Book Cushion
1625-1650 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Many Bibles and prayer books had highly elaborate decorated bindings, reflecting the veneration in which their texts were held. Book cushions like this one were used to support a volume during use and to protect these covers, which sometimes incorporated jewels or other raised details. The book would lie on the softly padded silk lining, the spine fitting into a flat recess in the centre of the cushion which provided support.
This book cushion is the larger of a pair decorated with the heraldic arms of Sandys of Ombersley, Worcestershire, and of Esthwaite and Graythwaite Hall, Lancashire. The arms are in lozenge form, which indicates that they were borne by a woman. They may be those of Elizabeth, the sister of William, 4th Baron Sandys of The Vyne. She was Baroness in her own right from 1629 until the barony passed to her grandson some time between 1644 and 1653. The book cushion may have been used at the Sandys family chapel at The Vyne or at the chapel of the Holy Ghost in Basingstoke, Hampshire, which had been established by the 1st Lord Sandys of The Vyne around 1624.
This book cushion is the larger of a pair decorated with the heraldic arms of Sandys of Ombersley, Worcestershire, and of Esthwaite and Graythwaite Hall, Lancashire. The arms are in lozenge form, which indicates that they were borne by a woman. They may be those of Elizabeth, the sister of William, 4th Baron Sandys of The Vyne. She was Baroness in her own right from 1629 until the barony passed to her grandson some time between 1644 and 1653. The book cushion may have been used at the Sandys family chapel at The Vyne or at the chapel of the Holy Ghost in Basingstoke, Hampshire, which had been established by the 1st Lord Sandys of The Vyne around 1624.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silk embroidered with silver and silk thread, lined with silk |
| Brief description | Book cushion of embroidered silk, England, 1630-1650 |
| Physical description | Cushion made like a book with a spine and two, thickly padded covers. The cushion is of pink silk embroidered with an all over pattern of scrolling, interlacing stems enclosing flowers in couched silver thread. In the centres of each cover, the arms of Sandys are enclosed by a laurel wreath embroidered with silver thread, silver gilt thread and with red and black thread. It is lined with white silk. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Peter Barker-Mill |
| Summary | Many Bibles and prayer books had highly elaborate decorated bindings, reflecting the veneration in which their texts were held. Book cushions like this one were used to support a volume during use and to protect these covers, which sometimes incorporated jewels or other raised details. The book would lie on the softly padded silk lining, the spine fitting into a flat recess in the centre of the cushion which provided support. This book cushion is the larger of a pair decorated with the heraldic arms of Sandys of Ombersley, Worcestershire, and of Esthwaite and Graythwaite Hall, Lancashire. The arms are in lozenge form, which indicates that they were borne by a woman. They may be those of Elizabeth, the sister of William, 4th Baron Sandys of The Vyne. She was Baroness in her own right from 1629 until the barony passed to her grandson some time between 1644 and 1653. The book cushion may have been used at the Sandys family chapel at The Vyne or at the chapel of the Holy Ghost in Basingstoke, Hampshire, which had been established by the 1st Lord Sandys of The Vyne around 1624. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.52-1978 |
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| Record created | March 9, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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