Sash
1635-1642 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
Sashes such as this were as much a military necessity as they were fashionable dress. First worn to distinguish opposing combatants on the battlefield, they became accessories for men during the middle years of the 17th century. This is a very richly decorated example. Similar lavishly decorated scarves can be seen in portraits from the 1630s to 1650s, worn with buff coats and breastplates.
Materials & Making
The sash is embroidered in satin, stem and long-and-short stitches, with couched work (embroidery in which the thread is held down on the material by stitching) in repeated vertical bands of closely arranged floral patterns. The lower edge has been cut into deep scallops and edged with metal lace.
Sashes such as this were as much a military necessity as they were fashionable dress. First worn to distinguish opposing combatants on the battlefield, they became accessories for men during the middle years of the 17th century. This is a very richly decorated example. Similar lavishly decorated scarves can be seen in portraits from the 1630s to 1650s, worn with buff coats and breastplates.
Materials & Making
The sash is embroidered in satin, stem and long-and-short stitches, with couched work (embroidery in which the thread is held down on the material by stitching) in repeated vertical bands of closely arranged floral patterns. The lower edge has been cut into deep scallops and edged with metal lace.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silk, silver, gold; hand-woven, hand-embroidery, hand-made bobbin lace |
| Brief description | Men's military sash, 1640s, English; maroon silk taffeta, double-sided embroidery in silk, metal threads, silver-gilt bobbin lace. |
| Physical description | Man’s sash, possibly made from a furnishing, of purple silk taffeta, one width of silk with double ogee pelmets at each end. The silk is embroidered double-sided with coloured silk, and silver and silver-gilt filé, in a pattern of figures-of-eight and scrolling flowers and leaves. There are stitch marks along the selvedges on each side, suggesting it was possibly part of a furnishing meant to be seen on both sides. It is partially trimmed with silver & silver-gilt bobbin lace. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Sir Edward Denny, Bt |
| Object history | Embroidered in England; said to have been given to Adam Hill of Spaldwick, Cambridgeshire for saving the King's life From the Annual Register of 1759: “At the sale of the Earl of Arran’s curiosities in Covent Garden the Gloves given by King Henry the 8th to Sir Anthy. Denny were sold for £38.17.0, the Gloves given by King James the 1st to Edwd. Denny Esq (son of Sir Anthy.) for £22.1.0, the mittens given by Queen Elizth. to Sir Edwd. Denny’s lady for £25.4.0 and the Scarf given by King Charles the 1st for £10.10.0, all of which were bought for Sir Thomas Denny of Ireland, who is lineally descended from the said Sir Anthony Denny, one of the Executors of King Henry the VIII.” |
| Associations | |
| Summary | Object Type Sashes such as this were as much a military necessity as they were fashionable dress. First worn to distinguish opposing combatants on the battlefield, they became accessories for men during the middle years of the 17th century. This is a very richly decorated example. Similar lavishly decorated scarves can be seen in portraits from the 1630s to 1650s, worn with buff coats and breastplates. Materials & Making The sash is embroidered in satin, stem and long-and-short stitches, with couched work (embroidery in which the thread is held down on the material by stitching) in repeated vertical bands of closely arranged floral patterns. The lower edge has been cut into deep scallops and edged with metal lace. |
| Bibliographic reference | John Lea Nevinson, Catalogue of English Domestic Embroidery of the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries, Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Textiles, London: HMSO, 1938, pp.88-89, plate LXV |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1509-1882 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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