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Chasuble

1375-1399 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Chasuble of brocaded damask, woven in red silk and silver-gilt thread. The orphreys on the front and back are embroidered in coloured silks and silver-gilt and silver thread on linen.

Pattern of lopped wavy stems arranged diagonally; between them are floral devices and leafy stems on which birds are perched. The cross-shaped orphrey on the back contains pairs of figures under foliated Gothic canopies, supported by interlaced columns. At the top is represented the risen Saviour meeting St. Mary Magdalene in the garden; on the left arm are two figures - a saint holding a cross and a book, and a female saint with a book; on the right arm is a saint holding a pillar and a female saint with a sword and a book. The figures on the lower shaft of the cross are as follows:
1) an archbishop, possibly St. Thomas Becket, and a female saint with a saw and a book
2) St. Lawrence and a crowned abbess, possibly St. Etheldreda
3) St. Simon


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
silk damask with embroidered silk orphreys
Brief description
woven silk, 1375-1499, Italian/English; Red brocaded damask. English orphreys 1375-99, arms
Physical description
Chasuble of brocaded damask, woven in red silk and silver-gilt thread. The orphreys on the front and back are embroidered in coloured silks and silver-gilt and silver thread on linen.

Pattern of lopped wavy stems arranged diagonally; between them are floral devices and leafy stems on which birds are perched. The cross-shaped orphrey on the back contains pairs of figures under foliated Gothic canopies, supported by interlaced columns. At the top is represented the risen Saviour meeting St. Mary Magdalene in the garden; on the left arm are two figures - a saint holding a cross and a book, and a female saint with a book; on the right arm is a saint holding a pillar and a female saint with a sword and a book. The figures on the lower shaft of the cross are as follows:
1) an archbishop, possibly St. Thomas Becket, and a female saint with a saw and a book
2) St. Lawrence and a crowned abbess, possibly St. Etheldreda
3) St. Simon
Dimensions
  • Neck to hem length: 124cm
  • Across shoulders width: 82.5cm
Object history
Purchased from Monsieur Vitall Benguiat, Savile Row.

This chasuble together with the altar frontal (817-1901) are said to have come from Sawston Hall, Cambridgeshire, the seat of the Catholic family of Huddlestone.
Subjects depicted
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
Kendrick, A.F., English Embroidery, (George Newnes, New York, 1904)
Collection
Accession number
935-1901

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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