Medieval History
I hope you aren't getting too tired of my minor obsession with late medieval English textiles. Here is another example of the post-medieval recycling of medieval vestments. Buckland in Gloucestershire has a lovely frontal made from various pieces of embroidered silk velvet. Information in the church refers to the fragments as forming part of a cope. The central panel of the frontal a large piece of blue velvet embroidered with waterflowers, is clearly part of a cope, as the motifs radiate out.
There are two fragments of cream figure velvet, decorated with a waterflower and a figure of a sainted bishop. The may come from cope orphreys, but I'm not convinced they belong with the blue panel.
Then there are two strips of red velvet, each of a distinctly different shade.The bottom red strip of fragments is decorated with figures of Our Lady, St John and the Crucifixion the fragments ae embroidered with St John, Our Lady and the Crucifixion as well as a waterflower. I can't see these in a cope orphrey or on the back of a cope, so I suspect they form elements from the back of a chasuble.
The upper piece, decorated with figures of St Peter and St Paul, a glorious St Michael and a waterflower, are I suspect, like the cream fragments, parts of a cope orphrey. It was quite common for cope orphreys to incorporate figures of the Apostles.
Ths strip also incorporates a fascinating embroidered device, which I suspect is a rebus. The word 'why' in blackletter text is followed by an object that looks like the top of an architectural canopy. This is followed by a little cruciform church. Pevsner and others suggest, quite plausibly, that this is a rebus on the name of William Whitchurch, who was abbot of Hailes from 1464-1479. Hailes was an important Cistercian abbey about five miles from Buckland, famous for its relic of the blood of Christ.
- The Lampeter Chasuble
When I arrived here as Chaplain to the University Campus in Lampeter in May, I had no idea what riches awaited me. The Chapel has a wonderful collection of historic vestments dating from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. Among the...
- The Lyng Table Carpet
One of the most tragic losses of the Reformation was undoubtedly the destruction of fine ecclesiastical textiles. Many thousands of vestments were confiscated and destroyed during the reign of Edward VI and many others were taken...
- Bishop Edward King's Chasuble
The Bishop of Lincoln John Saxbee is wearing a glorious chasuble that was made for his predecessor Edward King, who was Bishop of Lincoln between 1885 and 1910. Glorious cream damask powdered with neo-medieval motifs in coloured silk and velvet orphreys...
- Advent Blue
This is a glorious little piece of late medieval English embroidery in the V and A. It formed part of an altar frontal, of unknown provenance, given by Henry Smyth and his wife and their son Thomas Smythe and his wife. It dates from the final quarter...
- More Medieval Vestment Recycling, This Time In Lincolnshire
Another medieval vestment for you. Careby in Lincolnshire has the remarkable remains of a late fifteenth century cope. It is decorated with embroidered seraphs and this particularly lovely Assumption in the centre. The background is a glorious red silk...
Medieval History
More medieval vestment recycling!
I hope you aren't getting too tired of my minor obsession with late medieval English textiles. Here is another example of the post-medieval recycling of medieval vestments. Buckland in Gloucestershire has a lovely frontal made from various pieces of embroidered silk velvet. Information in the church refers to the fragments as forming part of a cope. The central panel of the frontal a large piece of blue velvet embroidered with waterflowers, is clearly part of a cope, as the motifs radiate out.
There are two fragments of cream figure velvet, decorated with a waterflower and a figure of a sainted bishop. The may come from cope orphreys, but I'm not convinced they belong with the blue panel.
Then there are two strips of red velvet, each of a distinctly different shade.The bottom red strip of fragments is decorated with figures of Our Lady, St John and the Crucifixion the fragments ae embroidered with St John, Our Lady and the Crucifixion as well as a waterflower. I can't see these in a cope orphrey or on the back of a cope, so I suspect they form elements from the back of a chasuble.
The upper piece, decorated with figures of St Peter and St Paul, a glorious St Michael and a waterflower, are I suspect, like the cream fragments, parts of a cope orphrey. It was quite common for cope orphreys to incorporate figures of the Apostles.
Ths strip also incorporates a fascinating embroidered device, which I suspect is a rebus. The word 'why' in blackletter text is followed by an object that looks like the top of an architectural canopy. This is followed by a little cruciform church. Pevsner and others suggest, quite plausibly, that this is a rebus on the name of William Whitchurch, who was abbot of Hailes from 1464-1479. Hailes was an important Cistercian abbey about five miles from Buckland, famous for its relic of the blood of Christ.
- The Lampeter Chasuble
When I arrived here as Chaplain to the University Campus in Lampeter in May, I had no idea what riches awaited me. The Chapel has a wonderful collection of historic vestments dating from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. Among the...
- The Lyng Table Carpet
One of the most tragic losses of the Reformation was undoubtedly the destruction of fine ecclesiastical textiles. Many thousands of vestments were confiscated and destroyed during the reign of Edward VI and many others were taken...
- Bishop Edward King's Chasuble
The Bishop of Lincoln John Saxbee is wearing a glorious chasuble that was made for his predecessor Edward King, who was Bishop of Lincoln between 1885 and 1910. Glorious cream damask powdered with neo-medieval motifs in coloured silk and velvet orphreys...
- Advent Blue
This is a glorious little piece of late medieval English embroidery in the V and A. It formed part of an altar frontal, of unknown provenance, given by Henry Smyth and his wife and their son Thomas Smythe and his wife. It dates from the final quarter...
- More Medieval Vestment Recycling, This Time In Lincolnshire
Another medieval vestment for you. Careby in Lincolnshire has the remarkable remains of a late fifteenth century cope. It is decorated with embroidered seraphs and this particularly lovely Assumption in the centre. The background is a glorious red silk...