Silk twill mitre woven in a lozenge pattern and embroidered with silver-gilt thread in foliate scrolls and roundels.

Mitre with two lappets, made of silk twill woven with a lozenge pattern, lined with coarse linen and embroidered with silver-gilt thread in underside couching and feather stitch. Decorative bands of red silk in a compound twill weave. Foliate scrolls form roundels which originally enclosed jewels or metal ornaments and stitch marks on the plain red bands indicate the similar use there of applied decorations. There are also stitch marks indicating that the gold scroll-work was once outlined with coloured silk embroidery. The woven silk between the back and front panels is powdered with embroidered gold spots, a common decorative device of the period. One lappet, with matching gold scroll-work is original. It was trimmed with tassels of red silk and silver-gilt thread, of which only fragments remain. The second lappet, of silk damask embroidered with a human figure, probably an apostle, comes from a near-contemporary mitre in Sens Cathedral.

Lent by the Diocese of Westminster

The Westminster mitre is one of the earliest examples of opus anglicanum to have survived. It was presented to Monsignor (later Cardinal) Wiseman by Monsignor de Cosnac, Archbishop of Sens, in 1842, at which time it was considered to have belonged to St. Thomas of Canterbury and to have been preserved at Sens with other relics of the saint. However, it did not figure in the 1446 and 1464 inventories of the relics; it does seem to have been one of the three mitres recorded in the cathedral in 1536 ('Troys petites myttres ou il n'y a nulle pierre') and was described in recognisable detail in the seventeenth century inventory. It is on long loan to the Museum.

Historical significance: One of the earliest surviving examples of Opus Anglicanum. Said to have been worn by Saint Thomas of Canterbury.

It is the only mitre dating to the medieval period currently in the V&A.

The Westminster mitre is the earliest example of Opus Anglicanum in the Museum, and one of the earliest surviving examples in the world. Written records suggest that English embroidery was fully developed and internationally renowned before the Norman conquest (1066); the superb surviving tenth-century stole and maniple of St. Cuthbert preserved at Durham Cathedral is another example of this excellence.

Embroidery
The embroidery on the mitre makes use of the technique of underside couching (in contrast, the Durham pieces shows the use of surface couching). This technique, by which tiny loops of the surface gold thread were pulled through to the back of the ground fabric and held there by a linen thread, was a hall-mark of Opus Anglicanum during its greatest period. Not only did it produce a gold surface uninterrupted by less lustrous threads but it left the textile completely flexible, an important quality for the full and flowing vestments of the medieval period. The fact that this mitre (like many mediaeval vestments) combined the use of woven silks and metal threads from Italy with English embroidery, and was destined for a French bishop, is indicative of the complex international trade that produced the rich vestments worn throughout Europe by the princes of the Church.

Mitres
The origins of the mitre are not certain but by the 11th century it had become a distinctive liturgical headgear for bishops or abbots. Originally a simple conical cap with lappets (hanging tails), by the 12th century it had begun to develop as the divided hat we know today. Usually constructed of two stiffened, peaked pieces, attached to a skull cap, it is often decorated with a band round the crown and a stripe centre back and front. Beginning as a relatively 'low' hat, its peaks gradually grew, reaching their current state in the late 16th / early 17th century. The height of this mitre is in keeping with the 12th - 13th centuries, and the decoration means it belonged to the most precious type of mitre, the mitra pretiosa which was jewelled.

Janet Mayo. A History Ecclesiastical Dress. London: Batsford, 1984.

Embroidered in England; silk from Italy

Attribution note: Church vestments were made either for a particular wearer, church or patron.
Reason For Production: Commission

In the medieval period, English embroidery was used for church vestments and furnishings throughout Europe. Contemporary documents referred to it in Latin as 'opus anglicanum' ('English Work') or 'acu pictura' ('painting with a needle'). The embroidery, worked in coloured silks and gold threads on imported silks and velvets, was valued as highly as metalwork or jewellery. It was traded, but also given as diplomatic gifts by princes and popes.

This mitre has traditionally been associated with St. Thomas of Canterbury, though it is unlikely that it was ever worn by him. The circles formed by the scrolling foliage originally contained jewels or metal ornaments. One lappet is original, the other with the figure possibly of an apostle is from a mitre of a similar date.

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