Emb^oide^y. ^ffiH^ mWS cAl aryjAn n 25 ciiieme (Decoratii^cArt STERL1 N G AND FRAN CINE CLARJC ART INSTITUTE L1BRART 1M mm •.xxr. rl> is] m m mm §«^h ft 'mm -- *m ill® sMU wfflm few^Qs^ l-(c Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library http://archive.org/details/oldenglishembroiOOstau ''The Westminster Chasuble." Crimson velvet, embroidered with gold. (English, 15th Century.) OLD ENGLISH H ERY: ITS TECHNIQUE AND SYMBOLISM. & BY Frances and Hugh Marshall. LONDON : HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS. CHANCERY LANE, E.C. 1894. LONDON : PRINTED BY HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, EX. TO THE P R I N C K S S C HE I STI AH, THIS BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEAUTIFUL ART WHICH HAS EXERCISED THE SKILL AND INGENUITY, AND HAS BEEX THE COMFORT AND CONSOLATION OF HER COUNTRYWOMEN IN ALL AGES, IS HUMBLY DEDICATED, WITH HER VERY KIND PERMISSION, BY THE AUTHORS. COKTKKTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. The Art of Embroidery — Christian Symbolism — Embroidery as Practised by the Ancients — The Robe of Ulysses, the Cloak of /Eneas, the Peplus of Minerva, the Hangings of the Temple — References to the Art in the Domesday Survey, the Close Rolls, and Issue Rolls of the Norman and Plantagenet Kings — Vestment Embroidered by the Empress Helena in the Third Century ... CHAPTER II. ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. Embroidery or Aurifrasium — Gold Thread Work — St. Cuthbert's Vest- ments — Ecclesiastical Vestments of the Dark Ages — The Needlework of the Convents — Anglo-Saxon Embroiderers — Syrian Embroideries of Charlemagne — Oriental Character of European Work — Embroidered Banner of King Arthur — Standard of the Danes — The Royal Vestments presented to Croyland Abbey — The Tinted Work of St. Dunstan — Saxon Wall Hangings and Domestic Embroidery — The Dress of the Anglo-Saxons — St. Oswald's Chasuble ... b PAGE VI OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. CHAPTER III. ANGLO-NORMAN WORK. CHAPTER V. THE ORDER OF CHIVALRY AND HERALDRY. English Designs on Early Ecclesiastical Work — Religious Significance of Heraldic Devices — Cherubim on a Wheel — Variety of Creatures on Liturgical Vestments — Symbolism of Colours — The Tripated Banners The Infancy of Heraldry — The Symbol of the Four-winged Cherubim — The Emblem of the Eagle — Birds of Prey — The Vow of the Swan and the Peacock — Symbolism of a Knight's Armour — The PAGE The Bayeux Tapestry— Its History, Description, and Technique— The Gifts of Queen Matilda to St. Evroul — The Needlewomen of Winchester at the time of the Norman Conquest — Sandals of Pope Adrian IV. 15 CHAPTER IV. VESTMENTS OF ST. THOMAS A BECKET. The Chasuble of St. Thomas a. Becket — " The Flower " — Old English Mitres — Mitre of St. Thomas a. Becket — Orphreys of Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries — Age of Goldsmiths' Work — Gold and Silver Enrichments of Liturgical Garments — The Metal Work Style of the Plantagenets — Robe of Elinor of Aquitaine — Banners and Caparisons — Siege of Carlaverock — The Gold Thread of the Thirteenth Century — The Frontal at Westminster — Military Costume — Devices of the Knights — Metal Work Ornaments — The Beefeaters' Dress — Ancient Method of Patching — The Trade of the Embroiderers ... ... 19 CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Order of Chivalry— Heraldic Devices of the Plantagenets — The Lions and Leopards in the Arms of England — The Surcoats of the Knights — J upon of the Black Prince — The Badges of the Tournaments ... ... 30 CHAPTER VI. THE SYON COPE. Its History and Description — " Opus Anglicanum " — The Feather Stitch (Opus pltimarium) — Cope of St. Sylvester — English Orphreys at Rome — Characteristics of English Work — The Dalmatic — The Chasuble — " English Work," its Special Features and Excellence — Richness of Ecclesiastical Vestments ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 40 CHAPTER VII. MATERIALS EMPLOYED IN MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERY. Samit — Ciclatoun — Cendel — De Fundata — Fustian — Buckram — Satin and Silk, their Eastern Origin — Taffeta and Sarcenet — Camoca, Camora, Camek — Velvet — Diaper — Badekin — Worsted- — Technique of the Work— Needles — Varieties of the Stitch used in Embroidery— Opus Plumarium — Opus Co?isutum — Opus Pulvinariuni- — Opus Pectineum — Opus Phrygium — Opus Filatorium ... ... ... ... ... 50 CHAPTER VIII. DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. Carpets and Rushes — Wall Paintings — Tapestry and Embroidered Hangings — Subjects of the Work of the Anglo-Norman Ladies — Exploits of b 2 viii OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. PAGE their Husbands, the Tale of Troy, Proverbs — Nunneries the Schools of Embroidery — Domestic Furniture — Trestles, Benches, Faldestol, " Tapestry Verd " — Glass, First Introduction into England — Canopy carried over Queen Elizabeth at Cambridge — Cushions and Chairs of the Sixteenth Century — A Bedchamber of the Period — Altar Hang- ings — Mural Painting — Earliest Wall Panelling — First Historical Pictures — The Earliest Picture Frames — Introduction of Mirrors — Painted Canvas in Imitation of Tapestry, Counterfeit Arras, " Stayned Cloth," Painting on Glass ... ... ... ... ... ... 61 CHAPTER IX. BED HANGINGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. Domestic Customs of the Middle Ages — Hangings of the Bedchamber — Coverlets— Bed Draperies of Edward II. — Bed Hangings of Thorgunna — Wills and Bequests of the Middle Ages — Bequest of Edward the Black Prince — White Embroidery and Lace — Cut and Darned Work — Thread Embroidery, Filatorium — Apartments of Catherine of Braganza — Queen Charlotte's Bed at Hampton Court ... ... 71 CHAPTER X. LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. Monuments Representing the Dress of the Period — The Surcoat of the Black Prince at Winchester— The Statute of Edward III.— Illuminated Manuscripts and Ancient Brasses, Authorities on Civil, Military, and Ecclesiastical Costume — Art before the Renaissance— Emancipation from Ecclesiastical Forms — Badges of the Sovereign — Royal Arms — Tournament of the Field of the Cloth of Gold — Influence on Art of CONTENTS. IX PAGE Henry VIII. 's Foreign Wives — The Embroiderers' Company, 1 561 — Work of Mary Queen of Scots — The Old Countess of Salisbury Beheaded on the Evidence of an Embroidered Vestment — Stubb's Anatomy of Abuses — Embroidered Shoes — Specimens of Embroidery in the Tudor Exhibition — Dress of Catherine Parr — Elizabeth's Coro- nation Ruffle — Purse Worked by Queen Elizabeth — Slipper of Catherine de Berain — Beadwork Chatelaine ... ... ... ... ... 78 CHAPTER XL EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP. Stump Work — Technique and Subjects — Nell Gwynne's Mirror — The Durham Cope — Work-box belonging to Lady Charlotte Schrieber — Bead Work — Purse of Charles I. — Purses, Gipcieres, Letter Gifts — Miniatures and Landscapes Worked in Silk ... ... ... ... 95 CHAPTER XII. JACOBEAN WORK. Study of Nature in the Seventeenth Century — Portraits Worked with Human Hair — Revival of Needlework at the Restoration — Hangings Embroi- dered in Crewels — The Lace of William and Mary — Bed Hangings of Queen Anne — The Influence of Chippendale and Adams — Beauty of Decoration and Furniture — Jacobean Work — -Chair Coverings — The Banner of Monmouth — New England Workers who Sailed in the Mayflower- — Embroidery in America — Tambour Work — Hanoverian Embroidery of the Georges — English Bookbinding in Needlework — Bible of Charles I. — Curious Double Books of Psalms and New Testa- ment — Miss Linwood's Pictures in Coloured Worsteds ... ... ... 104 X OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. CHAPTER XIII. SYMBOLISM IN MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERY. PAGE Ancient Origin of Symbols — Symbolism of the Early Church — The " Gammadion " — Varieties of the Cross — The Lamb and the Vine — Figure of the Deity — Emblems of the Trinity — The Nimbus — Mediaeval Figures and Emblems — Pagan Origin of Christian Emblems — The Bestiaria of the Middle Ages — The Tree of Life — The Chrysoclavus 115 CHAPTER XIV. EMBLEMS AND ATTRIBUTES OF THE SAINTS. Emblems of the Evangelists — The Tetramorph — Emblems of the Apostles — Emblems of Saints of the Anglican Church — Emblems of Old Testament Figures — Significance of Precious Stones — Symbolism of Colours — Levitical Colours — The Language and Symbolism of Flowers — Emblems of the Virgin ... ... ... ... ... 125 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. The Westminster Chasuble Bayeux Tapestry. Burial of Edward the Confessor Munich Mitre, with Martydom of St. Thomas a Becket ... The Syon Cope. English (Thirteenth Century) Saxon and Roman Needles Funeral Pall. Fishmongers' Company. English (Fourteenth Century) Tapestry Panel, St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Sixteenth Century) Embroidered Canopy, used on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth's Visit to King's College, Cambridge Wall Tapestry Preserved in the Cathedral of Gerona Tapestry of the Sixteenth Century Chesterfield Cope. English (Fourteenth Century) ... Embroidered Book Cover Workbox, covered with Embroidery on the Stump : Front of Box Lid of Workbox... Back of Workbox Side Panels of Workbox Curtain Embroidered with Tropical Flowers and Fruits in Coloured Crewels. English (Seventeenth Century) FACE PAGE Frontispiece 17 20 40 5o 59 61 65 66 68 78 95 99 100 101 102 106 Mitre of St. Thomas a. Becket, at Sens Bayeux Tapestry : Scenes from the Conquest of England Bayeux Tapestry : Scenes from the Conquest of England Ship with Embroidered Sails. Cott. MS. PAGE *9 23 2 5 28 XI 1 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. Coat of Arms (Fourteenth Century) ... Part of the Orphrey of the Syon Cope Dalmatic of the Fifteenth Century Chasuble (Sixteenth Century) ... Figured Silk (Fourteenth Century) Pair of Bed Curtains, Embroidered with Scripture Subjects in Coloured Crewels. English (Sixteenth Century) Curtain, Embroidered in Crewels, with Detached Flowers and Birds English (Sixteenth Century) Coverlet, Embroidered in Coloured Crewels. English (Sixteenth Century) Silver Braid Embroidery. Saracenic Aumoniere (Thirteenth Century) Royal Arms of Edward III. and Henry IV. Purse Embroidered with Tudor Rose . . . Embroidered Dress, Worn by Queen Catherine Parr Satin Embroidered Skull Cap ... Queen Elizabeth's Coronation Ruffle ... Purse Worked by Queen Elizabeth Embroidered Purse, Presented by Queen Elizabeth to one of Honour ... Slipper of Catherine de Berain Elizabethan Chatelaine in Beadwork ... Gauntlet (Temp. Elizabeth) Cap, Embroidered with Coloured Silks and Gold Wire and Spangles Hanging, Embroidered in Crewels. English (Seventeenth Century) Bed Hangings, Embroidered in Blue-green Crewels. English (Seventeenth Century) Curtain, Embroidered with Exotic Birds and Tropical Plants in Coloured Crewels. English (early Eighteeenth Century) ... Book of Psalms and New Testament, with Embroidered Cover Psalms and New Testament, with Embroidered Cover The Varieties of the Cross Ecclesiastical Emblems ... of her Maids PAGE 37 4i 45 47 54 72 73 76 81 83 86 87 88 89 90 9 1 92 93 93 94 105 106 107 1 1 1 112 123 124 Dft J§n0Hs| J§mIu{niWij. -ooJQtJOo- CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. The art of embroidery, of representing scenes and figures with the needle, is probably the oldest art in existence. It preceded painting and sculpture, to which in time it gave place. The needle as a historian is older than the pen and the brush. It has preserved to us the architecture, the dress, the customs of past generations, and these storied pictures which have long since perished, which have been dust for centuries, have been per- petuated by the patient toil of the illuminator, and the chisel of the sculptor. Each beautiful art in its turn has been content to serve as handmaid to the other, and so the story of the ages has been told. But there is a deeper interest in the beautiful, patient, pains- taking work of our ancestors than is attached to mere historical details, or the portraiture of the dress and manners of a forgotten age. The Christian faith and zeal of pious women found expres- sion in those early days in their loving labours for the Church. The sacred flame of art was kept alive through the dark ages by the votaries of the Church. The monk in his cell and the needlewoman working in her lonely tower kept it from dying quite out. They did more : they preserved to us nearly all we know of B *2 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. that beautiful and mysterious expression of our faith we term Christian symbolism. The devices of the earliest Christian artists to represent the glory and triumph of the cross, the blessedness of service and suffering, and the reward of martyrdom, found a fitting expression in the decoration of vestments and hangings embroidered by pious hands as votive offerings for the Church. In those early painstaking days nothing was accidental ; everything that was introduced into a design had a meaning. Symbols were never used merely as decorations and ornaments ; every figure employed tended to illustrate the subject of the design, and give force to its meaning. A knowledge of Christian symbolism is of the greatest use to all who study works of Christian art, whether in painting, architec- ture, or embroidery. There is scarcely a work of art handed down to us from the middle ages in which the use of symbols does not occur. To the initiated the emblem or attribute is as plain as the written description would have been, and often more to the point. With the revival of art industries, and the study of old models, a desire has sprung up to learn something of the meaning of the symbolic imagery that was the outcome and the expression of the faith of our ancestors for over a thousand years. The untrained eye does not see what stares it in the face, and those to whom symbolism is a sealed book miss something as they go through life. The beautiful work of the middle ages has perished long ago ; very, very few specimens survive the lapse of years, but the sculptor has preserved to us on ancient monuments and tombs faithful representations of the dress and ornament of successive generations. It is interesting to note with what scrupulous exact- ness the most minute details were reproduced. There was no hurry in those old days, and nothing was too minute to engage the talents of the artists employed. Their care and patience have INTRODUCTION. 3 preserved to us many interesting details, chapters indeed, in our national history, that would otherwise have perished. This fact adds a new interest to ancient monuments, and should make us jealous for their preservation. The patient artist, working year after year illuminating his manuscripts, has depicted with richness of colour, and elaborate fidelity, the beautiful designs and costly decorations of the long- forgotten past. But it is not to the artist and sculptor alone that we are indebted for the records of the beautiful works of the past. Poet and historian, priest and chronicler, vie with each other in handing down to posterity the triumphs of the needle. The art of reproducing with the needle animals, flowers, human forms, and fanciful devices, reaches far back into a prehistoric time. Homer makes frequent mention of daintily embroidered robes. Ulysses wore a robe embroidered with scenes from the chase, in which the animals are vividly described as panting and struggling in the moving gold. Penelope throws over her hero before his departure for Ilium an upper garment elaborately em- broidered with figures. Menelaus invests Telemachus with a garment which — With no vulgar art Her own fair hands embroider'd every part. To invest a visitor with an embroidered robe was considered among the ancients the highest honour, and Homer is never tired of describing in glowing terms the beautiful work that his women were ever engaged upon to present to favoured guests. Indeed, all his women were artists with the needle. Penelope is repre- sented as working a shroud for Laertes, the father of her husband, it being the custom among Grecian dames to work grave clothes for their deceased lords, or his next of kin, before they could accept another husband. B 2 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY Virgil makes frequent mention of embroidered robes. The victor in the games is rewarded with a mantle elaborately worked with incidents of the chase ; Dido bestows on JEneas a cloak blazing with Tyrian purple inwrought with gold. She is also described as adorning her person with costly needlework. The ceremony of embroidering the peplus, or veil, for the statue of Minerva, and its consecration, was observed as one of the highest festivals of the Athenians. The craft of the embroideress was under the protection of Pallas Athene, whom Homer represents as a woman tall and fair, and skilful in splendid needlework. ^Eschylus describes the heraldic devices embroidered on the standards of the chiefs at the siege of Thebes. Quintus Curtius speaks of the mantle worn by Darius, when he went forth to battle, as being figured with two golden hawks in the act of pecking at one another with their beaks. In later times the Provencal poets, like our own Chaucer, decked their lovely creations in daintily embroidered robes. From the earliest antiquity, embroidered vestments were used by royal and noble personages ; they are, indeed, the first kind of regal attire with which we are acquainted. The Old Testament abounds in references to rich and costly raiment, which may be supposed to have been the productions of the needle and not the loom, embroidered garments of various colours being emblems of the highest distinction from the most ancient times. Thus we find the mother of Sisera represented as desiring for her son, "a spoil of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework o:i both sides, meet for the necks of those who take the spoil." Pliny refers to embroidered robes, and states that the Baby- lonians were noted for their skill in this kind of work. A Babylonian garment, no doubt richly wrought, excited the cupidity of Achan. In the description of the needlework of the INTRODUCTION. 5 Tabernacle we read that the hangings were embroidered with cherubim in scarlet, and purple, and light blue, entwined with gold; and that the priests had girdles of needlework. The veil, also, which separated the Holy of Holies, was of fine white linen, but so beautifully wrought that the groundwork was scarcely visible. There is no doubt that the Hebrew maidens brought this beautiful art to perfection during their residence in Egypt. What the Jewish women of old did for the Temple, Christian ladies in later times did for the Church. In the earlier years of the Christian era, when the first storm of persecution was over, from a feeling alive in every heart throughout Christendom that the best of all things should be dedicated to the Church, the choicest productions of the needle were devoted to its service and to the vestments of the priests. In early Christian writings we find frequent references to the costly and elaborate needle- work that exercised the ingenuity and skill of high-born ladies in those pious and painstaking days. If there are few examples still in existence of the embroidery of the dark and middle ages, it still lives in the pages of the historian and the bard ; and what the poet and the historian have left unsaid the faithful chronicler enumerates with much prolixity of detail, embracing, not alone the design, and the materials used, but the stitches employed, and, in many cases, the time occupied in the production, and the cost of the work when completed. In the Close Rolls and Issue Rolls of the Norman and Plantagenet kings, there are frequent entries, and elaborate descriptions of sumptuous embroidered robes and hangings made by royal command. In the Domesday Survey mention is made allusive to the art, and in the earlier records of Anglo-Saxon times and of our Danish conquerors, frequent reference is made to gifts of embroidered vestments to various abbeys and monasteries. Going farther back still, to that remoter period 6 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. anterior to Normans, and Saxons, and Danes, we learn that the British amazon, Boadicea, led her troops to battle habited in a mantle of skins " embroidered without." Our art, like our language, is indebted for its origin to many sources. Doubtless to the Romans we are chiefly indebted for the introduction of this beautiful art. Some rude means of spinning were already employed by the Britons previous to the Roman invasion, and their women were practised in the use of the needle. The rich robes of the conquerors, and the vestments of the Church, were probably the first examples that excited their envy, and pro- voked into existence the imitative faculty which a few centuries later produced the most highly-valued work in Europe, the " Opus Anglicum." Fortunately the imitative tendency in the art insured its continuity. It is certain that the women of England were embroideresses as early as the third and fourth centuries. The Empress Helena, a Welsh princess, the mother of Constantine (about the year A.D. 293), embroidered a vestment with an image of the Virgin. In the beginning of the fourth century the art of ecclesiastical embroidery had its birth. It was crude and conventional at first, and ignored all rules of drawing and perspective. Its designs, too, were essentially mosaics, being divided generally into numerous compartments. Unlike Oriental art, which has been almost stationary from the beginning, the peculiar modes of technique and design showing scarcely a sign of evolution, Christian art, which began in Byzantium, was ever influenced by its special sur- roundings, and open to modifications and suggestions from without, and naturally thus, in course of time, evolved the Gothic, which may be taken as the distinctive feature of early English art. CHAPTER II. ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. The term embroidery is comparatively modern (Brit. Brout, Brond, Lat. Barb, Brodatus, Fr. Broderie). It is better known in mediaeval writings under the title of Aurifrasium, the Opus Phrygium (Fr. Frange d'or), or work of gold ; hence the different names, Orfrais or Orfreys, words indicating facings or parts of a material in which gold tambour was used. English "Orfrais" are continually mentioned by mediaeval writers, though their appropriation was various, not being by any means confined to ecclesiastical vestments. Gold thread was extensively used in embroidery from the earliest time ; and in the seventh century the home weaving of silken stuffs and of pure gold thread into a kind of golden web was the occupation of Anglo- Saxon women. The snood, or snod, of the Anglo-Saxon period was wrought of silk and gold. The winding sheets of martyrs and kings were often of this gold web ; pieces of it have been frequently found in ancient burial places. Unfortunately, a great deal of beautiful old work has perished in the tombs of reputed saints. On the body of St. Cuthbert, when the tomb was opened, in 1827, the ornamental parts of the robes in which the body was wrapped were literally covered with leaf gold, and beneath these a stole and maniple, beautifully wrought and ornamented, which bears this inscription in Latin ; " Queen to Alfred's son and successor, Edward the 8 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. Elder, was our yElfflaed, who caused this stole and maniple to be made for a gift to Fridestan (Frithestan), consecrated Bishop of Winchester, A.D. 905." These relics are in the possession of the Dean and Chapter of Durham. After the death of rifled and Frithestan, King Athelstan bestowed the stole and maniple, with other costly gifts, which are enumerated in the Cottonian Manu- scripts in the British Museum, on the shrine of St. Cuthbert. St. Cuthbert's maniple is of pure gold thread. It is described as being "of woven gold, with spaces left vacant for needlework embroidery." At the same time were removed from the tomb fragments of three wrappings of silk of a much later date. Probably, the tomb was opened in the twelfth century, and the body of the Saint wrapped in these silken shawls or mantles. The texture of these beautiful relics is Sicilian, with the Oriental designs prevalent at the time. At Chessel Down, in the Isle of Wight, during some researches in an old Anglo-Saxon place of burial, pieces of thin golden strips, quite flat, were found, that had evidently once been woven or worked into a vestment. Unfortunately, there are few specimens of this early work, as in the case of the St. Cuthbert relics, that have survived the lapse of centuries. Shut up in the damp recesses of the tomb, in the darkness and the dust, the most beautiful examples of the skill and industry of the age perished with their owners. The accounts still in existence of the sumptuousness of the ecclesiastical vestments of the dark ages, the altar-cloths, veils, hangings of various descriptions, are very remarkable. The cost must have been enormous, as pearls and precious stones were literally inwrought, and the time and labour spent upon them seem to us, in these days of haste, almost incredible. Three to five years were often spent upon one garment. And this often ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 9 enwrapped the body of a saint, and was consigned to the darkness of the tomb ! Ladies of the highest rank and greatest piety, frequently, indeed, royalty itself, employed its leisure in work for the embellish- ment of the Church, and in embroidering vestments for the clergy. In the time of King Athelstan the whole island was said to blaze with devotion, and the ladies of England surpassed the whole world in needlework. Embroidery seems not only to have been a pastime of royal and noble ladies, but the principal occupation of women of the middle classes, and a source of considerable pecuniary advantage. Nunneries, we are told by Fuller, were " Shee-schools, wherein girles and maids were taught to work." In convents, indeed, the principal occupation of the inmates (and many were glad in those troubled times to seek, in these, the only safe shelter, temporary refuge and protection) was fine needlework and embroidery. The Anglo-Saxon embroiderers introduced greater perfection of detail into their designs, and greater ingenuity and refinement in drawing the human figure. The stole and maniple at Durham Cathedral, early tenth century work, are of the most perfect style of Anglo-Saxon design, and the stitching and the gold grounding are of the utmost perfection of needlework. As early as the eighth century, in the time of Charlemagne, tissues of sumptuous description were brought to Europe, being presents sent to him by the Caliphs, wrought probably at Bagdad or Mosul in Syria; and sumptuous presents of embroidered stuffs are recorded to have been sent by him to one of our Anglo-Saxon kings. The vestments found in his tomb at Aix-la-Chapelle are remarkable specimens of the work of the period, their design par- taking of a classical character. Berthe, the mother of Charlemagne, was famed for her needle- work. C IO OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. It is probable that the embroidery used in the south of Europe at this period was in great measure furnished by artists in the East, as the oldest specimens that have been preserved are evidently Oriental or Greek in character. We constantly find these early tissues ornamented with lions, antelopes, peacocks, parrots, &c. ; the design of the animals is strictly Oriental. Similar designs, similarly treated, were sculptured on the ivory horn which, according to tradition, was presented to Charlemagne by the good Haroun-al-Raschid. It is recorded that among the regal gifts made to St. Peter's by the Anglo-Saxon king, ^Ethelwolf, on the occasion of his taking his son Alfred to Rome, A.D. 855, were silken albs richly ornamented with gold. Banners, on which occur the earliest examples of embroidery that we have any record of, are frequently mentioned by Anglo- Saxon writers as being sumptuously emblazoned with sacred and other devices in gold thread and silk. King Arthur, in the eighth battle against the Saxons, carried the image of Christ and the blessed Mary wrought upon his shoulders. St. Augustine, when he first came to preach to the Saxons, had a banner borne before him, on which was an image of the Saviour Christ. The Danes celebrated standard had a sacred raven worked upon it ; and Harold bore to the field of Hastings a banner with the figure of an armed man worked in gold thread, and studded with precious stones. A raven — the bird of Odin — that was borne upon the standard of the Danish masters of Northumbria, was worked, we are told in an old chronicle, by the daughters of Regna Lodbrok in "one noontide's while." In the inventories of abbeys and cathedrals we find descrip- tions of the most elaborate vestments and ritual appliances, with the names of the royal and pious donors. Croyland Abbey was especially rich in such gifts. King Wiglaf (Witlaf, King of ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. II Mercia) gave to this abbey his coronation mantle made of silk, and embroidered with Hesperian apples, and his velum; the latter, we are told, was embroidered with scenes from the Siege of Troy. Canute the Great presented to this abbey a vestment of silk em- broidered with eagles of gold. And his Queen Emma (the widow of Ethelred the Unready) gave to the Abbeys of Romsey and Croyland the finest embroidered altar-cloths and vestments. One altar-cloth is described as of blood-red and green silk with golden orphreys. Aldhelme, Bishop of Sherborne, who died in 709, men- tions the perfection to which the needlework of the women of England had attained. He describes a robe in his possession "of a most delicate thread of purple, adorned with black circles and peacocks." Aelfled, the widow of a Northumbrian chieftain in the ninth century, gave to the Cathedral of Ely a hanging embroidered with the heroic deeds of her husband. Queen Editha, wife of the Confessor, embroidered his coronation mantle, and other garments of the Confessor are recorded as having been sumptuously embroidered with gold by her hands. It is recorded that St. Dunstan (a.d. 924), by the request of a lady, tinted a sacerdotal vestment for her, which she afterwards embroidered in gold thread. Most of these elaborately embroi- dered works were first tinted, the monks in those days being skilful draughtsmen and beautiful illuminators. From this custom of tinting they are frequently spoken of as painted or pictured vestments ; but this does not imply that they have not been subsequently worked. Ingulph tells us of some splendid hangings given to the Church of Croyland by the Abbot Egebric that were ornamented with birds wrought in gold and sewed on (cut work) ; and later on we read of an account of some vestments at Exeter that had " nothing about them but true needlework." C 2 12 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. About this period, and before the introduction of mural paint- ings in the thirteenth century, wall hangings were decorated with subjects in a coarse kind of embroidery. The bareness of our buildings in these early times necessitated hangings for warmth and comfort. Walls and pillars, and even roofs, were hung with needlework long before they were either carved or painted. Em- broidered hangings, indeed, were at this time customary throughout Europe. We read of a set of hangings twenty ells long, worked with scenes out of Charlemagne's life ; and later on we have the Bayeux tapestry, which is the most important work of its size and age preserved to us. The hangings of this period were of coarse canvas, adorned with needlework in thick worsted. Broderie was at that time a term only employed for needlework on fine linen or silk. The Anglo-Saxon workers were so quick and clever at the needle that they could make their embroidery look as if it had been done in the loom. The stitches — or threads, rather — were laid upon the surface side by side, and not always drawn through the canvas, but bound at intervals by cross-fastenings, thus, if gold thread or silk were employed, saving considerable expense. Domestic embroidery was practised at this time in all middle- class English homes, and was applied not only to articles of use and luxury in the adornment of the home, but was employed very extensively upon articles of dress. From ancient Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, which are generally illuminated with the most minute attention to details, we have abundant evidence that the dress of the period, both for men and women, was decorated with embroidery. In the illuminated MS. of the Psychomachia (describing an imaginary battle between the virtues and vices) of Prudentius, a Christian poet who wrote about the beginning of the fifth century we meet with charming illustrations of the Anglo-Saxon dress of ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. 13 the period, and here we find the virtues clad in scarlet shoes and embroidered robes. The date of this MS. is about the end of the tenth century. The dress of the Anglo-Saxons was simple and uniform in its character. The over-froc, which reached as low as the middle of the leg, had usually an embroidered border. The kyrtle of the women was made of linen, and was ornamented with borders of needlework. Over this came the gunna, or gown. Both were confined at the waist, and the gunna was decorated with an embroidered border to the skirt and sleeves. The nientel (mantle), or short cloak, which was fastened upon the right shoulder with a fibula, or brooch, was frequently embroidered with gold and colours. The borders were often very rich. Men wore besides the rooc, or tunic, brec (breeches) ; and hose {Jws) were worn upon the legs, frequently bound round with fillets (hose-bendas), hose bands. Buskins, or stocking, first appear in the eleventh century. Sandals were often of costly materials and richly embroidered, and even enriched with precious stones. Gloves were even at this early period not unknown. The name glof occurs in Anglo-Saxon poetry. In later years we sometimes meet with descriptions of the work of this period. An English Dominican Friar writing in 1360, tells us in his notice of St. Oswald, Archbishop of York, in the year 976, that his chasuble, a purple one, adorned with needlework in gold and precious stones, and still as beautiful as ever, was kept in the church at Beverley. Another Friar, writing in the thirteenth century, describes a chasuble of Anglo-Saxon work which exactly resembled the celebrated one at Aix. It is adorned with the richest golden orphreys, imitating jeweller's work, enriched with pearls and silver bells. Altar curtains or veils were used by the Anglo-Saxons, made 14 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. of rich silk of crimson or rose colour, flowered with garlands of pearls running round imagery illustrative of sacred subjects. The shoes, as represented in MSS. of this period, are tied with a thong, and have an opening down the instep. Except in the case of great persons they are painted black. After the Conquest there were great alterations, we learn from ancient manuscripts, in the costumes of the people, and especially in dresses of ceremony. During the whole of the Anglo-Saxon period there had been very little variation in the dress, but after the Conquest changes crept in. The outer vest of the ladies, we see in the MS. of Prudentius (eleventh century), were of richly ornamented stuffs, presumably needlework. Under the Normans the costume of the ladies underwent considerable modifications, and became far more splendid. The tunic, instead of being loose and flowing, was laced close, so as to show the form of the body. This fashion the Saxon ladies carried to such an extent that an early Anglo-Latin poet accuses them of covering themselves with gold and gems ; of painting their eyes ; of perforating their ears in order to hang them with jewels ; of fasting and bleeding themselves in order to look pale; of tightening their waists and busts in order to mend their shapes ; and of colouring their hair in order to give it a yellow tint. CHAPTER III. ANGLO-NORMAN WORK — THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY. The Bayeux tapestry is undoubtedly the most interesting monument that has been preserved to us intact of feudal times — not alone from its intrinsic value as an example of ancient work, but as a chapter in contemporary history. Queen Matilda, shut up in her lofty tower, beguiling the weary hours while her lord delayed his coming, by depicting with her active needle the story of his conquests and battles, has bequeathed to posterity, as an old writer, Stukeley, speaks of it, the noblest monument in the world relating to our old English history. Since it was brought to light in 1724, after having been lost sight of for several centuries, until the present time, it has been the subject of a warm controversy between antiquaries. It was probably worked by Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror, between 1066 and 1068, though some writers assert that it was worked under the direction of the Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I. It certainly bears internal evidence of having been worked at the earlier period claimed for it. There is no trace throughout of the armorial bearings — the Norman leopards — of a later time, which certainly would, among so many and such varied devices in the borders, have found a place had it been worked under the Empress Matilda. The costume of the figures is the costume of the period of the Norman 16 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. Conquest^ and the men are all represented as wearing their hair long, which was customary among the Saxons, while in succeeding reigns the fashion of close-cut hair prevailed. There seems no reason to doubt that it was worked by Queen Matilda and her maidens on William's first return to Normandy, when many Saxon nobles and their wives came with him. In this case, probably the Saxon ladies would have assisted her in the work. The details of this wonderful piece of work are extremely interesting as giving representations, however crude, of the existing buildings and architecture of the period. The treatment is very curious and conventional, permitting the inspection of the buildings within and without at the same time. There are examples of churches, palaces, castles, towers, manor-houses, forts, cathedrals, humble dwelling houses, besides interiors. The subjects, or scenes, are separated from each other by trees or buildings. There are seventy-two compartments, each representing incidents in the Norman Conquest of England, and stirring scenes in the life of William, Duke of Normandy. There is a Latin inscription running throughout, which explains the intention of the figures. The letters of the inscription are worked in worsted about an inch in height. The material of the ground is coarse homespun linen, probably unbleached. Age has reduced it to the colour of brown holland. Its entire length is 226 feet, and it is 1^ feet broad. It went exactly round the nave of the Cathedral at Bayeux, for which it was used as a hanging on certain saints' days. It contains 530 figures, three only of which are females. The technique is very curious. The figures are worked with worsted threads laid on the surface side by side, bound at intervals by cross fastenings, the seams, joints, and folds being indicated by a species of twist. The faces, hands, and legs of the figures, u C U be c W c o U -a 3 0) rt H X 3 a; >~. ni CQ ANGLO-NORMAN WORK. 1 7 when bare, are merely outlined in green, red, or blue, the features being worked in yellow. All the objects are represented without any reference to their natural colours. Perspective, too, is wholly neglected, and the effects of light and shade are curiously repre- sented. Thus, for example, a red horse has its off legs worked in blue, and a green horse is represented as having red legs. There are eight different coloured worsteds employed, in shades of blue, green, and red. The borders are worked in narrow bands of green edged with faded crimson, and with a very thin undulat- ing scroll in the same colours between them. The designs in the borders are very fantastic, containing all kinds of animals — lions, camels, minotaurs, dragons, birds, sphinxes — fables of yEsop and Phaedrus, scenes of husbandry, &c. There is a curious representation of the exterior of West- minster Abbey, with some workmen fixing a weathercock, the earliest pictorial representation of its use in England. However rudely delineated, there is singular spirit and expression in the design. A curious feature in it is the clear and bold manner in which the outline of the figures is sketched, as it were, in needlework. Every thread serves and shows as an outline. The drawing is undoubtedly very rude, but remarkably bold and spirited, and, however exaggerated, shows great truth and force of expression. A frieze of the Bayeux Tapestry may be seen in the sculpture court of South Kensington Museum, and the original is shown to visitors at the cathedral at Bayeux. It is kept under glass, and is rolled out by a process like drawing up a bucket from a well. This same Queen Matilda, the Norman chronicler Vitalis tells us, in recounting the incidents connected with the royal visit to the Abbey of St. Evroul, brought with her an alb richly adorned with " orfrais," and presented it to the church. She D l8 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. also left by will a " chesable," worked at Winchester by the wife of one Alderet, and a cloak worked in gold, made in England, and two golden girdles adorned with emblems. Winchester was at this time a royal city, and abounded with able needlewomen. It is related that on the return of William the Conqueror to Normandy, the Normans were as much struck with the splendid embroidered garments of the Saxon nobles in his train, as with the beauty of the Saxon youths who accompanied him. In the Domesday Survey mention is made of a damsel, Alunid, who held two hides of land, which Earl Godric granted to her on condition of her teaching his daughter embroidery. There is also another mention in the Conqueror's survey of a certain Leuide. who made embroidery for the use of the King and Queen. At the end of the eleventh century, Christina, Abbess of Markgate, worked a pair of sandals, we are told, and three mitres of surpassing beauty, for Pope Adrian IV. CHAPTER IV. VESTMENTS OF ST. THOMAS A BECKET. In the study of the decorative arts we cannot too highly value the importance of being able to refer to examples the date of which is unquestioned. Of the early Plantagenet period we have a beautiful example in the Syon cope, and still earlier ecclesiastical vestments, worn bv St. Thomas a Becket, are preserved in the treasury at Sens. The original colours of this most deeply interesting old work are faded, but the beau- tiful and elaborate designs, and the exquisite old stitchery, still remain after the lapse of seven centuries. The gold work is so perfect that it resembles weaving. On the neck of the chasuble may be seen the characteristic Anglo-Saxon ornament called " the flower," which seems to have been kept in use for ecclesiastical vestments for several centuries. It occurs on the vestment found on the body of St. Cuthbert (in 1 104), and may be often seen figured on cumbent effigies, and old Mitre of St. Thomas a Becket brasses on episcopal tombs in our cathe- drals. " The flower " consisted of a mass of rich needlework wrought in gold, which spread itself in broad thick branches D 2 20 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. over all the breast, and upon the higher part of the back, while round the neck of the vestment ran a broad band of gold studded with jewels. The mitre of St. Thomas a Becket is of white ground with gold embroidery. All the old English mitres in existence are white, and are rich in gold embroidery and jewels. The Bishop of Lincoln's mitre (1203), we are told, was covered with pearls and precious stones. The chasubles, too, of the Anglo-Normans and Plantagenets were rich in embroidery and sparkling with gems. They were made of the most costly materials, and storied with needlework representing passages from Holy Writ, or lives of the saints, or overspread with intricate designs done in threads of gold. Thin beaten plates of gold were often hung upon the orphreys, which were sprinkled both in front and behind with pearls and jewels. The orphreys of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries appear from the old inventories of religious houses to have been particularly rich in goldsmith's work and jewels. In the inventory of Lincoln Cathedral a chasuble is described " of red cloth of gold, with orphreys set with pearls, blue, white, and red, and with plates of gold enamelled, wanting fifteen plates." Enamels seem at this time to have been a favourite ornament. These enamelled plates were sewn upon the work. There is a mitre at Munich of the twelfth century, white and gold, embroidered with the martyrdom of St. Thomas a Becket on one side ; of St. Stephen on the other. This was the age, indeed, of goldsmith's work. The custom to sew a great deal of goldsmith's work upon ecclesiastical vest- ments and articles intended for personal wear prevailed through all the Norman period, until the wars of the Roses. Norman- French stuffs so ornamented were said to be " batuz," or beaten with hammered gold. King John gave an order for five tunics, and five banners with his arms upon them, " well beaten in gold." -^JZ ^x **k :.— . >. ~Y' T?M$%' Mitre. White and gold, embroidered with the Martyrdom of St. Thomas a Becket. (English, 13th Century.) VESTMENTS OF ST. THOMAS A BECKET. 2 1 Among the church furniture provided for the chapel at Hereford by Richard II., were two altar curtains beaten, " ii rydell batuz." An interesting example of this curious old work was dis- covered in the grave of Edward I. when it was opened in 1774. On the body of the king, beside his silken robes, was a stole-like band studded with gilt quatrefoils in filigree work, and em- broidered with pearls ; from the knees downward the body was wrapped in a cloth of gold. The old English stole might often be said to be wrought in pure gold It was woven with the help of a little silk into a kind of metallic web, leaving at intervals spaces for the working of the figures of saints by the needle, and for fastening on jewels. Sometimes little bells of silver, as well as beautiful fringes of gold knotted " fretty-wise," were attached to the ends of the stole. Lord Willoughby de Broke has one of a later date with thirty-eight shields of arms worked upon it ; it is 10 feet long and 2 inches wide ; from the heraldry it is about the date of Henry VI. The liturgical garments of this period were so loaded with embroidery and gold and silver enrichments that they were some- times too heavy for the wearer, especially if he were old and feeble. Matthew Prior tells us of one that was broken up on this account, and the rich embroidery thrown into the flames to get the gold out of it. Ladies at this time were not above pursuing the craft of embroiderers for profit as well as for amusement. The men, it appears from an old close roll of the time of Henry III., usually " travailed " at the orfeirie department, while the women did the more elaborate needlework. The metal work style of the Plantagenets, as it is described, often resembled in design the spreading scroll-like ornaments from the Gothic hinges on a church door, though it sometimes con- sisted of medallions inclosing figures and subjects, surrounded by 22 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. metal work, and bands of gold and silver threads alternating with smaller medallions. Gold and silver gilt stars often occurred, in imitation of goldsmiths' work, broader and bigger than spangles, sewed upon the embroidery. On orphreys embroidered on parch- ment, coral, gold beads, seed pearls, small bosses, and ornaments in gilded silver stars — sometimes in large spangle-like plates in gold and silver — are mentioned as being used. Borders of vest- ments were sprinkled with rayed stars of silver and gold, sometimes representing flowers and trefoils ; heads of saints were often gemmed with stones set in gold and silver gilt, besides coral and pearls. This style of metal ornament stitched upon liturgical garments, knights' coats of arms, heralds' tabards and pennons was much more common than we now believe. But it was not confined to these. Ladies' dresses were also adorned in this sumptuous manner. On a State occasion the Sheriffs of London paid for an embroidered robe for Elinor of Aquitaine, Queen of Henry II., the sum of ^"80 (equal in our currency to ^"1400). In the Close Rolls (1252), Henry III., occurs an order for four robes of the best brocade — two for the king and two for the queen, with " orfrais " and gems of various colours. The one for the queen was to be with " queyntisis." An order is still extant for making the robes of the same king, one of which was to be of the best purple samit, embroidered with three little leopards in front and three behind. His sandals also to be fretted with gold, each square containing a lion or leopard. Holinshed relates a curious incident of Henry 1. : — " It is sayde that on a festival day King Henrie put on an embroidered robe of scarlet, the cape whereof being strayte, he rente it in stryving to put it over hys heade ; and perceyving it would not serve him, he layd it aside and sayde, ' Let my brother Robert have this garment, who hath a sharper head than THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY. 2 3 WILLIAM SAILING TO ENGLAND. BISHOP ODO OF BAYEUX SAVING GRACE AT BANQUET AFTER LANDING. WILLIAM HOLDING COUNCIL WITH HIS BROTHERS, ODO AND ROBERT. •CASrELLVM-- AT- HESTENG iiiceisrM JLHic:NVNmj\ AIVMEST:^ h(C DEhARolLD:) ™ A FORTIFICATION OF WILLIAM S CAMP AT HASTINGS MESSENGER BRINGS TIDINGS TO WILLIAM OF HAROLD'S MOVEMENTS. BAYEUX TAPESTRY. 24 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. I have ' ; the which when brought to Duke Robert, the rent place not being sewed up, he discovered it, and asked whether any man had worne it before. " The messenger told the whole matter how it happened. Herewith Duke Robert took much griefe at the scornefulle mocke of his brother, that he waxed wearie of his life and sayde, ' Now I perceyve I have lived too long, that my brother shall clothe me like his almes-man, with his cast-rent garments.' And then cursing the time of his nativity refused from henceforth to eate or drink, and so pined away, and was buried at Gloucester." King John (April, 1 25 1 ) gave an order to one Reginald de Cornhull, to furnish without delay five banners of his arms embroidered with gold. Edward of Westminster (1252, Henry III.) ordered a banner of white silk to be embroidered with the representation of the Crucifixion, with effigies of the blessed Virgin and St. John embroidered in orfrais, and on the top a star and a new crescent moon. We also read in records of the siege of Carlaverock, the banners and caparisons of the knights and soldiers who accompanied Edward were embroidered on silk and satin with the arms of their owners. In the Cottonian MSS. we have an interesting representation of Henry I. and King John. Henry I. has an embroidered gold border to his long cloak, and King John's tunic is embroidered with jieur de lys and lions in gold, and his short cloak has a gold-embroidered border. The figure is chiefly remarkable for the very singular high clogs worn by the king. Mention is made in an old chronicle of the period of a chasuble representing the Crucifixion, the martyrdom of St. Stephen, &c, late thirteenth century work, belonging to Margaret de Clare, Countess of Cornwall, worked with four coats of arms THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY. 2 5 HAROLD TAKING LEAVE OF EADWARD. SETTING OUT ON HIS JOURNEY. HAROLD SAILING FROM BOSHAM TO PONTHIEU. m C DEDERVN P hA R.OLDO CORO ^N^b, ,> en the figure is sewn on the ground is covered with a silk or gold cord. The shading of the figures was sometimes put in with a brush instead of needlework, while the small accessories were all embroidery. The faces, the flesh, and the clothing were often done in silk, cut out, shaded, and the features indicated in colours with a little needlework. The invention of this beautiful and effective work has been attributed to the Florentine artist, Sandro Botticelli. It is said that he used it for banners, with the intent that the colours employed on one side should not show through on the other. There is no doubt that it was so employed, but there is abundant evidence that it was practised in England nearly a century before the time of Botticelli. It was very effectively used in the sixteenth century for wall hangings. Beautiful arabesques, after the manner that Raphael made so popular, were cut out in velvet and silk and brocade, and applied on rich grounds with every variety of stitch. There are some notable examples of it still in existence. The term Opus consutum (cut work) was employed to designate this and all work wrought by itself upon canvas, and sewn on to another ground. So early as 1295 we meet with the term in an inventory of the vestments belonging to St. Paul's Cathedral. The entry is a very interesting one, as it gives us not only a description of the work of the period and of the methods employed, but of the nature and variety of the stitches. In this inventory, which may be found in Dugdale's " History of St. Paul's," occur the Opus plumariam ; Opus pectincum ; Opus pulvinarium ; cut work, Consutum de serico, or " deserico consuto." Ingulph, speaking of the hangings of the Church of Croy- land, describes them as being ornamented with birds wrought in gold, and sewed on cut work — others with the birds woven into the stuff. A bishop preaching in the fourth century, up- c c O o C o *o bo C V -^ t-t >, V V- -a a +j o c E W 43 -^ -t >> c a- S "ton o a U W '"— ■* "en Ut D M c Oh C c o o a. MATERIALS FOR MEDIAEVAL EMBROIDERY. 59 braided his people for " arraying themselves like painted walls, with beasts and flowers all over them, while others, pretending a more serious tone, dressed in clothes figured with pictures of all the doings and wonders of our Lord." These pictures were necessarily on a small scale, and were wrought in out- line. Opus Phrygium (gold work), flat gold embroidery, and golden outlines were just invented, and, later, a thick raised gold thread was used to imitate goldsmith's work, carvings, or jewellery. The quantity of silver, gold, and precious stones employed in this age of barbaric splendour was very great. The artists of the day believed that rich effects could only be obtained by the use of an abundance of costly materials. Thus we see " gilded kings with golden crowns, and golden virgins nursing golden babes, on golden grounds, and gilded angels nimbed with gold." Nothing was too rich for the embroiderer's use. Art had not taught him to use his costly materials wisely and sparingly. Gold was seldom used in a solid wire-drawn form, it was generally wound round a small twist of silk or flax, sometimes even cord or twine was used, whipped over with a thread of metal. Glass occurs also in form of bugles, beads, pastes {smalti) for mosaics, in imitation of jewels, with this golden ornamenta- tion. Spangles of gold or silver sewn in rows, beside one another, are often met with in examples of this curious old work. They were cut into a variety of forms and sizes, stars and crescents, and rings, and sometimes solid pieces of gold. A curious custom prevailed of presenting the garments worn by royalty on state occasions to cathedrals and churches. A whole set of Mass vestments at Windsor were made out of the crimson and gold cloth powdered with birds, the bridal dress of a royal princess. Queen Philippa gave to the Bishop of Ely the I 2 60 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. gown she wore at her churching after the birth of the Black Prince. It is described as being of " murrey " coloured velvet, powdered with golden squirrels, and so ample that it made three copes for the choir use. To St. Alban's was given the rich mantle of cloth of gold and velvet that Henry V. wore as he rode in state through London the day before his coronation ; also a gown of green and gold velvet, out of which vestments were made. St. Elizabeth of Hungary Tapestry Panel of the Sixteenth Century. CHAPTER VIII. DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. In the age of chivalry all domestic decorations began to assume greater refinement. Carpets were spread over the rushes on the floor, and walls were hung with embroidered hangings, and rude benches and tables were covered with dainty needlework. The chancels of country parish churches used to be spread with rushes until the introduction of carpets. Mention is made in 992 of a bequest by an abbot to his church at Croyland of " two large foot cloths woven with lions, to be laid out before the high altar on great festivals, and two shorter ones trailed all over with flowers, for the feast days of the Apostles." The damp, bare walls of our English castles demanded some kind of hangings. Tapestry was not made at Arras until the fourteenth century, so all earlier pictured hangings were the products of the needle. Wall painting seems to have been contemporaneous with tapestry, and hangings wrought by the needle. It was the custom, in the absence of needlework, to paint the walls with historical subjects. In 131 2 we find the Bishop of Lichfield commanding the great hall of his episcopal palace to be painted with the coronation, marriages, wars, and funeral of his patron, King Edward I. Chaucer refers to this custom of mural paintings : And soth to faime my chambre was Ful well depainted — And all the wals with colours fine. And again : On the wals old portraiture Of horsemen, hawkis, and houndis. 62 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. The subjects depicted by the brush were portrayed in a more or less skilful manner by the needle, and later by the lovely pro- ductions of the looms of Arras. The designs of these early hangings were often unskilled and rude, as we see in the Bayeux tapestry ; but from the descriptions preserved to us in ancient inventories and State rolls, and in the pages of poets and historians, they must have been very bold and spirited. The Anglo-Norman ladies, like the Grecian dames of old, were accustomed to embroider the exploits of their husbands and kinsmen on the hangings of their chambers. Andromache, Homer tells us, at the moment that the cries of distress apprised her of the death of Hector, was working in the secret apartment of her high chamber a cloth resplendent with purple, which she had ornamented with various flowers. Doubt- less during the stormy days of the Crusades, shut up in her lofty chamber, within her gloomy castle walls, the mediaeval matron found her chief consolation in representing the heroic deeds of her absent lord. There were few other amusements in which she could while away the long lonely hours, or in which her talents could be employed. Apart from the exercise of hawking, it was probably her only recreation. The women of the Middle Ages may be well said to have embroidered history. Deeds of chivalry provided them with endless subjects, and the romances of the period, though they sometimes chose more ambitious themes from the classic histories of Greece and Rome. The Tale of Troy was a very favourite subject ; the whole of the Iliad, we are told, was wrought in skilful needlework ; the story of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and their wondrous achievements, clothed the walls of many a lady's bower with romantic history. The subjects were generally explained by short lines, or mottoes in Provencal or old DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY. 63 French. Often the hangings were decorated alone with metrical descriptions, called Proverbs. In Jubinal's beautiful collection of ancient tapestries we see how general this custom was, not only of explaining the subject, but often names are embroidered upon the figures, and beneath the buildings, and across the towns and rivers to identify them. Domestic embroidery was, doubtless, at this time an important factor in the progress of civilisation. Moral and religious lessons, we may be sure, were taught by the dumb pictures that clothed the walls. Young girls of noble families were trained in nunneries in skilful embroidery, not only as an accomplishment, but a house- hold duty. There was so little furniture, and that so very bare, in the Middle Ages, that needlework was the only refinement possible to make a home beautiful. The rich hangings thrown over tables and benches, and chairs of state — there was generally only one chair in a room, and this often stood beneath an embroidered canopy — gave the effect of splendour, which at a later time was supplied by carving and its sister arts. A plain board laid upon trestles, formed the dining table, and an ordinary bench or form the seat. Behind the bench was suspended a curtain, and over it was thrown a rich coverlet, " bancaria ; ' this concealed the bareness. Cushions seem to have been in use from quite the earliest time, and in all old illuminated manuscripts we find them ornamented with embroidery. The seat of state was known as the " faldestol ' (fauteuil), and this always had a rich covering. To remedy the want of accommodation for seating visitors in ancient buildings, we find a stone seat projecting from the wall, running sometimes round the room, and divided by arches into compart- ments to accommodate two or more persons for convenience of conversation. In the wardrobe accounts of Edward II. mention is made of an order given to a mercer of London, " for a green hanging of 6\ OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. wool woven with figures of kings and earls upon it, for the king's service on solemn feast days in London." "Tapestry verd " was the name given to wall hangings of a blue-green colour, representing woodland scenes, landscapes, and figures, and animals, the chase being a very favourite subject. Chaucer makes frequent mention of these. Wall hangings were not only a luxury at this time, but a necessity. There was no glass used for windows, even by the wealthy, until the fifteenth century. When the window spaces were not left open, as they were really designed to be in our old Norman and early English architecture, shaved horn, parchment, or mica was used as a substitute for glass. The very first mention of glass being used in England occurs in a register of 1 239. The first glass windows of which we have any record were at Hexham Abbey in Northumberland ; these were made by some French workmen who brought the art to England. They were so very costly for several centuries that they could only be used in palaces and churches. The first glass windows used in England were so made that they could be taken out of their frames, and carried about by their owner when he travelled from one place to another. In ancient houses the grooves may still be seen in the stonework of the windows where the frames that contained the glass were fitted in. So late as 1573, when the Earl of Northumberland left Alnwick Castle, the windows were taken out of their frames and laid carefully by. Until the reign of Charles I. they were not in general use in middle class houses. A fashion for rich stuffs for coverings for tables and benches prevailed in the fourteenth century. Velvet emblazoned with arms and devices in heavy gold embroidery was extensively used. Above the seat of honour, generally on a raised dais, was a canopy of velvet, or some rich material elaborately embroidered. Embroidered Canopy, provided by King's College on the occasion of yueen Elizabeth's visit to Cambridge, 1564. Preserved in the Archaeological Museum, Cambridge. DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY. 65 Tables were, from a quite early time, covered by a cloth of some kind ; these cloths were called carpets, or carpett, as it is spelt in the old inventories, to distinguish them from the " tapet," or floor covering. The tables they covered were often mere planks resting on trestles ; we find very few carved or ornamental tables before the sixteenth century. Mention is made of a beautiful " carpett" used at Hampton Court on State occasions, which was embroidered with pearls, and cost 50,000 crowns. There is a chair still in the State room of Hardwicke Hall covered with a crimson velvet embroidered with silver tissue of about the same date. At Cambridge is still preserved, in the Archaeological Museum, the velvet canopy that was carried over the head of Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of her visit to King's College Chapel in 1564. It measures twelve feet by five, and is divided into four equal parts by broad strips of red velvet embroidered with the arms of Queen Elizabeth, England, and France, supported by greyhound and dragon. There are twelve other devices, portcullis crowned, and rose with five petals in two rows, crowned. It was provided by King's College, and afterwards redeemed from the footmen who carried it over the Queen for the sum of £3 6s. 8d. The cushions, or quysshens, which were so necessary in those uncomfortable days of stone seats and hard wooden benches, were covered with rich embroidery, frequently of gold and silver on velvet, which was a favourite material. In the Chapel of Hardwick Hall, which is hung with ancient tapestry, are still to be seen some chairs and cushions covered with beautiful sixteenth century needlework. With the exception of the Bayeux Tapestry, we have no example left of the earliest wall hangings ; their designs were often rude, being the work of domestic artists unskilled in drawing. A wall hanging of King John's time is described as being painted K 66 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. or embroidered with the subject of the Fall. Adam is repre- sented as gathering apples from a tree that barely reaches up to his knee, and beneath the tree is a figure of an angel milking. All the figures are decently clothed in Anglo-Saxon costumes : even the angel wore breeches and an over froc. In a MS. of the fifteenth century (Harl., No. 2278) are some interesting details of the arrangement of a chamber of the period. The hangings of the bed are sumptuously embroidered, and the coverlet, which matches, reaches to the ground. The ladies in attendance have embroidered robes, not very unlike in fashion those worn at the present day. In another MS. (Harl.) we find a representation of a coach of the same period, with embroidered coverings supported by brass rods. It is very like our covered waggons. The MSS. of this period give minute details of the patterns employed in domestic and church embroidery. The hangings that surrounded the altar during the celebration of the Mass were enriched with figures and subjects, generally from the lives of the saints ; while the hanging of the walls of chambers and banqueting halls were embroidered with subjects from the romances of the day. A monk of Chester, in the fifteenth century, describes a large hall hung with English needlework, with the story of "Adam, Noe, and his shyppe ; " the twelve sons of Jacob and the plagues of Egypt. The hangings, we are told, did not remain on the walls, but were sent forward by their royal or noble owners when they travelled from one castle to another, and it was the office of the grooms of the chambers to see them properly hung. This very troublesome and costly arrangement may have suggested the much simpler method of painting the walls. So early as the thirteenth century mural painting began to supersede the use of hangings. The painting was not done in fresco, but in " secca "—that is, distemper. The walls of castles, manor C o o -a v u > 0) DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY. 6j houses, and even cathedrals and churches, were decorated in this manner until the middle of the sixteenth century. Half obliterated remains of these old wall paintings are still often met with in churches. Panelling rooms with wood does not appear to have been practised until the middle of the thirteenth century, and we have certainly no earlier reliable examples of it remaining. It was probably quite rude woodwork painted over. Henry III. gives instructions for his great chamber at Westminster to be painted a green colour, like a curtain ; and in the gable or frontispiece of the said chamber a French inscription should be painted ; and that the king's little wardrobe should be painted of a green colour to imitate a curtain. The pictures painted on chamber walls were a kind of religious heraldry. The figures were ill-proportioned and clumsy, and the landscapes deficient in perspective. The historical and sacred subjects were executed with greater skill, foreign artists being often employed to decorate the walls of churches and palaces. Henry III. imported a Florentine artist to instruct his native workmen. There is an order still in existence for his chamber at the royal castle of Winchester to be painted with historical pictures as before, thus indicating that the art of mural painting had been practised at some earlier period. Henry III. was the first king who enriched the churches he built with painting and sculpture. There is very little originality or skill in these first rude attempts at art. The faces are without expression, the limbs without proportion, and the draperies crude and ill managed. Not until the reign of Henry V. do we get any attempt at real portraiture. In the reign of Henry VIII. the custom of painting walls with subjects from history and Scripture began to decline, and it K 2 68 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. is very interesting to trace how the discontinuance of this practice led to the framing of pictures, and hanging them on the walls. The transition was not a violent one. It came about quite naturally. A custom had sprung up for some time past of representing the stories that were pourtrayed on the walls in rows some two or three feet in height, the subjects being divided by narrow wooden styles or " battens." It was only a step to add styles top and bottom to make a frame. The earliest frames were painted black and gilt, but soon they became more elaborate. Probably Holbein's were the first pictures framed in England. He came to this country about 1526, and the fashion for framing pictures dates from a few years later. Evelyn, writing in 1669, speaks of "a good many pictures put into the wainscot of the Earl of Norwich's house in Epping Forest, which Mr. Baker, his lordship's predecessor, brought from Spain." Indeed, about this time the fashion extensively prevailed of letting in pictures into the woodwork to form part of the decoration of a room. The very earliest attempt at historical portraiture that is authenticated is a panel painting representing Henry V. and his family. This was at one time the altar-piece of the church at Shene. It is probable that a great many of the pictures painted on panel of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and during some part of the seventeenth century were originally let into the wainscot or panelling of rooms and churches. The earliest fashion of wood panelling that prevailed was a wainscot, or lining of the walls from the floor to the ceiling, or a few feet of the cornice that usually went round the room. The panelling of the time of the Tudors usually reached up to within two feet of the ceiling. A fashion was then introduced of dividing the wood work Tapestry ot the Sixteenth Century. DOMESTIC EMBROIDERY. 69 into two parts. The lower part, about three or four feet in height, and terminating in a moulding more or less ornamental. Fre- quently the upper part was covered with tapestry, as we often see in old pictures of interiors. • Paintings were often let into the panelling of the upper part ; and when the fashion prevailed of framing pictures in carved and elaborate frames, the upper part entirely disappeared, and only the lower wainscoting, which we dignify by the name of a " dado," remained. This in its time gave place to the narrow skirting board we see in our modern rooms. It is curious to notice that the introduction of mirrors into England is coeval with the picture frame. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries mirrors of polished steel of very small dimen- sions were in use. They were framed in ivory and silver, and were very costly. In the fourteenth century an item occurs in the wardrobe accounts of the king (Edward I.) of " a comb and mirror of silver gilt." There is an entry in the privy purse expenses of Henry VIII. of a payment to a Frenchman for " certayne looking- glasses." After their introduction in a larger and more convenient form, mirrors became a very important item in household furnishing, the frames being usually richly carved and gilt. The use of tapestry cloth, or painting on canvas in imitation of tapestry, was also prevalent during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was used so extensively at this time that the workers in it were embodied into a London civic guild. In the will of Lady Hastings, 1503, there occurs a bequest of " an old hangin of counterfeit Arras of Knollys, which now hangeth in the hall, and all such hangings of old baudekyn, or lynen painted as now hang in the chapel." At Exeter Cathedral in the beginning of the sixteenth 70 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. century there were several pieces of " stayned cloth," representing scenes from the lives of the saints. When painting on glass came into general use wall hangings of embroidery or painted canvas disappeared. The richly painted glass supplied the want of colour in large traceried windows and big bare rooms, and superseded the use of painting and embroidery for the walls. CHAPTER IX. BED HANGINGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. In the Anglo-Norman Period, and until the middle of the fourteenth century, beds were not excluded from the day apartments. Indeed, they served the double purpose of beds by night and couches by day. During the day, indeed, they were among the richest ornaments of the sitting-room, as they were usually covered with a richly embroidered coverlet. Ladies of the Middle Ages pursued their occupations, and received their visitors in their chambers, and the custom is often alluded to in the romances of the day. In the romance of " La Violette," the daughter of a burgher is described as seated, receiving her friends in her father's chamber, " working a stole and amice in silk and gold, very skilfully, and putting in it with cunning a little cross, and many a star, singing all the while a chanson a toile." In another romance, " A young bachelor, entering suddenlv the chamber of the ladies, finds them all occupied in embroidering a piece of silk with the ensigns of the lord of the castle." The hangings of the bedchamber, and especially of the bed itself, seem to have been a subject of much importance, as the chamber in those primitive times was the place for receiving visitors, and the bed usually served for a seat. Indeed, in the early Middle Ages, there were so few rooms in a house, that visitors slept in the same room as the host and hostess. Curtains 7 2 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. to the beds were thus extensively used. Indeed, " Under the curtain ' : was a term synonymous to being " in bed." The bed coverings of this period appear to have been very rich, especially in the case of Royalty and persons of rank. Stow speaks of a counterpane worth a thousand marks. The beds of the period, we Pair of curious old Bed Curtains, coarse linen, embroidered with Scripture subjects in coloured crewels (English, 16th Century), in the possession of Lady Brougham and Vaux. learn from Neckam, were covered much in the same way as at the present time, except that the sheets were sometimes of white silk. The coverlet or quilte pointe, courte pointe, or counter- pointe, was composed of green say, a woollen material, though we learn from old inventories that richer materials were used. BED HANGINGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 13 In the " Lai del Desire " we are told of a coilte (quilt) made in checker wise of pieces of different sorts of rich stuffs — early patchwork. In the " Romance of Arthur of Lytel Brytayne" is a very curious description of a chamber with its bedstead and hangings. The latter are described as being of " grene sendall, wyrouned with gold and azure, and round about this bedde there laye carpettes of syllke embrowdred with ymages of gold. The four square pillowes wrought among the Sarasyns. Upon this bed was a rich quylt wrought with coten, with crimson sendel, stitched with thredes of golde, and shetes of whyte sylke." This will give an idea of the bed draperies of the time of Edward II. ■ £ * , * f £ AS* • £ i f % 9 ** M < ■; $ % ht f S.' nfc *^&$ fc-v \ & § $ $ # % 0> '!"• r. /~ •'■■»* *•» * > 1* * •■ 5> > > :. * ^ § ft # j*5F %W Curtain embroidered with Detached Flowers and Birds in Coloured Crewels on Coarse Linen. English, late Sixteenth Century. The earliest account we meet with of embroidered bed hangings is in a legend of the eleventh century. Thorgunna, a woman from the Hebrides, who had suffered many misfortunes, sought refuge in this country. She was so skilful in needlework that it was supposed that she employed witchcraft in producing it. Especial mention is made of her bed hangings, which were so curiously embroidered that men thought nothing like them had ever been seen. Misfortunes seemed to have followed her here, 74 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. and she warned her friends when she died that the ownership of the embroidered hangings would always bring trouble to the possessor, and she desired them to be burned. Inventories and ancient wills of the Middle Ages supply a large amount of information relating to the prevalent use of embroidery. A remarkable feature in these old documents is the very solemn and emphatic manner in which the testator prefaces the disposition of his property by an acknowledgment of his faith in the Trinity, and expresses his humble Christian hope in a devout and earnest spirit of heartfelt piety. After the recital of his faith the testator proceeds to mention the church where he desires to be buried, and his bequests to the church and family and friends. Among the testamentary bequests of Edward the Black Prince was a bed of red camora to his confessor, Sir Robert de Walsham, " with our arms embroidered at each corner, also embroidered with the arms of Hereford. To Monsr. Alayne Cheyne our bed of camora, powdered with blue eagles." His widow, the Fair Maid of Kent, gives by will " to my dear son, the King (Richard II.), my new bed of red velvet, embroidered with ostrich feathers of silver, and heads of leopards of gold, with boughs and leaves issuing out of their mouths. To my dear son Thomas, Earl of Kent, my bed Camak, fraied with red and rays of gold." Edward, Earl of March, in 1380, bequeaths "our large bed of black satin embroidered with white lions and gold roses, and escutcheons of the arms of Mortimer and Ulster." In the will of the Earl of Arundel (1392) we meet with the bequest of "a bed of silk embroidery, and the hangings of the large hall, with the arms of Arundel and Warren quarterly, also a bed embroidered with griffins." John, Duke of Lancaster, bequeaths " my large bed of black velvet embroidered with a circle of fetterlocks " (the badge of the house of Lancaster) ; and the Duke of York " a bed BED HANGINGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 75 of feathers and leopards, also my green bed embroidered with a compas." Mention is made in other wills of the period of beds embroidered with lions and butterflies ; in Lady Bergavenny's will of " a bed of gold swans with branches and flowers of divers colours " ; and another " bed of silk, black and red, embroidered with woodbined flowers of silver." While the hangings for the walls consisted of coarse linen worked in thick worsted, as we see in the Bayeux tapestry, the richest silk, and velvet, and other costly materials were employed for the bed hangings and coverlets. The principal portions of the embroidery were never worked on the materials they were intended to adorn, but were done separately on linen, and then attached to the general ground. The edges where they were applied were bound over with a cord, which was afterwards cast over, en guipure, with gold or silver tambour. A coarse kind of linen was generally employed for the embroidered design, and the scrolls and sprays were formed of silk cord twisted with gold and coloured silks. White embroidery was extensively practised in the Middle Ages, and quite naturally the first white laces, in the form of drawn or darned work, followed close upon it. Darning figures and subjects upon linen, or netting in various stitches, was very much used in church work for lectern or frontal veils, or Pyx cloths, and "corporals" for the altar, so early as the fourteenth century. Thread embroidery, sometimes called net work, was known under the distinctive name of " filatorium." The first lace that was made in England was very like embroidery. The earliest examples consist of button-hole stitch with purl ornaments : lacis and cut work being a mixture of lace and embroidery stitches. Lacis was a network on which a pattern was darned or worked. Cut work was more elaborate, and partook more of the character L 2 7 6 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. of lace, and was often worked on a frame in geometric patterns. In the sixteenth century English ladies spent a great deal of their time in making lacis and cut work. Many examples of this are still in existence in the form of altar cloths, bed hangings, and coverlets embroidered. Cradle quilts, or small coverlets, are still often to be met with among the treasured heirlooms of old families. Often they are wrought with emblems of the Evangelists. In an inventory in the Priory of Durham taken in 1446 there is an ac- count of a quilt embroidered with the four Evangelists, one in each corner. This is a full-sized quilt. The figures of the Evangelists seem to have been a very favourite subject. In a cra- dle quilt, dated 161 2, they occur on a groundwork of satin treated in the style of the Renaissance, surrounded r , . n T . r, , -j j • /- 1 j with flowing scroll work, and Coverlet, Coarse Linen, Embroidered in Coloured & ' Crewels. English, Sixteenth Century. In the the figures at the Corners Possession of Lady Heathcote Amory. . coming out of a flower. Sometimes they are seen in conjunction with the old rhyme : — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Guard the bed that I lie on. When Catherine of Braganza, the wife of Charles II., came to reside at Hampton Court, her apartments were sumptuously furnished even for that age of reckless extravagance. " Her great looking-glass and toilet," we are told, "were of beaten massive BED HANGINGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 77 gold, the gift of the Queen Mother. Her bed hangings, the gift of the States of Holland, were of silver embroidery on crimson velvet. Many years later there was a beautiful bed at Hampton Court worked for Queen Charlotte, on purple satin, with an elaborate floral design in silk and crewels. This is, perhaps, the latest bit of stitchery that we can venture to include in our examples of old English embroidery. CHAPTER X. LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. The monuments of the Middle Ages are our best authorities for the embroideries of the period which they represent. From these we can judge the prevailing style, and the details are usually given with great minuteness. It is impossible, indeed, to overrate the importance of monumental evidence. There is every reason to believe that they are faithful representations of the dresses of the period, and that in the case of effigies they are clothed in absolutely the same costume as worn by the originals who sleep in the tomb beneath, notably in the case of the Black Prince at Winchester. The surcoat that hangs above is the same as the surcoat on the effigy beneath, with the same accidents of embroidery, as if it had been modelled from it. When King John's tomb was opened at Worcester in 1797, he was found in the same dress and attitude as that portrayed on the recumbent statue, even to the bright red colour of the silk and the jewelled border. Richard II., who was the vainest of monarchs, sat to two London citizens for his monument, in a dress specially woven or embroidered for the purpose. The cloak and kirtle are diapered over with heraldic devices, the broom pod and sprig of plantagenesta (the broom plant), the device of the Plantagenets, along with a couchant hart, chained and gazing straight forward, and above it a cloud, with rays darting up from behind, the The Chesterfield Cope, crimson velvet embroidered in gold and needlework. (English, 14th Century.) LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. 79 cognizance of Edward III. There is a portrait of Richard II. preserved at Wilton House, the seat of the Earl of Pembroke, representing the king arrayed in a most sumptuous cloak, which covers him entirely, diapered in large circles, inclosing stags in gold, with a very rich border; the date of this picture is 1377. Thanks to the careful elaboration bestowed by the painstaking artists of old on all the minor details of their pictures and sculptures, we have the fullest and most reliable information of the dresses and decorations affected by our ancestors. At this period of English Embroidery, the dress of the people had become so splendid and luxurious that, by a statute of Edward III. (1363), it was enacted that none whose income was below four hundred marks a year should wear cloth of gold, or drapery enamelled " a.ymelez' n or embroidered. To avoid this Act counterfeits were made, and " senden unto the fayres of Ely, Orrerford, and Salisbury, to the greet deseit of our soverain Ld the Kyng and all his peple." In the Issue Rolls of Edward III. (1335) occurs an entry illustrative of the use of Embroidery to adorn the dress of the period. In June 28 of that year, we find an entry of a payment for two vests of green velvet embroidered with gold, one with sea sirens, and one with the arms of England and Hainault, and another entry for a robe of velvet embroidered with gold, of divers workmanship, made against the confinement of the Lady Philippa Queen of England. The device of the arms of England on his person seems to have been a favourite ornament with the king. There is a painting on the walls of St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, on the north side of the altar representing Edward III. and his five sons. This is supposed to be a tolerably correct portrait of the King taken about 1355. The King's surcoat is quartered with the arms 80 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. of England and France, with the lions embossed in gold on a red field. It is among the illuminated manuscripts of this period that we find the best picture of the mediaeval life and dress of the king and his people. Beside sculpture and painting, and the patient and careful work of the illuminator, ancient brasses are of the highest possible interest, as furnishing the most satisfactory authority of the changes of civil, military, and ecclesiastical costume. The earliest brass known, with a figure intact, is of the thirteenth century, and fine samples seldom occur after the close of the seventeenth century. The knowledge of these facts should give a deeper interest to ancient monuments, and it is certainly another argument for their careful preservation. So little of the old work they represent with such fidelity is still in existence, by which its merits might be judged. The thirteenth and fourteenth century may be considered the most brilliant period of the arts in England during the Middle Ages, and it is of this period we have so few specimens preserved to us. All the most beautiful work of the Gothic type is of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, before the spirit of the Renaissance crept northward over Europe. Towards the end of the fifteenth century the Gothic styles, with the Scripture subjects on beautiful golden grounds, were replaced by the more flowing designs of the Renaissance. Art had been gradually emancipated from traditional ecclesiastical forms and symbolism, and it, quite naturally, when set free from long restraint, broke out into extravagance in the opposite direction, and became all at once unorthodox. Ecclesiastical art, indeed, came suddenly to an end in England at the Reformation. In an illuminated manuscript in the Cottonian Library, in the initial letter of the original grant of the conquered provinces of LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. 8l France, King Edward is represented as presenting the document to his son the Black Prince. The likenesses being in each case real portraits, there is no doubt the representations of the dresses are equally exact. The figures are drawn in silver armour, except the joints of the knees and elbows, which are gold. The jupons over the armour are splendidly embroidered with the arms of England in the appropriate colours. Silver Braid Embroidery. Saracenic Aumoniere. (13th Century.) In a MS. of the fourteenth century we have a fine picture of an archbishop in his vestments before the altar. His outer robe is blue with a red cross and lining; the bottom, being linen, is white ; his sleeves are black, and the cap on his head red. The front of the altar-piece is blue ; the curtains are green, both ornamented with gold flowers, and the background is composed of blue and gold squares. In a contemporary MS. of John of Gaunt, he is represented wearing a blue robe with an embroidered border. M 82 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. Blue and red were then, as now, the Royal colours of England. Parti-coloured dresses were much worn at this period, and were much inveighed against by Chaucer in the " Parson's Tale." There are many manuscripts containing illuminations repre- senting scenes in the life of King Richard II. There is an illumination in a large MS. at Westminster Abbey representing his coronation when eleven years old. The young King's robe is gold ; his beautiful underdress of pink, elaborately embroidered with gold flowers ; the abbot on the left in white with a gold robe with white spots ; the Earl of Derby in a blue tunic embroidered with gold. The bishop on the right hand is in white, with a blue robe with gold flowers. In another illumination in the same MS. is a scene representing the coronation of his queen, Anne of Bohemia. The Queen's garment is blue, the robe gold, lined with ermine ; both the bishops are in white edged with gold. Their robes are pink, embroidered with red flowers, edged with gold. In a later manuscript of Richard II. in the British Museum the throne is represented covered with the arms of England ; the nobleman at the right hand is in red, embroidered all over with gold ; one leg decorated with the garter in blue, and the other leg in white. The shoes of this MS. are represented as being of great length ; a monk carries a white flag with a red cross, and the lamb embroidered in gold. From another MS. in the Harleian Library at the British Museum, containing the history of the latter part of the reign of Richard II., is a representation of a knight of the period in a showy and most luxurious dress of rich red material embroidered in gold ; the dark part of the sleeve is blue and the light part white. When the knights of this period were not in armour they seem to have worn dress of more than Asiatic softness and luxury. LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. 83 Another illumination from the same manuscript represents the knighting of Henry, son of the Duke of Lancaster. The King's garment and the trappings of his horse are red, semes with ostrich feathers. The ostrich feather all gold, was one of the badges of the sovereign. The background is very elaborate, whether of needlework or not — red with gold stripes and flowers ; the arms of England blazoned on a banner described as the leopards. 5ggl Royal arms of Edward III., adopted in 1340 and used till about 1405. From the tomb of Edward III. Royal arms as borne by Henry IV. after about r4o3, and by successive sovereigns down to' 1603. Old writers frequently allude to the leopards ; some heralds suggest that the lions passant regardant, as represented in the arms of England, were termed " lions leopardes" the leopard being always represented full face, and the lion in profile. During the wars of the Roses the art of embroidery languished, and, indeed, has never since recovered the precedence it had obtained in its Anglo-Saxon and Plantagenet days above all continental work. With a few notable exceptions it was coarse, and showed little skill in design or execution. The Gothic style quite disappeared in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and M 2 84 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. gave place to the new style of the Renaissance. Perhaps the most remarkable examples of this new influence upon old forms were called forth by the tournament of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Here the greatest ingenuity was displayed, and the embroiderer's skill tested to the utmost to adorn the dresses and, the banners and the tent coverings used on this occasion. A different dress was worn each day of the tourney, embroidered in the most sumptuous fashion with mottoes and ciphers, and heraldic devices. The hangings of the tent where the kings met, which covered a space of 328 feet, were splendidly embroidered with gold and incrusted with pearls and precious stones. Henry VIII.'s foreign wives exercised a marked influence upon the needlework of the age. Catherine of Aragon introduced the Spanish style of black and white silk and gold embroidery on fine linen, and her daughter, Queen Mary, who was also Spanish in her taste, practised the same kind of lace stitchery, chiefly in black and gold. She is reputed to have finished the beautiful and elaborate tapestry begun by her mother in her days of lowliness and seclusion. A counterpane worked by her at this time is still in existence. Anne of Cleves introduced the German Renaissance designs, and revived the old opus puhinariiim, or cushion stitch. An example of this may be seen in the Renaissance borders in the costumes of the old portraits by Holbein. Queen Elizabeth was a great worker, and many examples of her skill and patience are still in existence. She certainly encouraged the art, and her portraits represent her as having her costumes entirely covered with the most elaborate needlework, flowers, fruit, and symbolical designs, all in the most beautiful workmanship. She made many presents of embroidered trifles among her favourites. Her unfortunate cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, was a beautiful worker, and during her long imprisonments embroidered a set of hangings for the LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. 85 bare walls of her chill prison chamber. It is very touching to remember that she sought to soften her kinswoman's heart by little gifts of her own work. The Embroiderers' Company was incorporated in the reign of Elizabeth (1561). It must have enjoyed considerable prosperity, as, beside the wardens and keepers, the livery consisted of 115 members. It is still in existence as a London guild, and its hall is in Gutter-lane. A very curious history is attached to a vestment, probably a chasuble. The old Countess of Salisbury, mother of Cardinal Pole, was beheaded by her kinsman Henry VIII., at the age of 70, on the evidence of an embroidered vestment. The only evidence against her was a white silk chasuble found in her wardrobe, embroidered in front with the arms of England, surrounded with a wreath of pansies and marigolds, and on the back the representation of the Host with the five wounds of our Lord, and the name " Jesus" in the midst. The peers considered this a treasonable ensign, and on this evidence she was attainted of high treason, and beheaded without the privilege of being heard in her own defence. It has been suggested that the armorial shields embroidered on old liturgical garments have a value of more than ordinary interest: "They not only recall the great names of history, but may serve to unravel an entangled point before a law tribunal, or furnish the lost link in a broken pedigree." Philip Stubbs, in his "Anatomy of Abuses" at the close of the sixteenth century, speaks of the great ruffs worn in England at that period, which he tells us were made of " cambric, holland, lawne, and the finest cloth that can be got anywhere for money were not good enough, they had them wrought over with silk work, and peradventure laced with gold and silver." Then, speaking of the costly hose or breeches worn in 86 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. England, he says : " Then they have hosen, which as they be of divers fashions, so are they of sundrie names : the Venetian hosen reach beneath the knees to the gartering place of the leg, then they are tied finely with silken points and laid on also with rows or gardes. And yet this is not sufficient except that they be made of silk velvet, satin, damask, and other Purse, Embroidered with the Tudor Rose. precious stuffs, besides they have also boot-hose which are to be wondered at." The shoes throughout the whole of the Middle Ages were a very important and costly part of the dress of a knight or his lady. ■ LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. 87 The effigy of Henry III. at Westminster is remarkable for the splendour of its shoes. They are diapered with golden inter- lacements, each square containing the figure of a lion. Cardinal Wolsey's shoes were sumptuously embroidered with gold. Sir Walter Raleigh went to Court in shoes covered with jewels in value ^6000. The well-known story of Queen Elizabeth and Raleigh at Greenwich may probably have arisen on account of the beautiful and costly shoes which were worn by the Queen on this occasion. Some specimens of embroidery of extreme and unique interest were exhibited in "The Tudor Exhibition." Among them was a purse embroi- dered with the Tudor rose. This purse has worked round the top band, in black letters on a pale yellow ground, the motto, " Money maketh mirth when it is plenty, but small is the mirth when the purse is empty." It is ornamented with three flowers, all worked in tapestry stitch. The centre one, a rose, is in shades of pink, with a centre of gold braid, all edged with a narrow rim of black, the leaves and stalks pale yellow ; in the case of the leaves there is a little green near the centre. The two side flowers are pale yellow, with black veinings, the turnovers of the petals are purple, and the centres gold braid ; the two lower petals in each of these flowers are purple, with pale yellow turnovers. Embroidered Dress, worn by Queen Catherine Parr. 88 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. The leaves issuing from the sides of the flowers are in every case dark green. The two pieces of flowers at the top are purple and pale yellow, the cords and tassels pale yellow, with a strand of darker colour running throughout, the tassels matching, and the loops at the bottom are of gold thread. The ground- work is worked in silver thread. Another interesting example is part of a dress worn by Queen Catherine Parr. The material is white cambric, with stripes of buff colour, and along the stripes is a repeating Satin Embroidered Skull Cap, left at Ashbridge. pattern of pansies and leaves worked in very minute chain stitch. The bars between each pansy group, and the little bunch of three leaves next to it, are made of a plain silver band sewn down, and the borderings of the stripes are of a similar but larger silver band sewn down in the same way. Among the relics of Queen Elizabeth is an embroidered skull cap — a white satin cap left with other things by her at Ashbridge. It is divided by rows of silver braid into six compartments, of LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. 89 which only three can be seen in the illustration. The panel on the right is ornamented with a large flower, worked in yellow silk, with a yellow and red centre, the leaves being of various shades of green, and the stalks pale brown, the whole design edged with a thin silver braid, and the petals of the flowers and the chief veins of the leaves being marked in the same way. The centre panel is worked in an entirely different manner — namely, with a thick and somewhat cumbersome twist of Queen Elizabeth's Coronation Ruffle. coloured silk, which has a spiral of silver gimp twisted loosely round it, the whole being used as one thread. The design represents a sort of tree, in dark green, bearing red fruits. The left panel is similar in manner of treatment to that on the right, the flowers in this case being in shades of blue and the leaves pale green, edged in the same way with a narrow silver braid. The ruffle worn by Queen Elizabeth at her coronation is made of satin, richly embroidered with pearls and gold and N 9 o OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. silver thread, the panels having alternately an arabesque design and one apparently of a pelican. At the wrist is a broad band of silver thread or braid, dotted with oblong spangles, and in various corners are little sprays like heron's feathers, worked in white silk. A purse worked by Queen Elizabeth is of exceptional inte- rest. Among the many pieces of work credited to Queen Elizabeth, particular notice should be taken of this purse, as the work is of a very excel- lent quality. The body of the purse is blue silk knitted, and the two ends are worked with gold and silver thread. The lower end of the purse is a pattern of silver bars with gold interstices, and at the points of junction a square worked in blue silk in buttonhole stitch ; the tassel, of silk, has each of its strands bound at the end with a curi- ous little tie of silver thread. The beautiful embroidered purse in our illustration was presented by Queen Elizabeth to one of her Maids of Honour. The purse is made of white satin, very delicately and effectively embroidered, chiefly in feather stitch, with a design of conventional flowers and ara- besques. The two upper circular flowers are shaded in pink, Purse worked by Queen Elizabeth. LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. 9 1 the darkest colour beingr outermost. The two nearer the centre are yellow in the same manner. The two flowers in the lower corners have the two upper petals pink, and the three lower ones blue, also shaded darker towards the outer edges. The leaves Embroidered Purse, presented by Queen Elizabeth to one of her Maids of Honour. and stalks throughout are green ; in the case of the leaves being darkest towards the outer edges, and having also veins in green. Of the other flowers, two in the upper half of the purse are in shades of blue, and the two large irregular blossoms N 2 9 2 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. in the lower half are worked in a mixture of ways, partly in French knots, partly with purl, and partly in feather stitch, the colour generally dark, with spots of red and brighter colours. Purl and gimp are also used in the scrolls that occur here and there, and the cords are twisted strands of pale red, white, and blue silk, with tassels to match. The purse is in a beautiful state of preservation. A slipper of Catherine de Berain, ward of Queen Elizabeth, and wife of Sir Richard Clough, is worked in several different styles on white satin. The centre tulip is in feather stitch, graduated in various shades of blue, from almost white to a deep colour, the whole being edged with a twisted gold wire. The purl loops inside the centre circlet, which is made with a thick twisted gold cord, edged with a finer one, are alternately red and blue. The tulips, also in feather stitch, at the sides and at the bot- tom are of graduated shades of pink, with green calices ; and the two lower roses, all worked in purl, are blue, darkest at their edges. The four similar roses on the upper part of the slipper are in shades of red, with pale green centres. The birds are brown, with red wings, having a touch of blue at the point nearest the head ; and the feather stitch flower in the centre of the top band is shaded in pink, and has a green calyx. The clouds Slipper of Catherine de Berain. LANCASTRIAN AND TUDOR WORK. 93 are blue silk, sewn over with gold threads, and the ground under the birds is green silk, also sewn over with gold threads, and that at the extreme toe of the slipper is brown. The lining is red silk. The entire work is in fair condition, though the thick gold braid has gone in places — doubtless saving the finer work below it. There is also a good deal of gold guimp used in the various scrolls about the design. Among the other interesting specimens of Tudor work is a beau- tiful gauntlet of the time of Elizabeth, embroidered with gold thread, flat strips of gold laid on, gold guimp, and spangles. The edging, which is very rich and effective, is worked entirely in gold thread. Elizabethan Chatelaine in Beadwork. Gauntlet (Temp. Elizabeth). Also an Elizabethan chatelaine in bead work. The upper portion of the chatelaine is in the shape of a truncated pyramid, a lady with a dog and a bird being embroidered on it in coloured beads ; from this depend five pendants of bead work, the centre one being the largest, and having as its end a metal attachment with a ring, the ends of the other four being 94 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. finished with small yellow bead circlets. The groundwork of the whole is of a pale yellow, with brighter yellow edges. The lady's dress is red and blue, and the large centre flower yellow, with blue buds and green leaves and stalks. Cap, embroidered with coloured silks in " point " lace stitches, and gold wire and spangles. (English, 16th Century.) Book of Common Prayer, belonging to Her Majesty the Queen. (See page III.) CHAPTER XI. EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP. By far the most curious work of which we have perfect and well-preserved examples is the "Stump Work" of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The nuns of Little Gidding were said to have introduced it into England, or at any rate to have prac- tised it extensively. The motive was copied from the Italian cinque-cento work, and in the relief given to the figures and certain parts of the composition there was a distinct suggestion of the beautiful Opus Anglicanum of our remoter ancestors. The relief given to the figures was obtained by padding the raised portions with cotton wool or hair, and embroidering on the stamp, or stump, thus throwing out the figures a good height above the grounding. In ecclesiastical work, in the early years of Henry VIII. 's reign, great splendour of effect was obtained by the simple process of stuffing the parts of the canopies with wool so as to make them stand out in high relief. The canopy details often mark the date, and are worthy of careful examination. A very frequent device at this period (first half sixteenth century) was the rutilans rasa, the favourite badge of Edward IV., as used on his " rose nobles." The figures and ornaments were worked on linen tightly stretched on a small frame ; when completed they were backed with paper to prevent the edges fraying, and sewn on [applique) to the ground. Sometimes the figures consisted of several g6 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. thicknesses of linen, the ground being worked with silk, and the figures applique, thus gaining greater richness of effect by the added thickness. A great variety of effect was obtained by the different arrangement of the stitches used for the gold threads in the diapers of the backgrounds and other decora- tive details. The gold thread used was made by twisting a thin ribbon of gold or silver gilt round a silk thread. The spangles, which were not always round, but bits of shaped metal sewn on, were usually of gold. These being often slightly rounded, gave greater richness of effect by the way in which they caught the light and concealed the thinness of the metal. A further development of this style of raised work took place later on, after the Reformation, when it ceased to be of a purely ecclesiastical character. Scripture subjects were still employed, but they were mixed up in an extraordinary way — historical personages and contemporary events. A building of the period often served as a background for such subjects as the meeting of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Esther and Ahasuerus, and the figures were clothed in the prevailing fashion, and wore ornaments of seed pearls. The most astonish- ing grouping of subjects, and the strangest conceits prevailed in this new work that followed so closely upon the old Gothic conventional style that went out, quite out, at the Reformation. There was a distinct avoidance of all ecclesiastical emblems and saintly legends — of everything connected with the old superstition. Characters from Scripture history were introduced, but to make everything quite safe, and to disconnect them with the old associations, they were carefully habited in the costume then in vogue- — the very latest fashions, indeed — and placed amid modern surroundings. Thus, Jael inviting Sisera into her tent is clothed in a rich dress of netted work, opening in front revealing an underskirt, while her sleeves and ruffles are worked EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP. 97 in needle point lace stitches; seed pearl ornaments on her hair and bosom. Sisera also wears pearls at his side. The draperies of the figures and the curtains of the tents (there are generally tents in these designs) are of twisted coloured silks worked over canvas, both sides alike, or of netted silk, and are quite separate from the foundation, and allow the figure or the interior of the tent to be seen under. The figures are stuffed with cotton wool, and raised in high relief, and dressed, and the uncovered parts embroidered over the padding. The faces and hands are worked in satin stitch or painted on satin, the hair and wigs in complicated knotting or purl. The business of the hair is done with little locks of auburn-coloured silk. Often historical or Arcadian subjects were chosen, and allegories abound ; they were generally worked or applique on a white satin ground, and framed as medallions, with elaborate borders of gold and silver wire gimps raised in high relief. Sometimes narrow strips of parchment covered with coloured silks were used, and fastened on in loops alternating with the loops of gold-twisted wire, thus forming a most effective frame. The foliage of the trees and the banks of moss were very skil- fully managed with an elaborate arrangement of knotted silk. The borders of this quaint work were very characteristic. Every variety of animal and insect of quite capricious dimen- sions — lions, leopards, stags, squirrels, hares, birds, butterflies, caterpillars, snails — all occur in heterogeneous confusion, amid figures and great conventional flowers, all raised more or less from the surface. The various raised details of the insects, the wings of the butterflies, the leaves and petals of the flowers were made separately and applied. They are worked in needle-point lace stitch, outlined with wire to give them the required form, and O 9§ OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. are quite disengaged from the ground. Infinite trouble and ingenuity were exercised upon the minutest details of this very curious work, and the crudeness of the designs is atoned for by the extreme beauty of the technique. The boldness of the style especially fitted it for such decorative uses as frames of mirrors, book covers, caskets, and toilet glasses. Nell Gwynn's mirror is a well-known example, and the effect of the padded figures is heightened by such accessories as moulded wax and beads. Several book covers of this work are preserved as having been Royal gifts to some Court favourite. They are usually of white satin, with the Royal arms done in very bold raised embroidery. There is a folio Bible covered in this way at Ham House. Sometimes they were embroidered with emblematic subjects in gold and silver, the ornaments of the figures being seed pearls. The best example of this quaint old work, the only example, indeed, that can claim any artistic merit, is the Durham cope ; this was presented by Charles I. to the Chapter of Durham. The ground is of red silk, sprinkled with bodiless angels' heads, crowned with rays, and borne up by wings. Upon the hood is represented David holding in one hand the severed head of Goliath. The whole of the work is done in highly raised embroidery. A workbox in the possession of Lady Charlotte Schreiber is an excellent example of this very curious old work. Some illustrations of it appeared in the Queen of Feb. 7, 1891, which we are allowed to reproduce, with the careful and interesting description accompanying it. " The very handsome workbox belonging to Lady Charlotte .Schreiber is just saved from being extreme in the matter of over-elaboration, for almost immediately after the date of its production, namely, 1677, the raised figures became mere dolls, o EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP. 99 and all taste and regard for beauty of design were lost in the endeavour to make the actual workmanship exaggerated in every possible way. " Even here the faces and hands of the figures are carved in wood and worked over with long stitches, the King's curtains are real lace, and the various bows, loops, and strings on the sleeves, shoes, and at the necks and waists of the little ladies and gentlemen are all of real braid. But, with the exception of a few eccentricities of this kind, the work is good and delicate, and the designs most quaint. The use of purl in many of the flowers, and in the houses at each end of the box, is varied and effective. " The box is remarkable for having one or more figures on every panel, as they must have been most troublesome to exe- cute ; and it is also verv noteworthv that the name of the worker — 'Ann Greenhill, March the 21, 1677' — is embroidered on the front of one of the drawers inside. It is fitted up as a workbox, and the divisions and drawers are all worked over with silk threads kept very long. " The colours generally are much faded, but enough is left to show what they originally were ; and several parts are damaged by time and wear. In the drawings these defects are supplied. The entire box, top and sides, is edged with a broad border of tortoiseshell, the rich colouring of which forms a most effective frame for the delicate handiwork within. ' The greater part of the work is in buttonhole or lace stitch, generally applied over a thickly-padded groundwork, but sometimes used alone, as in the petals of the rose on the lid, and in the tulip, carnation, and butterfly on the front. ' The front opens with two doors, adorned with a little lady and gentleman. The lady wears a bodice of white satin embroi- dered with a flower in blue and green, a pink skirt and sleeves, O 2 IOO OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. and blue petticoat. Blue bows of narrow braid are at her neck, on the sleeves and shoes, and in her hair, and she has a white openwork collar. On the same panel are a white carnation, a white and yellow butterfly, and a tree. The cushion is blue with a yellow edge. The gentleman wears white with pink braid bows on his shoes ; a yellow and white tulip, a brown stag, and a tree are on the same panel. The mat, or carpet, is black and white. Along the top there is a blue bird, a brown rabbit, and a green parrot with red wings, and various leaves and flowers. "The lid has a design apparently representing King Charles II. and his queen, Catherine of Braganza, with a page supporting her train. The King stands under a canopy of striped yellow and white silk, supported by two pillars, and having curtains and a 'cornice' of green, pink, and yellow lace. The steps of the alcove are white, worked over with yellow silk, and flanked by two lions couchant. The back is hung with a white curtain, bearing a design in colours of fleur-de-lis. The king wears his crown and a large wig, white lace bands and deep collar ; his red and white striped cloak is lined with feathers, probably representing ermine, and his dress is a pale brown. The bows at his knee and in the white shoes are green and white braid, and the cushion between his feet dark green. The Queen is also crowned, and wears an elaborate white satin dress, embroi- dered in feather stitch with flowers and leaves, she has loops and bows of pink braid at her neck, and on her sleeves ; her train is white, worked in open ovals with a yellow edge, and the collar white lace. The page has a blue coat trimmed with yellow braid. The Royal emblems of the rose and the thistle are worked in their proper colours, except that the rose seems to have been white with a red edge ; but this may be faded. The castle is in blue and grey silk, with a blue door. " The back of the box has in the lower panel a fountain o m •— . o *S o CO o K CQ EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP. IOl with two basins, the upper one pale yellow, the lower one coloured purl. The centre column is yellow satin, covered with open white lace, the top white and blue in lace stitch. The lions' heads are yellow, and the water worked in wavy lines of blue and white silk. On the right of the fountain is a sportsman in grey, with a blue hawk on his wrist, at his neck and shoulder blue bows, on the left is a lady in a blue striped dress, and white petticoat spotted with black ; she has pale pink ribbons in her hair, at her neck, and on her sleeves. Next to her is a tree in French knots, with a little brown monkey at its base, and on the opposite side another in coloured purl. On the top panel is a spirited design of a white greyhound chasing a brown rabbit, a butterfly and thistle at either end worked in many- coloured purl, and in the centre a group of strawberries in purl and lace stitch. "The side panel to the right has a lady dressed in white, with pale green bows, holding a flower in her hand ; she is accompanied by a brown dog, with a yellow collar. The house is all worked in purl of different colours, and the oak tree, of natural colours, in purl lace stitch, and a thin metal thread for the stem ; the large pink flower is worked in lace stitch and purl. The caterpillar is all coloured purl. At the top is a floral design in purl, and a brown squirrel in the centre, with a chenille tail. " The side panel opposite shows a lady in a very elaborate dress of many colours, wearing a white petticoat, with yellow braid on the bodice, sleeves, waist, and neck ; she is an old lady, which is uncommon in work of this kind. The house is of many coloured purl, and the oak tree is made with French knots. The top panel has in the centre a grey rabbit in lace stitch, at one end a snail and at the other a bee, and between them sprays of flowers, all in coloured purl. 102 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. "The box is 13^ inches long by 11 inches broad, and the depth 7^ inches." Seed pearls and beads were introduced extensively into needlework at this time. Indeed, frames of mirrors and pictures were worked entirely in coloured beads, representing birds, animals, flowers, and insects in their natural colours as effectively as in the later cross stitch German work. We are all familiar with the specimens of Queen Elizabeth's bead work. A purse belong- ing to Charles I., worked with beads, was in the possession of General Elphinstone. It is inscribed in capital letters " TH GUIFT OF A FRIEND. 1623." Purses, or gipcieres, were from quite an early time adorned with the most dainty needlework, generally with some device emblematic or associated with the wearer (they were worn outside the dress like a pocket), with a little tender device of the worker's beneath — a true-lovers' knot, or a pair of turtle doves. Doubtless, love gifts took this particular and graceful turn when the lac d" 1 amour was superseded. Letter gifts covered with white satin and spangles often occur about the middle and latter end of the eighteenth century. A pocket-book of this description belonging to Dr. Johnson may be seen in the Lichfield Museum. Miniatures very delicately finished in floss silk, and landscapes in black or coloured silks on white satin are admirable productions of the eighteenth century. Curious old pictures worked in coloured worsted and floss silk were contemporary with the "sampler," with which we are all familiar. They were more ambitious than the sampler, and were certainly more mature efforts. The subjects were generally pastoral ; there was a red brick mansion often to be seen amid the green fields, or in the formal flower garden, and delightful shepherds and shepherdesses in the costumes of the period, and deer and sheep of abnormal dimensions. There was Side Panel. Side Panel. EMBROIDERY ON THE STUMP. 103 no attempt at perspective, and the figures were out of drawing ; but the work and materials were so beautiful, and the design was so charming and inconsequent that they were greatly to be preferred to the realistic Berlin wool pictures that very shortly succeeded them. CHAPTER XII. JACOBEAN WORK. The second half of the seventeenth century was marked by a new departure in the embroiderer's art. Nature was more studied, and conventional treatment began sensibly to decline. Instead of the crude and unnatural figures, we are presented with lovely flowers, graceful foliage, birds, butterflies, insects, delicately and minutely coloured, and worked with infinite patience and skill. Of these beautiful productions many charming examples are preserved as fresh and perfect as when they were first worked. The ground may have fretted away and dropped, but the beau- tiful old stitchery remains, and the colours of the old crewels, if less vivid than of yore, have only grown mellower and more harmonious with the years. The variety of stitches employed by the workers of the seventeenth century was infinite. One piece of work, a coverlet or hanging, often displays every kind of stitch then in existence, and is worthy, if on that account alone, of careful examination. A fashion arose about the last years of Charles I. of work- ing portraits in hair, and many curious examples of these hair miniatures are still in the possession of the descendants of some of his faithful adherents. The unfortunate monarch used to send from his prison locks of his own hair to some of the most devoted of his followers, so that the ladies of that house, while JACOBEAN WORK. I05 working his likeness in coloured silks, might be able to do the head of hair on it with the very hair of the original. Some of these likenesses were shown at a recent exhibition of miniatures, and several are known to exist. There is a very interesting his- torical cushion at South Kensington Museum, said to be worked by a lady enamoured of James I., in which human hair occurs in the embroi- dery. The hearts of the Royal roses, seeded and barbed, are worked in two shades of hair — the one golden- yellow, no doubt the worker's ; the other a sandy shade, probably the King's. The cushion is worked with armorial bearings and love knots, with the initials J.R. crowned with strawberry leaves. On the border beneath is the figure of a female with rolls of the same golden-yellow hair. While upon the subject of em- broidery with human hair, we recall the story from the " Morte d'Arthur." King Ryence of North Wales, who had " discomfited and overcomen eleaven kings," had a rich mantle, bordered round with the beards of these kings " sewn thereon full craftily by female hands," and he insolently sent for King Arthur's beard to complete the pattern. The taste for art needlework, which had languished during the Commonwealth, revived with other kindred arts at the Hanging embroidered in Crewels. (English, 17th Century.) In the posses- sion of Lady Brougham and Vaux. io6 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. Restoration, but the style was wilder and more luxuriant than the early Renaissance it succeeded. Like every other art of that period, it threw off all restraint and indulged in a season of licence. The work was lovelier than ever, and richer in colouring, but the designs were outrageous. There was an absence of all perspective, and the patterns were so large that they must have dwarfed all the other objects in the apartments where they were displayed. There is scarcely an old family or an old manor house in England but has somewhere stored away, in the lumber-room most likely, hangings of this fruitful period Coarse homespun linen was the material usually employed for the ground, and every shade of crewel worsted, not silk, gold, or purl, like the old work, exclusively used for the deco- ration. The prevailing design was a huge conventional tree growing up from a grassy sward, bank, or strip of earth, and bearing every variety of flower and leaf, done in every shade of colour and every variety of stitch. On the bank beneath, primroses and cowslips spring up, and peacocks and deer disport themselves, and tropical birds of gorgeous hues lodge among the branches, and butterflies and insects that would have delighted a naturalist's heart complete the charming, though inconsequent picture. The work is often quite exquisite, and the dainty conceits, however incongruous, more graceful and pleasing than many later examples of higher and more> correct Bed Hangings embroidered in blue- green Crewels. (English, 17th Cen- tury.) In the possession of Lady Broueham and Vaux. A beautiful Curtain, Embroidered with Tropical Flowers and Fruit on Linen in coloured Crewels. (English, 17th Century.) In the possession of Lady Brougham and Vaux. JACOBEAN WORK. 107 art. Evelyn mentions a bed for the Queen of Charles II., the embroidery of which cost ^3000, probably of this elaborate work on a costly ground. This style prevailed through the reigns of the Stuarts to the accession of George I., when heavy, tasteless German patterns were imported with the new dynasty. The taste for embroidery had languished during the reign of William and Mary. William had the national Dutch taste for costly lace, and it is recorded that in the year 1695 his bills for lace reached the sum of ^2460. Some of the items of this account are very curi- ous, as illustrating the prevailing taste and fashion of the day. Lace for six new razor cloths amounted to ^"290, and ^499 was expended on lace for twenty-four new nightshirts, and ^663 for trimming two dozen cravats. Pocket handkerchiefs were costly in these days, and it is inte- resting to learn that "cut work" was employed for their adornment. The sum of ^"488 was expended upon this variety of needlework for one dozen pocket handkerchiefs for the King's use. Queen Mary was more moderate in her expenditure. Her bill for lace for the year 1694 amounted to less than -£2000. There is no mention in these rolls of any large sums expended for embroidery as in P 2 Curtain embroidered with Exotic Birds and Tropical Plants in coloured Crewels. (English, early 1 8th Century.) In the possession of Lady Brougham and Vaux. Io8 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. former reigns, so that we may conclude it no longer enjoyed Royal favour. If no longer patronised by Royalty it was still extensively practised by ladies of the upper and middle classes for domestic purposes. Charming examples of curtains and bed hangings of the reign of Queen Anne, and the earlier years of the eighteenth century, are still to be met with in old country houses. A better taste prevailed at this period, and the designs became lighter and more flowing. Nature was copied with greater accuracy of detail and truthfulness of colouring. The grotesque and extravagant designs of the earlier reigns almost entirely disappeared, and there was a decided leaning towards natural in the place of conventional treatment. Perhaps the influence of such artists as Chippendale and Adams may have had something to do with this change. The designs of the beautiful mantelpieces and woodwork of Adams, and the lovely carved furniture of Chippendale, with its exquisite perfection of detail and graceful lines, could not help effecting a revolution in public taste. The dainty chairs and couches had to be covered with a correspondingly beautiful material, and the windows had to be hung with curtains to suit the delicate and elaborate design of the decoration and furniture of the room. Nothing crude, or harsh, or glaring would harmonize with the chaste and elegant creations of these great artists. Quite naturally, from their examples, and through their influ- ence, a new style arose which, for want of a better name, we call Queen Anne. It prevailed during the reigns of the earlier Georges, but it had nothing in common with them. It was not Hanoverian ; it was Jacobean from first to last. The favou- rite emblem in nearly all this old work is the emblem of the Stuarts — the carnation. It is met with in so many examples ; JACOBEAN WORK. 109 generally in beautiful detached flowers of many colours, with its stiff stalk and opening bud (the emblem of the Pretender), or introduced with other flowers and leaves, twisted in and out in a border, or hidden away in a corner. It is always an evidence of the loyalty of the worker. Sometimes in those troubled days, when men even forgot to be chivalrous, women had to suffer for their loyalty. The young girls of Taunton, it is recorded, had to pay ^2000 to the maids of honour of the Queen of James II., the price of a pardon for embroidering a banner for the ill-fated Monmouth. The coverings worked on silk for chairs and couches and footstools at this period were of the utmost perfection of needle- work, and of graceful and appropriate design. Fortunately many of these delightful specimens remain to us, and are not the least treasured of our heirlooms. The hangings have not fared so well; possibly the sun has affected them, and the ground- work has fallen to pieces, and the colours faded. They still add an indescribable grace to an old room, and bring back to us, as nothing else will bring back, " the faded light of a day that is dead." When the Puritan ladies sailed from England with their husbands and brothers in the Mayflower, in 1620, they took the beautiful art they had learned and practised in England with them. Let us hope it was a solace to them in their self-enforced exile, and amid the many hardships they endured so bravely. It took root and sprang up as all the other arts they took with them sprang up and flourished in that virgin soil. Care- fully preserved specimens of the loving patient labour of those old workers may still be seen in many New England households, where the traditions of the past are held as dear as the stirring interests of to-day. America has its own school of art embroidery; it has a mixed IIO OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. nationality, bizarre, and full of quaint effects and surprises, but underlying these are the old methods the pilgrim settlers brought with them from the old country in the Mayflower. The embroidery of the ladies of New England until the present century, was identical with the work of their sisters in this country ; probably there was an interchange of patterns. They would not be likely all at once to drop their connection with the old country. They were endeared to it still by so many ties, and though centuries have passed, and the brave, patient workers are dead, their descendants, the American women of to-day, are not only allied to us by a common faith, and a common language, but they are fellow needlewomen, and share with us our history and our traditions. Tambour work on fine cambric or muslin was practised exten- sively both in England and America in the reign of Queen Anne — Indian dimity patterns chiefly. The muslin was often cut and drawn, and worked in lace stitches in the interstices, in addition to the beautiful tambour needlework. A great deal of this lovely old work of our quite recent ancestors is still in existence. With the House of Hanover, a heavy kind of embroidery in gold and silver was introduced from Germany, a kind of stiff Anglo-German Louis Quatorze. Still, it was not without a certain effect of richness and magnificence, and was suited to the decoration of coronation robes, beds of state, and hangings for occasions of ceremony. White satin was sometimes used for a groundwork, and some embroidered dresses and waistcoats of the time of the Georges, embroidered in gold and coloured silks, are well worthy our careful study and admiration. In the recent exhibition of the Burlington Fine Arts Club (1891) were some beautiful examples of embroidered book covers, mostly English examples, bookbinding in needlework being almost exclusively an English art. Among them was a Bible printed JACOBEAN WORK. I I I in Cambridge in 1638, covered in crimson velvet, with the cover on either side embroidered in gold and silver thread and coloured silks, with the arms and initials of Charles I., and with Tudor Psalms and New Testament. Lent by Mr. Alfred Huth. (See p. 113.) roses in the corners. A Book of Common Prayer, of which we give an illustration, was lent by Her Majesty the Queen. " It was printed in London in 1638, and is covered in blue velvet, each cover having the badge and initials of Charles I 12 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. Prince of Wales, afterwards King Charles I., embroidered on it in silver thread. The crown and motto, both on blue satin, and ostrich plumes are all highly raised, and so is the very Psalms and New Testament. Lent by the Rev. K. F. Gibbs. (See p. 113.) handsome arabesque border. The jewels on the two coronets are worked in coloured silks; but, with this exception, all the work is done in metal threads. JACOBEAN WORK. 113 "On the double book (lent by Alfred Huth, Esq.), covered in white satin, the embroidery is particularly simple and effective. On both sides, in the middle, is worked a yellow and blue iris, in delicate feather stitch, the three yellow petals delicately shading into red on the centre veins, and the two upper blue petals shading into a darker blue. The flower is inclosed in an oval of triple silver braid, from the two extremities of which issue two graceful scrolls, padded and worked over with flat silver gimp. The spaces and corners are filled with small pieces of silver gimp, sewn on sometimes singly and sometimes double." Another interesting example is a little double book containing the Psalms and New Testament, printed in London in 1629-30. " It is covered in white satin, and adorned with a simple but very effective pattern worked in braid and purl roses, blue at the edges and yellow at the centre. The edges of this book are gauffred with a delicate pattern of interlacing semicircles. It is lent by the Rev. K. F. Gibbs. These little double books had originally silk wrapping cords, but these are now rarely found intact. " All the drawings are of the same size as the original books, some missing and frayed parts having been restored." The sacred flame of art had by no means died out at the beginning of the present century. It was not even flickering. It had changed with the times, but it was not, as many would have us believe, by any means extinguished. Witness the lovely delicate old work in silk and chenille of the time of Queen Charlotte. Every old family has some treasured example of it worked by hands long ago mouldered into dust. Not very ambitious examples were screens and chair covers, but exqui- sitely worked in delightful old-fashioned patterns, with vases, or baskets of flowers, and true-lovers' knots, like the pictures of the old Dutch artists. Q 114 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. A fashion sprang up about the middle of the last century of copying pictures by well-known artists in worsteds ; fortunately it was short lived, though Miss Linwood's productions were excellent. The very beautiful bed we have before mentioned was worked about this time for Queen Charlotte, which is a good example of the art of the mid-Georgian period. It is embroidered in crewels and silk on purple satin, and may be seen at Hampton Court. How interesting are all these faded records ! Embroidery is a landmark in our national history. It is not only as an object of affectionate interest that we value it, not only for the sake of the dear hands that worked it, but as preserving to us some- what of the grace and fashion of a day long dead, bridging over the long intervals of the centuries, and bringing us within touch of a more pious and painstaking age. It enables us to pierce the obscurity of history, and, looking backward through the years, see the manners and occupations of our ancestors. The needle has been the comfort and consolation of English women from the earliest times, from the bone needle found in the dwellings of the Neolithic Cave-man before the last glacial period in Britain, to the present day, and it will still be a solace and a delight as long as the world lasts. CHAPTER XIII. SYMBOLISM IN MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERY. " Nothing walks with aimless feet." Symbolism from the earliest time lent its peculiar charm and significance to the embroiderer's art. The most ancient examples that are preserved to us, or of which we have any record, are distinctly symbolical. What metaphor or figurative speech is to the understanding, a symbol is to the eye, bringing vividly to the mind some other object than itself of which it is the type. Holy Writ is full of symbolism, from the bow of promise in the Pentateuch to the last chapter of the Apocalypse. The brazen serpent of the wilderness journey, the stones worn by Aaron, the priestly garments, the coverings of the tabernacle, the visions of the prophets, the inspired songs of the Psalmist, the wisdom of the Sage, the divine metaphors of the New Testa- ment, form one long roll through the world's history of the sublimest allegory. In the early years of the Christian Church, St. Basil and St. Ambrose (in the fourth century) wrote elaborate treatises on symbolism, and it continued to be a favourite study with the laity as well as the clergy until the Reformation. It is interesting to notice that the " gammadion " is one of the earliest symbols met with on heathen productions. The first example of this is on a web of the Pharaonic period. A tradition is handed down by the Rabbins that the mark the 9 2 Il6 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. Israelites made upon their doorposts with the blood of the sacrificial lamb was fashioned like the letter Tau in its olden form — that is, in the shape of a cross. The Egyptians, after that eventful night of lamentation and woe, beholding the bloody Tau on the doorposts of the Hebrews who had gone scathless, regarded it as the secret of their deliverance. Henceforth a Tau was regarded as a symbol of health and safety, of happiness and future life. It is mentioned by Rufinus (a.D. 397), and again by Socrates (440). On demolishing a temple at Alexandria dedicated to Serapis, several stones were found which showed the figure of a cross. It occurs on the tunic of a grave-digger in the catacombs, and is frequently found on Christian monuments in Egvpt. The old Tau had several modifications. In the Greek alphabet the capital letter of gamma takes the shape of a right angle ; four of these gammas fall into the shape of the Greek cross, and it was in this form that it was used in mediaeval embroidery. Sometimes only a single gamma occurs, the part being always significant of the whole. Its ancient signification was widened by Christianity, and embraced, besides the emblem of a " future life," the completer doctrine of the atonement. It set forth also Christ as our corner-stone ; it was thus often shown at an edge of the tunic of the apostles in most early ecclesiastical work. It occurs on the mitre of St. Thomas at Sens, on many mediaeval monuments, and very frequently in Anglo-Saxon work. It was also regarded as a memorial of Our Lord's five wounds, the stigmata in the hands and feet of St. Thomas of Assisi, and was adopted as a device by those who bore his name. The ensign of the Isle of Man is another form of it. The early Christians, with their minds full of the death and resurrection of their Lord, saw emblems of His cross and passion in everything around them. The wings of birds flying in the air, SYMBOLISM IN MEDIEVAL EMBROIDERY. I 1 7 the boughs of forest trees, the diverging roads on a highway, even in the masts of ships on the sea they saw the sacred image that was ever in their minds. There were many forms and varieties of the Cross, with all of which we are well acquainted. Five red marks or jewels are sometimes seen on the extremities and centre of the cross, these are emblems of the five sacred wounds. The Greek cross, with its four equal members, signify the blessings which the great sacrifice extends equally over the four quarters of the globe. The three steps of the Latin cross typify the triple foundation of Faith, Hope, and Charity — Charity being the lowest and widest, the foundation of all Christian virtues. The cross saltire is usually an emblem of martyrdom. The cross with the arms breaking into leaf and blossom are symbolical of its triumph over sin and persecution. Sometimes it is shown spreading, like a goodly tree, for the shelter and protection of the Church. The cross is always the symbol of Christ, though sometimes He is represented under the figure of a lamb. This, indeed, is the earliest figure we meet with in the catacombs. The Good Shepherd bearing a lamb on His shoulders, or surrounded by His sheep, was a very favourite symbol in the early ages of the Church. Sometimes the lamb only is depicted, invested with a nimbus, and bearing a cross, or a small banner, symbolical of Christ's victory over death and hell. The vine is also a symbol of our Lord ; a bunch of grapes typifies His death and passion — the giving of His body and blood for man. The earliest figure used for expressing the Deity, God the Father, was a hand issuing from the clouds of heaven. This was alone used up to the ninth century to indicate the Deity. The hand is frequently grasping some object, but some- Il8 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. times it is open, with rays of light issuing between the fingers, symbolic of Divine grace bestowed on man. It is most often represented in the act of blessing, and it is occasionally, but not always, surrounded by a nimbus. The Holy Ghost, until the twelfth century, was symbolised by a dove. Sometimes seven doves are depicted, representing the Seven Spirits of God — the seven gifts of the Spirit. Seven lamps have also the same signification. The triangle is the distinct symbol of the Trinity. Some- times the trefoil, or shamrock, bears also the same significance. It was not used until the tenth century. Two triangles inter- secting each other are sometimes used to express the infinity of the Trinity. Three open circles, or rings, entwined have also the same symbolic meaning. The nimbus was adopted by early Christian artists to express divinity or deification, or as a peculiar proof of holiness. The nimbus, unlike the crown, is represented like a disc or plate behind the head until the fifteenth century. After that time it appeared only as a ring or circlet hovering over the head. In the seventeenth century it disappeared altogether. Early examples of Christian art may be approximately dated by observing these hints. There are several varieties of the nimbus. The nimbus of the three Persons of the Deity is usually a circular disc with three rays issuing from its centre. The nimbus of the Holy Spirit is sometimes a plain triangle ; of the Virgin, is circular and nearly always elaborately ornamented, but it is not tri- radiated. The nimbi of Apostles, Saints, and Martyrs are circular, and more or less ornamented. The pomegranate is introduced very frequently into old work, generally as a border of a design. When burst open and the seeds displayed it is an emblem of the future life, and of hope in immortality. SYMBOLISM IN MEDI/EVAL EMBROIDERY. I 19 The palm is generally accepted as the symbol of martyrdom. The sword is also a symbol of violent death and suffering mar- tyrdom for Christ. Arrows, too, are emblematic of suffering and pain for the truth's sake ; and a crown is the symbol of sovereignty, victory, triumph, and the glory and reward of martyrdom. A circle is the emblem of eternity. A square, an emblem of the earth and earthly life ; it is used sometimes as a nimbus for living persons. The anchor is one of the earliest symbols used in Christian art ; it is found frequently in the catacombs ; it is the emblem of hope, endurance, and patience. A heart, besides being the emblem of charity, is also symbolical of love and devotion ; if depicted pierced with arrows it is an emblem of penitence and contrition, and sometimes remorse ; if with flames issuing out of it, it is emblematic of fervent zeal for Christ. A dove is the emblem of love, innocence, meekness, purity. If with an olive branch in its mouth, of peace ; if with a nimbus, it is the symbol of the Holy Ghost. A banner is a sign of triumph over death and persecution. An open book is a symbol of perfect knowledge ; if in the hands of a saint, it signifies that he was a teacher of the truths of the Gospel; a closed roll signifies partial or imperfect knowledge. A lamp burning symbolises wisdom and piety. An escalop shell is the emblem of a pilgrim ; a scourge of self-mortification and penance. A pig was emblematic of the pollution of the world through sin. A dragon was the symbol of the Evil Spirit, who is also represented as a serpent. Sometimes, indeed, Satan takes the form of an ape. Apes are also emblematic of sin, lust, and cunning. v 120 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. An apple is symbolical of the fall of man ; it also represents original sin. Baptism is represented under the figure of a fish ; sometimes three fishes in the form of a triangle, the type of the Trinity. A pelican symbolises the blood-shedding of Christ upon the cross ; it is generally depicted as shedding its blood for its young, which cluster round it to catch the precious drops. It is also used as a symbol of the resurrection. The lion, the peacock, and the phoenix are also used as emblems of the resurrection. The brazen serpent is an emblem of the Crucifixion, and is often met with in work of the Middle Ages. The sacrifice of Isaac and the paschal lamb were also symbols of the sacrifice of Christ. The cup is an emblem of the Agony of our Lord in the garden. The sword, the club, the lantern, the ear, the torch, and the thirty pieces of silver are significant of the Betrayal. The basin and ewer (used by Pilate), the rope, the crown of thorns, the nails, the scourge, the purple robe, the reed, the spear, the inscription, the seamless garment, and the three dice that were used in casting lots for it, are emblems of the Crucifixion. An eagle, flying upward is often used as an emblem of the Ascension. The translation of Enoch, and the flight of Elijah in the fiery chariot are also symbolical of our Lord's Ascension. The rose, which appears under many conventional forms, symbolises religious ectasy ; the palm, victory ; the olive, peace ; the vine is an emblem of joy and plenty ; the oak, strength ; the ivy, friendship ; the lotus flower representing the sun. Christian Art accepted the old Pagan forms, but added to them hidden meanings. Every design we meet with on early SYMBOLISM IN MEDIAEVAL EMBROIDERY. 121 examples of decorative Art had an intention and a meaning. Symbolism, which was at the root of all Christian art, gave a religious intention to the humblest design. The key pattern, or wave pattern, that we are so familiar with, symbolises undy- ing force, eternal unrest, continuity — the locking and unlocking suggesting the key of life. Friezes of garlands, an old Pagan ornament, generally connected with sacrifices, represent the joy of Nature, the rejoicing of the fruitful earth. The familiar "egg and tongue" pattern is derived from the lotus, representing the bud and blossom. The wheel pattern is very ancient. The wheels often enclose other subjects. There is also the "daisy' and the "bead" pattern which have come down to us from an unknown age, and are not without intention and " motive." Reptiles and insects, besides birds, and animals, and fishes, had a symbolical meaning. The virtues and vices were com- monly represented by animals. In the Middle Ages The Bestiaria, the symbolism of beasts, exercised the ingenuity of the decorative artists. We meet with them in all kinds of fanciful designs in every department of art. The grinning wide-mouthed heads in our churches, the wyverns and gargoyles on the roofs, the tym- panum over the church doors are instances of this mode of treatment. The tree of life (symbolising probably the tree of life that grew in Paradise), the sacred tree of Zoroaster, is represented as a shrub bearing a series of umbels of seven flowers each ; sometimes it is expressed by the cone-fruit alone, the essential emblem, a plant within a plant. The palm tree carrying a cone in its heart, amid the crown of fronds preserves the original motive. Pomegranates, pineapples, and artichokes have also the same symbolical meaning. R 122 OLD ENGLISH EMBROIDERY. The chrysoclavus, a nail-headed design of coloured discs, was also a Christian symbol. Sometimes it is represented as circles closely touching each other, with the heads of saints inserted, and interstitial ornament between the circles. It also represents the heads of the nails of the Crucifixion. The Varieties of the Cross. Figs, i and 2. The Latin Cross. '6 Fig. 3. The Anticipatory, or Cross of the Old Testament (on which the brazen serpent was lifted up). It is sometimes called the Tau Cross, from its resemblance to the Greek letter T, and in Greek art the Cross of St. Anthony. Fig. 4. The Ecclesiastical Cross, used by Cardinals and Archbishops of the Church of Rome. With three arms (40) by the Pope. Fig. 5. The Greek Cross. Fig. 6. St. Andrew's Cross, termed in heraldy the Cross Saltire. Fig. 7. The Maltese Cross. It was borne by the Knights Templars, and the Knights of St. John. Fig. 8. The Cross Botonee, has the extremities decorated with trefoils. Fig. 9. The Cross Poramee, has the arms terminated by circles. Fig. 10. The Cross Moline, has the extremities of the arms divided into two curves. Fig. 11. The Cross Fleurie, has the arms terminating in triple leaved extremities. Pigs. 12 and 13. The Cross Palonce, are Greek and Latin varieties of the same cross. Fig. 14. The Cross Potent, is formed of four Tau Crosses. Fig. 15. The Cross Potent rebated, seldom occurs except in heraldry. Fig-. 16. 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