; of
stamped crimson velvet, middle
of sixteenth century, Plate xxxii,
66 ; at Alveley Church, similar
to that at Baunton, 58, 59 ; at
Careby, made from a cope, 57 ;
at Salisbury, described, 58 ; not
always made from vestments, 57 ;
alluded to, 5 1
Alveley Church, the altar frontal at,
58, 59
Anagni, near Rome, cathedral at,
33> 34 ;. cope, chasuble, and two
dalmatics at, ib. ; portion of
chasuble at, Plate vii, 32, 33, 34 ;
cope alluded to, 35
Anglo-Saxons, the, became skilled
in the arts, 6 ; ladies spent much
time at embroidery, ib.
Anne of Denmark, Queen, dresses
from Queen Elizabeth's collection
chosen by, note, 72
Antiquaries, Proceedings of the
Society of, notes, 32, 56, 57, 58,
59,62
Applique* work, with initials of the
Countess of Shrewsbury, latter
half of the sixteenth century,
Hardwick Hall, Plate xliv, 83,
84 ; with crest of Hardwick,
latter half of the sixteenth cen-
tury, Hardwick Hall, Plate xlv,
83,84
Archaologia, alluded to, notes, 14,
27, 52, 55
Armorial bearings frequently em-
broidered on the surcoats of
knights, 68
Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son
of Henry VII., reference to the
funeral of, by Leland, 60
Art Workers* Quarterly, the, note,
85
Arundell of Wardour, Lord, a
chasuble in the possession of,
64
IO9
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
Ascoli cope, the, Plates viii and ix,
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, pair
of leather gloves, said to have
been presented to Queen Eliza-
beth, at the, 76
Assherige, " Mirror or Glasse of the
Synneful Soul," dedicated from,
Athelstan, King, ecclesiastical
vestments presented to the shrine
of St. Cuthbert's at Chester-le-
Street by, 8 ; shrine visited by, 12
BACON, Sir FRANCIS, a copy of his
Essays, now in the Bodleian
library, presented to the Duke of
Buckingham by, 91
Bag, embroidered, for holding
books, etc., at the Victoria and
Albert Museum, Plate xlviii, 89
Band, portion of a, with arms of
Thornell and Fitton, early four-
teenth century, Plate B, 44, 48 ;
of deep red velvet, Plate xv, 42 ;
alluded to, 48
Barber, Mrs. M., " Some Drawings
of Ancient Embroidery," notes,
58,59
Barlow, John, husband of Elizabeth,
Countess of Shrewsbury, 82
Baunton, altar frontal from, Plate
xxviii, 58, 59, 60
Bayeux, 17
Bayeux tapestry, the question
of its origin, note, 14 ; pre-
served in the museum at Bayeux
in Normandy, 15 ; although de-
scribed as tapestry really needle-
work, ib. ; description of, 16 ;
subjects described and enume-
rated, 1 6, 17, 18 ; portions of the,
Plate ii, 16 ; reason for thinking
it was not intended for domestic
ornament, 18 ; a work, repre-
senting the deeds of Brihtnoth,
an East-Saxon ealdorman, similar
in character to, 19; Mr. F. R.
Fowke's opinion respecting the,
1 10
ib. ; Duke William's expedition
regarded by Norman ladies as a
crusade, ib. ; inventory of 1476,
containing a reference to, in
the cathedral at Bayeux, 20 ;
belonged, in the fifteenth cen-
tury, to Bayeux Cathedral, ib. ;
said to have been annually ex-
hibited at the cathedral, ib.\ used
during Napoleon's wars as a
covering for a transport waggon,
ib. ; sent to Paris, ib. ; placed
in the Hotel de Ville at Bayeux,
21
Beaurain, 16
Becket, Thomas a, Archbishop of
Canterbury, tradition concerning,
21 ; church of, at Salisbury, a
fine altar front at, 58
Bertrand de Goth, afterwards Pope
Clement V., the reputed giver of
two copes to St. Bertrand de
Comminges, 35
" Bess of Hard wick." See Shrews-
bury, Elizabeth Countess of
Bible, a, with embroidered binding
at the Bodleian Library, believed
to have belonged to Queen Eliza-
beth, 75 ; texts and quotations
from, their use in samplers, 104
" Black work," or " Spanish work,"
a style of embroidery said to
have been introduced by Cathe-
rine of Aragon, 70 ; very popular
during the reign of Queen Eliza-
beth, 71, 73 ; jacket or tunic of,
given to Viscountess Falkland by
William IV., Plate xxxv, 70, 78,
79 ; pillow-cover in the posses-
sion of Viscount Falkland, Plate
xxxvii, 74, 79 ; sleeves for a tunic,
Plate xxxviii, 76, *79 J coverlet
belonging to Viscount Falkland,
79; a portrait of the Earl of
Surrey at Hampton Court, illus-
trating, 80 ; specimens anterior
to Henry VIII. period in several
private collections, ib. ; caps and
head-dresses, ib.
INDEX
Blois, William de, coffin containing
shreds of vestments, now in
Worcester Cathedral, supposed
to be his, 21 ; alluded to, 23
Bodice front, a favourite piece
among students of embroidery,
late sixteenth century, Plate xxxiii,
68, 75, 76
Bodleian Library, a book associated
with the early years of Queen
Elizabeth at the, 71 ; Bible with
embroidered binding at the, 75 ;
a copy of " Bacon's Essays," with
embroidered portrait of the Duke
of Buckingham at the, 91
Bologna, cope of Gothic type pre-
served in the Civic Museum at,
Plate xii, 36, 38
Boniface VIII., Pope, zpluviale de
opere Anglicano presented by
Edward I. to, 27 ; recorded gift of
English embroidery to the cathe-
dral at Anagni by, 33
Bookbinding, embroidered, 48, 65,
7i, 72, 75» 9i
Bosham, 16
BoswelFs " Life of Johnson," note,
1 06
Boteler arms, impaling Le Strange
on the back of an orphrey, note,
49
Brewers' Company, London, funeral
pall in the possession of the, 63
Brihtnoth, Ealdorman of the East-
Saxons, lost records of, 19
British Museum, the, report on the
Historical Exhibition at Madrid,
1892, note, 37 ; remarkable em-
broidered panel in, 41 ; two four-
teenth-century panels in the bind-
ing of a Psalter at, 48 ; unusual
example of embroidery in the
book known as Queen Mary's
Psalter, at, 65 ; manuscript in
embroidered binding, supposed
to have been written and worked
by Queen Elizabeth, at, 71 ;
panel for a cushion, made for the
mayor of Hereford, at, 87
Brockhampton Roman Catholic
chapel, red silk cope formerly at,
Plates xvii, xviii, 42, 43, 44
Broderer's Company, the, incor-
porated by Queen Elizabeth, 84 ;
funeral palls belonging to, 85 ;
much impoverished at the time of
Charles I., 85 ; competitive ex-
hibitions of needlework, note, 85
Buckden, Catherine of Aragon a
worker of embroidery while se-
cluded at, 70
Buckingham, first duke of, needle-
work portrait of the, 91
Buckingham, third duke of, alluded
to, 66
Buckland, Worcestershire, ex-
amples of sixteenth-century work
at, 54 ; altar cloth made from a
cope at, 57
Burials of early kings and eccle-
siastics in their vestments, 9
Buxton, Mrs., an Elizabethan tunic
in the possession of, Plate A
(Frontispiece], 75
Byzantine conventionality, the, of
some Anglo-Saxon specimens,
12 ; tradition still dominant in
the twelfth century, 21
CAEN, the abbey of the Holy
Trinity at, 13
Canopies, their characteristics in
the late fifteenth century, 52, 53
Cantelupe, Walter de, Bishop of
Worcester, fragments found in
the coffin of, 23
Canterbury Cathedral, remarkable
examples found in a tomb in,
note, 23 ; inventory at, 27 ; ex-
amples of embroidery on the
monument of Edward the Black
Prince at, 68
Caps and head-dresses, Plate xl,
70, 78, 80
Careby, Lincolnshire, example of
sixteenth-century period at, 54 ;
red velvet altar frontal made
from a cope, at, 57
III
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
Carlisle Cathedral, examples of
sixteenth-century period at, 54
Cartwright, Fulk, husband of Mary
Pierrepont, 79
Catherine of Aragon, a worker of
embroidery, 5, 70; chasuble in
the possession of Lord Arundell
of Wardour, with the device of,
65
Catworth church, Huntingdonshire,
cushions formerly in, Plate xiv,
39, 40
Cavendish crest and motto, the,
on an embroidered panel at
Hardwick, 84
Cavendish, Sir William, husband
of Elizabeth, Countess of Shrews-
bury, 82
Chamberlain, Messrs., a porce-
lain service from embroidered
military scarf made by, note, 91
Charles I., King, Elizabethan caps
and head - dresses fashionable
until the reign of, 80 ; " stump "
style of embroidery popular
during his reign, 91 ; military
scarf and other souvenirs be-
longing to, ib. ; needlework por-
trait of, ib. ; supposed date of
origin of the " Sampler," 96 ;
alluded to, 85
Charles II., King, "stump" work
popular during the reign of, 92
Chasuble, blue satin, thirteenth
century, Plate v, 23, 24, 25 ; at
Anagni, portion of a, late thir-
teenth century, Plate vii, 32, 33,
34 ; silk, at the monastery of
Molk, near Vienna, 44 ; brocade,
with orphrey of latter part of
fourteenth century, Plate xxi, 48 ;
the back of an early sixteenth-
century, Plate C, 52, 53; of
Italian material found at Abbey
Dore, 54 ; at Hullavington con-
verted into an altar hanging, 56 ;
blue velvet, late fifteenth cen-
tury, Plate xxix, 59, 60 ; in the
possession of Lord Arundell, 63,
112
64; black velvet, possibly t cut
from a funeral pall, about 1500,
Plate xxx, 59, 62
Chasubles, the, of Archbishop Lan-
franc destroyed, notet 3 ; two
from Hexham made from copes,
59 ; alluded to, 8, 21, 22, 23, 24,
33,34, 51,65
Chaucer, Geoffrey, the "Squire's
Tale " quoted, 69
Chedzoy, Somersetshire, 55
Chester - le - Street, St. Cuthbert
buried at, 1 1 ; shrine visited by
King Athelstan, 12
Chinese models, their influence on
the art at the end of the seven-
teenth century, 101
Chipping Campden, examples of
sixteenth-century period at, 54,
55 ; portion of cope, late fifteenth
century, at, Plate xxv, 56; altar
frontal at, Plate xxvii, 58
" Choice of Emblems," by Whitney,
Plate xxxvi, 72, 78
" Christchurch, Canterbury, Inven-
tories of," alluded to, notes, 3, 68
Christina, Prioress of Markgate,
articles worked by, 15
Cirencester, example of a cope
adapted to a pulpit-hanging at,
52,54
Cistercian Order, abbots in Eng-
land asked by Innocent IV. for
gold embroideries, 15
Clement V., Pope. See Bertrand
de Goth
Clinton, William de, first Earl of
Huntingdon, 40
Clinton and Leyburne, the arms of,
on cushions formerly in Cat-
worth Church, 40
Clothiers' Company, Worcester,
funeral pall belonging to, 62
Clovesho' (Cliffe - at - Hoo), nuns
admonished to practise embroi-
dery by the council of, 7
Coat and waistcoat embroidered
latter half of eighteenth century,
Plate Ix, 1 06
INDEX
Commonwealth, the, "stump" work
popular during, 92
Conan, Earl of Bretagne, 17
Coopers' Company, London, funeral
pall possessed by the, 63
Cope, the Syon, second half of
thirteenth century, Plate vi, 28 ;
detail of the Syon cope, Plate
viA, 28 ; not likely to be again
successfully attempted, i ; the
first of English embroideries,
29 ; origin of its name, ib. ; its
wanderings in Reformation times,
30 ; description of, ib. ; subjects
embroidered upon, 30, 31 ; three
figures missing, 32 ; arms em-
broidered upon, belong to
Coventry families, ib. ; a cope
resembling it in the Madrid
Museum, ib. ; alluded to, 33, 35
Cope, from Ascoli, in the posses-
sion of J. Pierpont Morgan, Esq.,
late thirteenth century, Plates viii,
ix, 32, 34; detail of the Ascoli
cope, Plate ix, 34 ; in Toledo
Cathedral, end of thirteenth cen-
tury, Plate x, 36 ; detail of Toledo
cope, Plate xi, 36 ; of Gothic
type, fragments of, formerly kept
at Mount St. Mary's College,
Chesterfield, 36 ; in the Basilica
of St. John Lateran called the
cope of St. Sylvester, 37 ; in Civic
Museum, Bologna, end of the
thirteenth century, Plate xii, 38 ;
at Pienza, near Siena, early four-
teenth century, Plate xiii, 39, 40 ;
red silk, early fourteenth century,
Plates xvii, xviii, 42, 43, 44 ; at
Steeple Aston, cut to serve as an
altar frontal, Plate xix, 43, 46 ;
strip from the middle of a cope
now in the Lyons Museum, 44 ;
at St. Bertrand de Comminges,
44 ; adapted for use as a pulpit
hanging at Cirencester, 52, 54 ;
portion of a velvet cope, about
1 500, Plate xxiii, 50 ; portion of
a silk damask cope, about 1500,
Plate xxiv, 53, 54 ; of velvet, at
Skenfrith, 56 ; at Chipping
Camden, portion of, late fifteenth
century, Plate xxv, 55, 56 ; at
East Langdon, late fifteenth cen-
tury, Plate xxvi, 55, 56; brown
velvet pulpit-hanging at Wool
made from, 56 ; altar frontal at
Careby made from, 57 ; altar
cloths at Norwich and Buckland
made from, ib. ; specimen reputed
to have belonged to Westminster
Abbey now at Stonyhurst, 64
Copes, the, of Archbishop Lanfranc
destroyed, note, 3 ; of Gothic
type preserved at Toledo, in St.
John Lateran, at Bologna and
Pienza, 36 ; scheme of ornamen-
tation at close of fifteenth cen-
tury, 51 ; two cut down to serve
as altar frontals at South Ken-
sington, 54 ; remains of two, in
altar cloth at Lyng, 57 ; two
chasubles at Hexham made from,
Plate xxix, 59, 60 ; alluded to, 13,
29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 65
Coronation robes and mantles of
the nobility not unusually con-
verted into vestments, 7, 8, 13,
52
Cotentin,the,inNormandy,formerly
the seat of powerful barons, 14
Couesnon, a river in Normandy, 17
Coventry families, their arms in the
Syon Cope, Plate vi, 28, 32
Coverlet of" black work " belonging
to Viscount Falkland, 79 ; satin
embroidered, an important ex-
ample of late Elizabethan work,
Plate xlii, 76, 80 ; linen quilted,
date 1703, Plate Ivi, 101, 102 ;
embroidered with worsted : early
eighteenth century, Plate D, 100,
101 ; linen, embroidered with red
and green silk : early eighteenth
century, Plate Ivii, 102 ; linen,
embroidered with coloured silks
and gold thread : early eighteenth
century, Plate Iviii, 102
"3
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
Covers, 70, 72
Cox's " L'Art de de'corer les Tis-
sus," note, 45
Cridland, Elizabeth, a sampler by,
dated 1752, 104
Croyland monastery, coronation
mantle given by Witlof, King of
Mercia, to, 8 ; presented by King
Harold with two vestments, to.
Culmstock, Devonshire, example
at, 55
Curtains, 8, 72
Cushions, formerly in Catworth
Church, 39 ; bag and pincushion,
early seventeenth century, Plate
xlviii, 89, 90
DALMATICS, 33, 34
Danes, the, alluded to, 19
Daroca college, cope at, 32, 35
Davenport's " English Embroidered
Bookbindings," notes, 48, 72, 75,
91
Decorative needlework an indica-
tion of the social life of women, I
Denny, Sir Anthony, pair of leather
gloves said to have been given
by Henry VIII. to, 77
Denny, Sir Edward, Knt, Banneret,
Denny, Sir Edward, afterwards
Earl of Norwich, pair of leather
gloves given by James I. to, 77
Denny, Sir Edward, Bart., speci-
mens presented to the Victoria
and Albert Museum by, 77, 90
Desk - hanging, the, at Sutton
Benger, 57
Devices, the, of the sixteenth cen-
tury resemble quaint woodcuts
of that period, 78
Devonshire, the Duke of, his collec-
tion of embroideries at Hardwick
Hall, 82, 83, 84
"Dictionary of National Bio-
graphy," note, 70
Dinan, 17
Dol, 17
114
Dreger's " Kiinstlerische Entwick-
lung der Weberei," note, 44
Ducarel's "Anglo-Norman Antiqui-
ties," note, 20
Dudley, Lord, offers a pall at the
funeral of Prince Arthur in 1502,
60
D unstable, example of funeral pall
at, 61, 62
Dunstan, Archbishop, a designer of
embroideries, 8
Durham, fragments of embroideries
found at Worcester compared
with those found at, 22
Durham Cathedral, fragments of
stole and maniple at, Plate i, 8 ;
striking Anglo-Saxon examples
in, 9 ; receives the body of St.
Cuthbert, n
Durham, "Transactions" of the
Architectural and Archaeological
Society of, note, 12
Ed5
EADGYTH, or Edith, Queen, a
worker in embroidery, 8
East Langdon, Kent, cope, late
fifteenth century, at, Plate xxvi,
4, 55, 56
gar, King, the monks of Ely
presented with a mantle by, 7 ;
presents a coronation robe to the
Abbey of Glastonbury, to.
Edgcumbe, Margaret, wife of Sir
Edward Denny, Knt., Banneret,
pair of mittens given by Queen
Elizabeth to, Plate xxxiv (2), 68,
Edgehill, battle of, alluded to, 91
Edward the Black Prince, em-
broidery used for his armorial
bearings, 68 ; his bequest of an
embroidered suit, note, 68
Edward the Confessor, King, alluded
to, 8, 16, 17
Edward the Elder, King, alluded
to, ii
Edward I., King, his gifts to Boni-
face VI 1 1. and Canterbury Cathe-
dral, 27
INDEX
Edward II., King, recorded pay-
ment for a cope for the pope by, 27
Edward III., King, orphrey ex-
hibited at the Society of Anti-
quaries, with shield of, note, 47 ;
sumptuary enactments of, 68
Edward VI., King, Sir Anthony
Denny one of the guardians of,
77 ; the subject in a seventeenth-
century embroidered panel, 88 ;
alluded to, 69
Elizabeth, Queen, her fondness for
the art, 5 ; a skilful needle-
woman, 71 ; bound manuscript,
supposed to have been written
and embroidered by, ib. ; " black
work " popular during her reign,
ib. ; rivalled in embroidery by
Mary, Queen of Scots, 72 ; mag-
nitude of her wardrobe, ib. ; em-
broidery for costume exemplified
by her portraits, 73, 74 ; robe, in
her portrait, embroidered with
eyes and ears, 74 ; her supposed
Bible at the Bodleian Library, 75 ;
pair of mittens given to Margaret
Edgcumbe by, Plate xxxiv (2),
68, 77 ; jacket of " black work "
recorded as belonging to, 79 ;
" petit point " style popular in the
reign of, 81 ; Mary, Queen of
Scots, confided to the custody of
the Earl of Shrewsbury by, 82 ;
Broderers' Company incorpor-
ated by, 84 ; the subject in an
embroidered panel at Maidstone,
88 ; alluded to, 69, 90
Ely, the monks of, presented with
a royal mantle, 7
Ely Cathedral, sixteenth-century
examples in, 54
Ely, church at, the, embroidery re-
presenting the deeds of Brihtnoth
given to, 19
Emblems, 13, 78
Embroidery for costumes during
the Middle Ages not uncommon,
68 ; examples of, previous to the
sixteenth century, not numerous,
ib. ; its great time the sixteenth
century, 69 ; in the latter half of
the eighteenth century, Plate Ix,
106
English embroidery, practised by
both sexes in convents and
monasteries, 2 ; mediaeval ex-
amples in many cases wantonly
destroyed, 3 ; famous on the
Continent during thirteenth cen-
tury, 15 ; examples of the twelfth
century not numerous, 21 ; its
best period the later thirteenth
and early fourteenth centuries,
26 ; that many early specimens
are found abroad not surprising,
27 ; lions' or leopards' heads
devices frequently used in, 28,
33 ; early fourteenth-century ex-
example at Mount St. Mary's
College, 36 ; examples from Cat-
worth Church, Plate xiv, 39, 40 ;
later subjects enclosed by foli-
ated branch-work, 42 ; its decline
during the fourteenth century,
46 ; examples of the fourteenth
century neither skilful nor numer-
ous, 46 ; orphreys of the fifteenth
century on an altar frontal, Plate
xxii, 49 ; materials in use towards
the close of the fifteenth century,
50 ; developed a marked style
towards the end of the fifteenth
century, ib. ; scheme of orna-
mentation, 5 1 ; the designs of the
sixteenth century characterized by
quaintness and playfulness, 73 ;
during the seventeenth century
not equal to that of earlier periods,
86
English mansions and manor-
houses, needlework as associated
with, 8 1
FALKLAND, VISCOUNT, sixteenth-
century jacket .or tunic in the
possession of, Plate xxxv, 70, 71,
78 ; " black-work " pillow-cover
belonging to, Plate xxxvii, 74, 79
"5
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
Falkland, Viscountess, " black-
work" jacket given by King
William IV. to, Plate xxxv, 70,
71,78,79
Farcy, L. de, " La Broderie," notes,
Fayrey, Henry, funeral pall at Dun-
stable, said to have been pre-
sented by, 62
Felbrigge, Anne, a nun of Bruis-
yard, two embroidered panels in
the British Museum the sup-
posed work of, 48
Fishmongers' Company, fifteenth-
century pall belonging to the, 63
Flat embroidery, boxes and panels
of, of similar design to " stump "
work, Plate li, 93, 96
Flemish workmanship, orphreys of,
note, 65
Florence, ground of cope for Henry
VII. woven at, 64
Forest Hill, Oxfordshire, early six-
teenth-century examples at, 55
Founders' Company, pall possessed
by, 63
Fowke, F. R., his opinion respecting
the Bayeux tapestry, 19 ; book
on the Bayeux tapestry by, note,
19
Fragments, of stole and maniple
from the tomb of St. Cuthbert,
Durham, tenth century, Plate i,
8, 9 ; from the tomb of Bishop
William de Blois (?) in Wor-
cester Cathedral, twelfth century,
Plate iii, 18, 22 ; from the tomb
of Bishop Walter de Cantelupe in
Worcester Cathedral (1236-66),
Plate iv, 22, 23
France, the style of embroidery
called "petit point" in, 81
Fridestan, Bishop of Winchester,
stole and maniple made for, by
order of Queen Aelfflaeda, 10, n
Gentleman's Magazine alluded to,
24
116
George IV., King, porcelain table-
service from pattern of em-
broidered military scarf made by
command of, note, 91
German work, an orphrey of, 32, 33
Girdles, 8, 13
Glastonbury, the abbey of, pre-
sented with King Edgar's coro-
nation robe, 7
Gloves, Plate xxxiv (i), 68, 77 ;
pair of leather, in the Ashmolean
Museum, associated with Queen
Elizabeth, 76 ; a favourite New
Year's gift in Elizabethan times,
ib. ; pair of leather, recorded as
given by Henry VIII. to Sir
Anthony Denny, 77; pair of,
given by James I. to Sir Edward
Denny, ib. ; alluded to, 72
Grandison, John, Bishop of Exeter,
note,*?
Guildhall Museum, London, em-
broidered 1666 "stump" work
panel at the, 95
Guy, Count, of Ponthieu, 16
Gyrth, brother of King Harold, 18
HAMPTON COURT, oil painting at,
an excellent idea of the use and
style of embroidery, 69 ; por-
traits of Queen Elizabeth at, 73,
74 ; portrait of the Earl of Surrey
illustrating " black work," 80
Hangings, late Elizabethan, Plate
xxxix, 76, 79; late seventeenth
century, Plate liv, 97, 99 ; Plate
Iv, 98, 100 ; alluded to, 72
Hardwick, John, father of Eliza-
beth, Countess of Shrewsbury,
82
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, a seat
of the Duke of Devonshire, the
most interesting collection of
needlework at, 81 ; specimens of
ecclesiastical embroidery trans-
formed for secular use at 67;
reason for supposing that some of
Mary, Queen of Scots', work is
preserved at, 72 ; the ruins of an
INDEX
Hardwick H&— continued.
older mansion near, the prison-
house of Mary, Queen of Scots,
8-> • embroidered panel, with
monogram of Mary, Queen of
Scots, at, Plate xliii, 82, 8 3 ;
panels of applique* work, with
initials of the Countess of Shrews-
bury, at, Plate xliv, 83, 84 5 panel
of appliqu£ work, with crest of
Hardwick, at, Plate xlv, 83, 84 ;
erected by Elizabeth, Countess of
Shrewsbury, 82 ; panel with arms
of Talbot and Hardwick and
Cavendish crest and motto at,
Plate xlvi, 84
Harold, King, presents vestments
to the monastery of Croyland, 8 ;
alluded to, 16, 17, 18, 19
Harpsfield, in " Dictionary of Na-
tional Biography," note, 70
Hastings, alluded to, 17, 18
Hatton Garden, wall hangings
found in, Plate liii, 96, 98> 99
Hazlitt, " Livery Companies of the
City of London," notes, 63, 85
Head - dresses, commonly of a
hooded shape, Plate xl, 78, 80 ;
alluded to, 70
Henry V., King, Syon monastery
founded by, 30
Henry VI., King, the importation
of foreign embroideries forbidden
during the reign of, 69
Henry VII., King, ground of cope
woven in Florence for, 64
Henry VIII., King, devices on cha
suble in the possession of Lord
Arundell referred to, 65 ; a love
of embroidery, 69 ; pair of glove
said to have been given to Si
Anthony Denny by, 77 ; black
work " in private collections of
period earlier than, 80 ; the sub
iect in a seventeenth-century em
broidered panel at Maidstone
88 ; alluded to, 4, 66
Heraldic lions or leopards, .b
Subjects
ereford, Mayor of, embroidered
panel in the British Museum
made for the, 87
Hereford Cathedral alluded to, 22
Herrick, Robert, quoted, 96
Heylin's " History of the Reforma-
tion," note, 67
Hexham, two chasubles from, made
from copes, Plate xxix, 59, 60 ;
chasuble from, possibly made
from funeral pall, Plate xxx, 59,
62 : chasuble from, alluded to, 61
Hill, Mr. Adam, of Spaldwick,
military scarf given by Charles I.
Hoare's "Wiltshire," note, 58
Hochon collection, thirteenth-cen-
tury embroideries and orphrey
from, in Victoria and Albert
Museum, Plate xvi, 41* 42, 47
Holbein, Hans, alluded to, 69
Hope, W. H. St. John, 32, notes, 3,
Httish, Mr. Marcus, "Samplers
and Tapestry Embroideries,
note, 89, 92
Hullavington, Wiltshire, example
of chasuble converted into a
square altar hanging at, 55> 5°
Hulton, Mary, embroiderer of the
seventeenth - century panel at
Victoria and Albert Museum,
Plate xlvii, 87, 88, 96
ICKLINGHAM, 75 f
Innocent IV., Pope, anecdote of,
preserved by Matthew Pans, 15
Inscriptions on specimens found m
the tomb of St. Cuthbert, 9, 10, 1 1
lona, alluded to, 6
Ireland, coverlet from, in the Vic-
toria and Albert Museum, Plate
Isham7family, lady's jacket of the,
Plate xlix, 90
Isham, Sir Thomas, of Lamport
Hall, two "black -work "caps
from the collection of, Plate xl,
78,80
117
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
Italian and Spanish specimens,
many of English origin, 4, 97
JACKET, or tunic, in " black work,"
Plate xxxv, 70, 78 ; lady's early
seventeenth-century, Plate xlix,
90
James I., King, " black " or Spanish
work survived the reign of, 71 ;
pair of gloves given to Sir Ed-
ward Denny by, 77 ; obelisk or
pyramid, a favourite device in
the reign of, 89 ; panel of the
reign of, Plate xlvii, 87, 88, 89 ;
" stump " work originated in the
reign of, 92 ; alluded to, note> 100
KINGSTON, EARL OF, brother to
Mary Pierrepont, 79
Knowles, Miss, woolwork copy of
oil painting by, alluded to, 106
LADY'S jacket belonging to the
I sham family, Plate xlix, 90
Lamport Hall, 80, 90
Lanfranc, Archbishop, his chasubles
and copes destroyed, note, 3
Leather - sellers' Company, the,
funeral pall possessed by, 63
Legg» J- Wickham, notes, 3, 27, 68
Leland, John, famous English anti-
quary, quoted, 60
Leofwyne, brother of King Harold,
18
Leyburne, Juliana de, wife of
William de Clinton, first Earl
of Huntington, 40
Leyden, alluded to, 78
Lincoln Cathedral, inventory at, 27,
note, 51
Lindisfarne, n, 12
Linwood, Miss Mary, woolwork
copy of oil-painting by, 106
Litany of the Faithful Departed,
the, inscriptions on funeral pall
taken from, 61
Littledean, examples of sixteenth-
century altar cloth made of pieces
of tunicles at, 54, 57
118
London companies, examples of
old funeral palls in the posses-
sion of, 6 1
Louis XV., French brocade forming
hood of cope, of this period, note,
44
Lutterworth, sixteenth- century em-
broidered fragment attributed to
time of Wicklif at, 54, 57
Lyng, Norfolk, early sixteenth-cen-
tury altar cloth preserving the
remains of three vestments at,
55.57
Lyons, Mus£e des Tissus, em-
broidery formerly in the Spitzer
collection now in the, 45
MACKET, ELIZABETH, sampler of
1696 in Victoria and Albert
Museum bearing the name of,
Plate lii, 94, 98
Madrid Museum, a cope resembling
the Syon cope in the, 32
Maidstone Museum, embroidery
illustrating the progress of the
Reformation at the, 88
Maniples, alluded to, 8, 9, 10, 12,
21, 24, 32
Mantles, 7, 13
Margaret de Clare, wife of Edmund
Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall,
embroidery made for, 24
Mary, Queen, her liking for em-
broidery, 5 : alluded to, 69 ; a
worker of embroidery, 70; the
subject in an embroidered panel
in Maidstone Museum, 88
Mary, Queen of Scots, her liking
for embroidery, 5 ; her skill in
the art, 72, 82 ; embroidered
panels at Hard wick associated
with, 83 ; Hard wick Hall full of
memorials of, 82 ; embroidered
panel at Hard wick with mono-
gram of, Plate xliii, 82, 83
Master, Mrs. Chester, altar frontal
from Baunton Church in the
possession of, Plate xxviii, 58, 59,
INDEX
Matilda, Queen, extract from the
will of, 13 ; tradition respecting
the spoliation of the abbey at
Abingdon by, 14
Matins for the Dead, inscriptions
on Sudbury pall taken from, 61
Matthew Paris, alluded to, 14, 15
May, Margreet, a sampler of 1654
with the name of, 97
Men-embroiderers, note, 3
Merchant Taylors' Company, three
palls presented in 1562 to the, 63
Michel's " Recherches sur le Com-
merce . . . des Etoffes," note, 61
Military scarf belonging to Charles
I. presented by Sir Edward
Denny to the Victoria and Albert
Museum, 90
" Mirror or Glasse of the Synneful
Soul," a volume associated with
Queen Elizabeth in the Bodleian
Library, 71
Mirror frames embroidered fre-
quently in "stump" work style,
92,95
Mitres, 14, 21, 22, 60
Mittens, given by Queen Elizabeth
to Margaret Edgcumbe, Plate
xxxiv (2), 68, 77
Molk, monastery of, silk chasuble
at, 44
Monks and the clergy designers of
embroidery, 8
Mont St. Michel, 17
Morgan, J. Pierpont, Esq., cope
from Ascoli, in the possession of,
Plates viii, ix, 32, 34, 35
Morse, 32, 59
Moschetti, A., " Museo Civico di
Padova," note, 50
Mount St. Mary's College, frag-
ments of Gothic type of cope
preserved at, 36
NAPOLEON, the Bayeux tapestry
sent to Paris by order of, 20
National Portrait Gallery, portraits
of Queen Elizabeth at, 73
Needlecraft,its place in art records,!
Needlework, a source of amuse-
ment in feudal times, 2
Neville, Ralph, fourth Earl of
Westmorland, the subject on
altar frontal of Henry VIII.
period, Plate xxxii, 66
Norman Conquest, the, its effect on
the art, 13
Norman ladies supposed to have
regarded the expedition against
England as a crusade, 19
Normandy, 19; the museum at
Bayeux, 15 ; Duke Robert of,
18
Norwich, altar cloth made from
cope at, 57 ; example of funeral
pall at St. Gregory's Church, 55,
01
OBELISK or pyramid, a favourite
device in the time of James I.,
89
Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, 18, 19
Offa, King of Mercia, St. Ethelbert
beheaded by, 22
Opus Anglicanum, its reputation
abroad in mediaeval times, 4 ;
its characteristics, 28 ; alluded
to, 27
Orphreys, embroidered, thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries, Plate
xvi, 41, 42 ; photographs of two
with shields of Edward III.
and John Grandison, Bishop of
Exeter, note, 47 ; of fifteenth
century on central and right of
altar frontal, 49 ; fragments of,
included in altar cloth at Lyng,
57 j orphrey in South Kensing-
ton Museum showing first symp-
toms of degeneracy, 47; of
early sixteenth century on chasu-
ble of late fourteenth century,
note, 49 ; on the back of bro-
cade chasuble, Plate xxi, 48, 49 ;
of early sixteenth-century work
on altar frontal, Plate xxii, note,
49 ; fragments of, at Hullaving-
ton, 56 ; cross-shaped from the
119
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
Orphreys — continued.
back of chasuble at Hullavington,
ib. ; ofSkenfrithcopeembroidered
with figures of saints beneath
canopies, ib. ; cross-shaped on
chasuble from Hexham, Plate
xxix, 59, 60 ; alluded to, 24, 31,
32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 41, 43, 44,
49, So, 5i, 53,57,62,64,65
Oscott College, early sixteenth-cen-
tury example preserved at, 55
Ossington, 79
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum at,
pair of leather gloves in the, 76 ;
University, Queen Elizabeth's
visit in 1566 alluded to, 77, 91
PADUA, characteristic English
specimen in the museum at, note,
50
Pallia, two presented to the pope
by King Alfred, note, 4
Palls, funeral, a chasuble from
Hexham possibly made from a,
Plate xxx, 5 9, 62; oncevery nume-
rous, 60 ; the Sudbury pall, late
fifteenth century, Plate xxxi, 61,
64 ; once possessed by every im-
portant guild, 6 1 ; one at St.
Gregory's Church, Norwich, ib. ;
specimen in the possession of
the Clothiers' Company at Wor-
cester, 62 ; Saddlers' Company,
London, ib. ; Brewers' Company,
63 ; Coopers' Company, ib. ; Fish-
mongers'Company, ib.\ Founders'
Company, ib. ; Leather-sellers'
Company, ib. ; three presented to
the Merchant Taylors' Company,
ib. ; one presented to the
Stationers' Company in 1572, ib. ;
one belonging to the Vintners'
Company, ib. ; the work of " bro-
derers" belonging to the guild,
^S
Panels, embroidered, depicting
scenes in the life of the Virgin
Mary, Plate xx, 46, 47 ; em-
broidered velvet panel in Victoria
120
and Albert Museum, 65 ; panel
in "petit point," Plate xli, 80,
8 1 ; with monogram of Mary,
Queen of Scots, Hard wick Hall,
Plate xliii, 82, 83 ; with Arms of
Talbot, and Hardwick, and
Cavendish crest and motto, late
sixteenth century, Hardwick
Hall, Plate xlvi, 84, 86; em-
broidered with silks of various
colours, James I., Plate xlvii,
87, 88 ; in flat embroidery, first
half of seventeenth century, Plate
li, 93, 96 ; embroidered by Eliza-
beth Russell, 1730, Plate lix, 103,
104
Paris National Library, Queen
Matilda's will preserved at, 13
Parr, Katharine, book adorned with
embroidery at the Bodleian
Library presented by Queen Eliza-
beth to, 71 ; bound manuscript
at British museum with mono-
gram of, 72 ; alluded to, 69
Parsons, Rodulphi, his shield of
arms and monumental brass at
Cirencester, 52, 53
Peterborough Cathedral, inventory
at, 27
" Petit point " embroidery, became
popular in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, 81 ; panel in, early
seventeenth century, Plate xli,
80, 81
Pevensey, alluded to, 17
Pienza, a cope of Gothic type pre-
served at, 36 ; cope at, early
fourteenth century, Plate xiii, 39,
40
Pierrepont, Sir Henry, 79
Pierrepont, Mary, sister of the Earl
of Kingston, sleeves of " black
work" said to have been em-
broidered by, Plate xxxviii, 76,
79
Pillow-cover, "black work," six-
teenth century, in the possession
of Viscount Falkland, Plate
xxxvii, 74, 79 ; alluded to, 70
INDEX
Pilton, Somersetshire, early six-
teenth-century example at, 55
Pincushion, attached to a bag,
Plate xlviii, 89, 90
Pius II., Pope, the Pienza cope
presented to, 39
Plantagenet, Edmund, Earl of
Cornwall, 24
Ponthieu, in Normandy, 16
Powys, Lord, assists at the funeral
of Prince Arthur in 1502, 60
Psalter, thirteenth century, bound
in embroidered panels, at the
British Museum, 48
Pugin, " Glossary of Ecclesiastical
Ornament," note, 51
Pulpit-hanging at Wool, made from
a cope, 56
QUEEN MARY'S Psalter, manuscript
book known as, at the British
Museum, 65
Quetchou, a place in Normandy, 14
Quilted work, examples of, towards
the end of the seventeenth
century, 87 ; embroideries worked
only in yellow silk, 100 ; em-
broidered petticoat associated
with Queen Elizabeth in the
United Service Institution
Museum, note, ib. ; linen coverlet,
embroidered with coloured silks,
1703, Plate Ivi, 101, 102
RAINE, CANON, alluded to, i2,notes,
8, 10
Read, C. H., Report on the
Historical Exhibition at Madrid,
note, 37
Reformation, the, its effects on
ecclesiastical work, 4, 67 ; seven-
teenth-century panel at Maid-
stone illustrating the progress of,
88
Rock, Dr., alluded to, 32
Rome, alluded to, 4, 6, 14, 33, 36,
37,42
Romsey, Hants, example at, 55
Royal Arms of England, em-
broidered in the coat of Edward
the Black Prince, 68 ; in seven-
teenth-century panel, Plate xlvii,
87,88
Russell, Elizabeth, a panel for a
cushion cover, with name of,
Plate lix, 103, 104
Ruthven, Lord Grey, at the funeral
of Prince Arthur in 1502, a pall
given by, 60
SADDLERS' Company of London,
funeral pall belonging to, 62 ;
placed on the table when new-
comer is sworn, 63
St. Albans, Robert, abbot of, his
offering to Pope Adrian IV., 14
St. Aldhelm alludes to the skill of
Anglo-Saxon women, 7
St. Augustine, alluded to, 7
St. Bertrand de Comminges, two
copes of English work at, 35 ;
cope resembling mutilated silk
cope at South Kensington at, 44
St. Cuthbert, fragments of stole
and maniple found in the tomb
of, Plate i, 8, 9 ; J. Raine's " St.
Cuthbert," note, 8 ; King Athel-
stan presents ecclesiastical vest-
ments to the shrine of, 8 ; the last
of the Irish bishops at Lindis-
farne, n ; alluded to, notes, 12
St. Ethelbert, King of the East
Angles, alluded to, 22
St. Gregory's Church, Norwich,
early sixteenth-century examples
at, 55 ; funeral pall at, 61
St. John the Baptist, the fraternity
of, alluded to, 62
St. John's Day, the reputed occasion
for the annual exhibition of the
Bayeux tapestry, 20
St. John Lateran at Rome, cope of
Gothic type preserved, at 36, 37
St. Lo, 13
St. Loe, Sir William, husband of
Elizabeth, Countess of Shrews-
bury, 82
R 121
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
St. Nicholas of Bari, his supposed
figure on a fragment of em-
broidery, 22
St. Paul, inventories of the
Cathedral Church of, note, 27
St. Peter the Apostle (Westminster
Abbey), alluded to, 17
St. Sylvester, the cope of, in the
basilica of St. John Lateran,
Rome, 37
St. Thomas a Becket. See Becket
Salisbury, Marquess of, portrait of
Queen Elizabeth in the possession
of, 74
Salisbury, altar frontal of St. Thomas
a Becket, description, 58
Salisbury Cathedral, sixteenth-
century example at, 54
Samplers, panel and small cushion
at Victoria and Albert Museum
suggestive of early, Plate xlvii, 87,
88 ; examples, 1643, 1696 : Plate
lii, 94, 97 ; appear to have
originated in the time of Charles
I., 96 ; earliest known dated 1643,
id. ; cutwork patterns of, resemble
Italian work of the period, 97 ;
changes during the eighteenth
century, 103 ; verses upon, found
on old tombstones, 104 ; maps of
the world, eighteenth century,
105 ; popularity declines in early
nineteenth century, ib.
Sandals, alluded to, 14
Scotland, alluded to, 77
Secular articles, their conversion to
ecclesiastical uses, 7, 14
Sens Cathedral, tradition respecting
the chasuble and mitre in, 21
Shakespeare, quoted, 96
Shaw's " Dresses and Decorations
of the Middle Ages," note, 62
Shrewsbury, Elizabeth, Countess
of (" Bess of Hardwick "), velvet
panels at Hardwick with initials
of, 83 ; founded the dukedoms
of Devonshire and Newcastle,
note, 82 ; Hardwick Hall erected
by, 82 ; alluded to, 84
122
Silk for embroidery replaces wor-
sted in the eighteenth century,
IO2
Simpson, Sub-dean W. Sparrow,
note, 27
Skenfrith, Herefordshire, sixteenth-
century velvet cope at, 54, 56
Smith, W. G., "Dunstable," note,
61
South Kensington Museum,
Catalogue of Textile Fabrics in
the, note, 32 ; Syon cope deposited
at the, 30
Somze'e collection, note, 50
Spitzer collection, embroidery in
the Musde des Tissus Lyons,
formerly in the, 45
Stafford, Lady Catherine, the sub-
ject on an altar frontal of Henry
VIII. period, 66
Stafford badge, the swan, on an
altar frontal, Plate xxxii, 66
Star, the, 17
Stationers' Company, pall presented
to, in 1572,63
Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire, cope
cut to serve as an altar frontal
preserved at, Plate xix, 43, 46
Stigand, Archbishop, 17
Stole and maniple, fragments of,
from the tomb of St. Cuthbert at
Durham, tenth century, Plate i,
8 ; stoles alluded to, 8, 9, 12, 21,
24,32
Stonyhurst College, 64
Stoulton, Worcestershire, sixteenth-
century example at, 54
Stretes, Gwillim, a portrait of the
Earl of Surrey at Hampton
Court, attributed to, 80
Stuart times, the, embroidery
popular, but designs not always
good in, 5
" Stump " work, originated in the
time of James I., was popular
through the Commonwealth and
during the reign of Charles II.,
92 ; flourished in the reign of
Charles I., 91 ; materials, 94 ;
INDEX
" Stump " work — continued.
box in stump work, Plate 1, 92,
95 ; chiefly characterized by
grotesque ugliness, 92 ; panel at
the Guildhall Museum, London,
said to have been rescued from
the fire of 1666, 95 ; mirror frame,
unfinished in the . Victoria and
Albert Museum, 95
Subjects, Historical, Scriptural,
Legendary, Heraldic, etc., used
for embroidery : Abraham enter-
taining angels, 93 ; Abraham
and Hagar, ib. ; Adam and Eve,
93 ; Actaeon devoured by his
Hounds, 7 8 ; Alexander, the Pope,
34 ; Amos, 10 ; Angel appearing to
the Shepherds, 38, 41, 48 ; Angels
mounted on Horseback, 43 ;
Angels swinging Censers, 34, 39,
63 ; Angels with Musical Instru-
ments and Crowns, 33, 38, 44 ;
Angel appearing to Anna, 41 ;
Angels, 36, 38, 43, 52, 54, 56, 58,
60, 6 1, 62, Plate viA; Anna and
Joachim at the Golden Gate, 41,
47 ; Annunciation, the, 32, 36, 38,
41, 47, 48, 55, 58,64 ; Apostles, the,
41, 44 ; Astrology, 83 ; Bacchus
beating a Drum, 78 ; Betrayal,
the, 38, 42 ; Charles I., 93 ;
Charles II., 93; Chastity, 83;
Cherubim and Seraphim, 57 ;
Clasped Hands, 88; Clement,
Pope, 34 ; Creation, Story of the,
33 ; Crowns, 88; Crucifixion, the,
24, 30, 32, 34, 38, 44. 45, 48, 49,
53, 56> 59, 66, Plates C, ix, xxn,
xxxii ; Daniel, 10 ; David, 42,
45 ; David and Abigail, 93 ;
David and Bathsheba, 93 ;
Descent into Hades, 38; Dragons,
32, 88, 99; Eagles, Double-
headed, 51, 56, 57, 58, 59, 62,
Plate xxviii ; Edward the Con-
fessor, 37 ; Esther and Ahasuerus,
93 ; Evangelists, Symbols of the,
38 ; Fabianus, Pope, 34 ; Faith,
83, 93 ; Fayrey Family, 62 ; Fleur
de Lys, 51, 53, 56, 58, 62,64, 83,
88, Plate xxiii ; Flight into
Egypt, 38, 48 ; Griffins, 24,
102 ; Habakkuk, 10 ; Haber-
dashers' Arms, 62 ; Henrietta
Maria, 93 ; Herodias, Daughter
of, 93 ; Holy Lamb, the, 9 ; Holy
Trinity, 37 ; Hope, 93 ; Hosea,
10 ; Innocent, Pope, 34 ; Isaac,
Offering of, 93, 95 ; Isaac and Re-
bekah, 93 ; Jehu and Jezebel, 93 ;
Jeremiah, 10 ; Joel, 10 ; John,
Pope, 34 ; Jonah, 10 ; Joseph,
27 ; Joseph and Potiphar's wife,
93 ; Justice, 93 ; Leopards, 28,
33, 44 ; Lions, 24, 28, 33, 43, 88,
94, 99, 102 ; Lily, the, 56, 58 ;
Magi, the, 36, 38, 41 ; Marcellus,
34 ; Martyrdoms, 38, 43 ; Mas-
sacre of the Innocents, 38, 48 ;
Maximin, Emperor, 65; Mercers'
Arms, 62 ; Michael and the
Dragon, 31 ; Moses, 93 ; Nahum,
10 ; Nativity, the, 36, 38, 41 ;
Neville, Ralph, 66 ; Obelisk or
Pyramid, 89 ; Obadiah, 10 ;
Orpheus charming the Beasts,
93 ; Our Lord, Birth of, 48 ; Our
Lord and Mary Magdalene, 31,
38, 49 ; Head of our Lord, 34 ;
Our Lord discoursing to the
Apostles, 42 ; Our Lord and St.
Thomas, 31 ; Our Lord's Passion,
35 ; Our Lord seated on a
Throne, 30, 35, 36 ; Our Lord,
Scenes from, the History of, 33,
38, 39, 41 ; Paris, Judgment of,
93 ; Peace, 93 ; Perspective, 83 ;
Peter the Deacon, 10 ; Pieta, a,
63 ; Portcullis, 64 ; Presentation
in the Temple, 38 ; Queen of
Sheba, 93, 95 ; Resurrection, the,
38 ; Right Hand of the Almighty,
10 ; St. Anastasius, 34 ; St.
Andrew, 31, 37, 41, 47, 495 St.
Apollonia, 50 ; St. Bartholomew,
3i, 37, 47, So; St. Catherine of
Alexandria, 37, 39, 47, °$ > St.
Dionysius, 37 ; St. Dunstan, 37 ;
123
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
Subjects — continued.
St. Edmund the King, 29, 34, 37 ;
St. Etheldreda, 49; St. Ethel-
bert, 37 ; St. Gregory the Great,
10, 34 ; St. Helena, 37, 47 ; St.
Hilarius, 34; St. James, 10, 31,
37, 41 ; St. James the Less, 31,
47 ; St. John the Baptist, n, 37,
44, 62 ; St. John the Evangelist,
11,37,41,49; St. Lawrence, 10, 37,
47 ; St. Leo, 34 ; St. Lucius, 34 ;
St. Margaret, 37, 39; St. Mary
Magdalene, 37, 41, 50, 56; St.
Martin of Tours, 63 ; St. Matthew,
31 ; St. Matthias, 41 j St.
Nicholas, 34 ; St. Olave, 37 ; St.
Paul, 24, 31, 37, 41, 47; St.
Peter, 24, 31, 34, 37, 63; St.
Philip, 31, 37 ; St. Silvester, 34 ;
St. Simon, 37 ; St. Sixtus, 10 ; St.
Stephen, 24, 37 ; St. Thomas, 10,
37 ; St. Thomas of Canterbury,
29, 34, 37, 38, 39J Salutation,
the, 38, 41, 47 ; Scotch Thistle,
83, Plate xliii ; Scourging, the, 38 ;
Seraph or Cherub on the Wheel,
29 ; Seraphim holding Scrolls,
56 ; Six- winged Seraphs, 42, 51 ;
Shepherd playing Pipes, 93 ;
Shepherdess with her Crook, 93 ;
Solomon, 42, 45, 93, 95 ; Stafford,
Lady Catherine, 66; Stephen,
Pope,34 ; Susanna and the Elders,
93,95 ; Three Souls in a Napkin,
53 ; Tree of Jesse, 23, 42, 44 ;
Time, 93 ; Triumphal Entry into
Jerusalem, 38 ; Tudor Roses, 5 1,
53, 64, 75, 83, 88, Plates A, xxiii,
xxxiii, xliii ; Unicorns, 78, 88, 94,
99; Urban, Pope, 34; Virgin
Mary, 24, 31, 37, 41, 43, 44, 45, 47,
48,49>5i,53,54, 55, 56,58,62;
Scenes from the Life of the
Virgin Mary, 33, 34, 38, 39, 41,
47 ; Plates xv, xx, 42, 46 ; Plate
B, 44 ; Zechariah, 10
Sudbury, example of funeral pall at,
61 ; embroidery on municipal pall
comparable with the chasuble
124
from Hexham, Plate xxxi, 61,
64
Sumptuary enactment of Edward
III., 68; of Henry VI., ib.
Surrey, the Earl of, his portrait at
Hampton Court illustrative of
" black work," 80
Sutton Benger, early sixteenth-
century desk-hanging at, 55, 57
Syon cope. See Cope
Syon monastery, near Isleworth,
endowed by Henry V. for Brid-
gettine nuns, 29
TALBOT, GEORGE, sixth Earl of
Shrewsbury, the custodian of
Mary, Queen of Scots, 82
Talbot arms, sixteenth - century
panel with, Plate xlvi, 84, 86
Thornell and Fitton, the arms of,
on portion of a band, Plate B,
40, 41, 44
Toledo, a cope of Gothic type, pre-
served at, Plates x, xi, 36, 37 ;
alluded to, 39
Tudor period, portraits of, evidence
of the popularity of the art, 5, 73,
74
Tudor rose device. See Subjects
Tunics, embroidered, Elizabethan
example in the possession of
Mrs. Buxton, Icklingham, Suf-
folk, Plate A (Frontispiece) , 75 ;
"black-work" tunic sleeves at
Victoria and Albert Museum,
about 1600, Plate xxxviii, 76, 79 ;
Elizabethan " black work " in the
possession of Viscount Falkland,
Plate xxxv, 70, 78; alluded to,
13,70,73,74
Tunicles, altar cloth at Littledean
made from pieces of, 57
UNDER-TUNIC, white with black
embroidery, worn by the Earl of
Surrey in his portrait at Hamp-
ton Court, 80
INDEX
United Service Institution, a seven-
teenth-century quilted and em-
broidered petticoat in the museum
at the, note, 100
Upholstery, embroidery much used
in the eighteenth century for,
103
VALANCES, embroidered, alluded
to, 72
Van Doorne, Rev. F. H., a red silk
cope formerly in the possession
of, at Corpus Christi House, Brix-
ton, 43
Verney, Anne, wife of Sir Ralph
Verney, 52
Verney, Sir Ralph, a clause relating
to ecclesiastical vestments in the
will of, 52
Vetusta Monumenta, notes, 23,
68
Victoria and Albert Museum, the,
examples of English embroidery
at, 23, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 47, 48,
49, 53, 54, 59, 65, 74, 76, 77, 79,
80, 81, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 95, 96,
97, 98, 101, 102, 103, 105
Vintners' Company, the, the pall
belonging to, 63
Virgin Mary, the, scenes from the
life of, early fourteenth century,
Plate B, 40, 41,44 ; Plate xv, 40,
42 ; latter half of the fourteenth
century, Plate xx, 46, 47
Vital, one of Bishop Odo's retainers,
18
WADARD, a person in the retinue
of Bishop Odo, 17
Wakeling, Mary, a sampler dated
1742, bearing the name of, 104
Wall-hanging from Hatton Garden,
seventeenth century, Plate liii,
96,98
Walter, Archbishop Hubert, tomb
in Canterbury Cathedral con-
taining early examples of em-
broidery, probably that of, note,
23
Wardour Castle, chasuble preserved
at, 64
Warrington, Lancashire, early ex-
ample of embroidery at, 55
Weld, Miss, Leagram Hall, Lanca-
shire, stole and maniple in the
possession of, note, 32
Westminster Abbey, cope now at
Stonyhurst,said to have belonged
to, 64 ; alluded to, 17
Whitney, Geoffrey, " Choice of
Emblemes," illustration from,
1568, Plate xxxvi, 72, 78 ; em-
broidery devices taken from,
78
Wicklifjohn,embroidered fifteenth-
century fragment at Lutter-
worth, attributed to the time of,
William the Conqueror alluded to,
12, 13, 16, 17, 18
William IV., King, " black-work "
jacket given to Viscountess Falk-
land by, 79
William of Malmesbury, alluded to,
8, note, ii
Winchester, Bishop of. See Frides-
tan
Winchester, a tunic worked at,
13
Witlaf, King of Mercia, corona-
tion mantle presented to the
monastery of Croyland by, 7
Woodgate, Ann, a sampler of 1794
bearing the name of, 104
Wool, Dorsetshire, early sixteenth-
century brown velvet pulpit-
hanging made from a cope at,
55,56
Woolwork, copies of oil-paintings
in, alluded to, 106
Worcester, example of funeral pall
in the possession of the Clothiers'
Company at, 61, 62
Worcester Cathedral, fragments of
vestments preserved at, Plates
iii, iv, 18, 21, 22, 23
125
ENGLISH EMBROIDERY
Worsted work for large coverlets,
survives the seventeenth century,
but of different designs, Plate D,
IOO, IO2
ZOUCHE, LORD DE LA, "black-
work " cap at South Kensington,
from the collection of, 80 ; needle-
work portrait of Charles I., from
the collection of, 91 ; " stump "
work-box from the collection of,
Plate 1, 92, 95
Zucchero, Taddeo, a portrait of
Queen Elizabeth at Hampton
Court, attributed to, 74
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