Chalice Veil
ca. 1708 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This square of woven silk was originally intended for clothing. It might have been chosen for a woman's gown, a man's waistcoat or his nightgown, worn informally at home. The complexity of its woven structure and the amount of silver thread would have made it expensive, while its bold pattern would have been highly fashionable for a fairly brief period only. For both of these reasons it may have been passed on to the church for re-use.
Design & Designing
The silk is thought to be English, dating from about 1708, because of its similarity to designs of this date by James Leman. Leman was born into a weaving family of Huguenot descent and was apprenticed to his father, on whose death he took over the family business in Spitalfields, London. He trained as a designer as well as a manufacturer, very unusually for the English industry. His dated designs from the early 18th century are the earliest proof of the high standards being achieved in English silk-weaving in competition with imports from France.
This square of woven silk was originally intended for clothing. It might have been chosen for a woman's gown, a man's waistcoat or his nightgown, worn informally at home. The complexity of its woven structure and the amount of silver thread would have made it expensive, while its bold pattern would have been highly fashionable for a fairly brief period only. For both of these reasons it may have been passed on to the church for re-use.
Design & Designing
The silk is thought to be English, dating from about 1708, because of its similarity to designs of this date by James Leman. Leman was born into a weaving family of Huguenot descent and was apprenticed to his father, on whose death he took over the family business in Spitalfields, London. He trained as a designer as well as a manufacturer, very unusually for the English industry. His dated designs from the early 18th century are the earliest proof of the high standards being achieved in English silk-weaving in competition with imports from France.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silk satin with patterning wefts of silver thread |
| Brief description | Chalice veil, patterned silk, English, Spitalfields, ca.1708. |
| Physical description | The chalice veil is composed of a yellow and silver woven silk front, edged with silver gilt braid and backed with pink silk. The patterned silk has a ground of yellow satin and a pattern weft of silver thread. It is complete selvedge to selvedge, with just over one complete repeat in height. The design is of leaves, fruit and flowers, very stylised. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | British Galleries:
This chalice veil, for use during the Roman Catholic Mass, has been made from a piece of silk dress fabric. High quality silks were sometimes passed to the Church for reuse when they were no longer fashionable for dress but were too valuable to discard. The silver thread is tarnished and would originally have been much brighter.(27/03/2003) |
| Object history | The design of the silk closely resembles the work of James Leman. It can be dated fairly precisely by comparison with the Leman designs in Designs, Prints and Drawings to ca. 1708 and is likely to have been designed by him or a rival in imitation of his style. Although it was found by a dealer in France and is part of an ecclesiastical set which generally suggests a continental origin, in every other way the silk appears to be English (Spitalfields). Purchased. Registered File number 1993/2065. |
| Summary | Object Type This square of woven silk was originally intended for clothing. It might have been chosen for a woman's gown, a man's waistcoat or his nightgown, worn informally at home. The complexity of its woven structure and the amount of silver thread would have made it expensive, while its bold pattern would have been highly fashionable for a fairly brief period only. For both of these reasons it may have been passed on to the church for re-use. Design & Designing The silk is thought to be English, dating from about 1708, because of its similarity to designs of this date by James Leman. Leman was born into a weaving family of Huguenot descent and was apprenticed to his father, on whose death he took over the family business in Spitalfields, London. He trained as a designer as well as a manufacturer, very unusually for the English industry. His dated designs from the early 18th century are the earliest proof of the high standards being achieved in English silk-weaving in competition with imports from France. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.3-1994 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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