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Christening blanket

Christening blanket

  • Place of origin:

    England, Great Britain (made)

  • Date:

    1651-1675 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Satin, silk, gold and silver bobbin lace

  • Museum number:

    T.122-1977

  • Gallery location:

    In store

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This christening blanket has an elaborate border of bobbin lace worked in gold and silver thread. Families wrapped babies in christening blankets, or bearing cloths, at christenings and other ceremonial occasions. The blankets were of rich materials, typically silk velvet, silk satin, or silk woven with a pattern in gold or silver thread. They often had elaborate borders. Such blankets displayed the wealth and status of their owners. Families used them to celebrate a new birth. They used them only on special occasions and treated then with great care, passing them down through the generations.

Physical description

Mantle of cream-coloured satin, lined with fine, soft cream silk. Decorated all round with a border of heavy gold and silver gilt and bobbin lace. The lace has a bold baroque design based on the needle laces of Venice. Scrolling, open-work tapes, outlined with a thick cordonnet are decorated with applied rosettes.

Place of Origin

England, Great Britain (made)

Date

1651-1675 (made)

Artist/maker

unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Satin, silk, gold and silver bobbin lace

Dimensions

Length: 69.5 in, Width: 59.5 in, Width: 14.5 cm lace

Descriptive line

Christening blanket of satin with applied metal lace border, England, approx. 1651-1675.

Materials

Silk; Metal thread

Techniques

Weaving; Bobbin lace

Categories

Textiles; Lace; Birth

Collection code

T&D

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Qr_O85014
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