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The Grandisson Orphreys

Orphrey
1340-1369 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Orphrey of linen embroidered with coloured silks and silver-gilt thread in underside couching and split stitch.

The design includes half figures of saints in barbed quatrefoils adorned with oak leaves, between borders of vine scrolls. Gold background in lozenge diaper.
(From top to bottom)
St Paul with a sword.
St John the Evangelist with a palm leaf and writing book.
St John the Baptist with a lamb.
St Andrew with a cross.
Shield of John Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter (1327-1369)

Behind the shield there are traces of underdrawing, suggesting that a figure was planned for this part of the orphrey, but not executed.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Grandisson Orphreys (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Linen, embroidered with silk and silver-gilt thread
Brief description
Orphrey, linen with silk and silver-gilt embroidery, made in England 1340-1369 for John Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter
Physical description
Orphrey of linen embroidered with coloured silks and silver-gilt thread in underside couching and split stitch.

The design includes half figures of saints in barbed quatrefoils adorned with oak leaves, between borders of vine scrolls. Gold background in lozenge diaper.
(From top to bottom)
St Paul with a sword.
St John the Evangelist with a palm leaf and writing book.
St John the Baptist with a lamb.
St Andrew with a cross.
Shield of John Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter (1327-1369)

Behind the shield there are traces of underdrawing, suggesting that a figure was planned for this part of the orphrey, but not executed.
Dimensions
  • Maximum height: 29cm
  • Maximum width: 22.5cm
Credit line
Purchased with Art Fund support, and the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Margaret Laton Fund
Object history
Formerly belonging to the Marquess of Bute.

Purchased. Registered File numbers: 1969/3396 and 1994/751.
Historical context
Similar to an embroidered chasuble belonging to the church of Sao Mighuel, Ponta Delgada in the Azores. See Teresa Alarcao, Imgaens em Paramentos bordados. Lisbon, 1993.
Subjects depicted
Associated object
Bibliographic reference
Exhibition of English Embroidery Executed prior to the Middle of the XVI Century, exhibition catalogue, London, Burlington Fine Arts Club. (London, 1905) cat. no. b2 Rose-Troup, Frances, ‘Bishop Grandisson, Student and Art Lover’, Transactions of the Devonshire Association 60 (1928), 239–75, p. 257 King, Donald, Opus Anglicanum: English Medieval Embroidery, exhibition catalogue, London, Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 1963),cat.no. 89 Alexander, Jonathan, and Paul Binski (eds), Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England, 1200–1400, exhibition catalogue, London, Royal Academy of Arts. (London, 1987),cat. no.598 Stratford, Neil, ‘Bishop Grandisson and the Visual Arts’, in Exeter Cathedral: A Celebration, ed. Michael Swanton. (Exeter, 1991), pp. 145–55, p. 149 Davies, Glyn, ‘For whom the Embroiderer Toils: The Role of the Commissioner in the Design of some Fourteenth-Century Opus Anglicanum Embroideries’, in M. A. Michael (ed.), The Age of Opus Anglicanum: A Symposium, Studies in English Medieval Embroidery 1. Forthcoming. Browne, Clare; Davies, Glyn; Michael, M.A., English Medieval Embroidery: Opus Anglicanum, exhibition catalogue, London, Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 2016), p. 229, cat. no. 59.
Collection
Accession number
T.766-1995

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Record createdAugust 31, 2005
Record URL
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