the Phoenix, rising from the flames. out is minutely diapered (in gold ?) very numerous, are worked in various The back-ground throughand the figures, which are coloured silks and gold (?) No. 14.-English work. A.D. 1424. Photographed from a large coloured drawing said to have been executed about two centuries ago, when it is supposed that the original Cope was preserved in the sacristy of St. Peter's, Rome. Within the last few years, however, diligent enquiries have been made in Rome, and no tidings of it have been obtained. The large coloured drawing of it was purchased in 1878 (?) from a Canterbury (bookseller?) by Mr. Joseph Meyer, of Pennant House, Bebington, Cheshire. Hood, very small, triangular, worked with patterns. No Morse, nor Bordure. Orphrey, Italian renaissance style, quite different from the rest of the Cope. Seven circles; in the central one half-length of the Madonna with Holy Child; in each of the other six a half-length figure of St. Peter, St. John the Evangelist, &c. In the intervening spaces some elaborate rococo scroll-work, conventional foliations, &c. Body, three rows of very peculiarly constructed Gothic canopies, thirteen in the lowest row, nine in the middle one, four and a central double one in the top row, groups illustrating the life of Our Lord and of Our Lady. In the spandrels over the lowest row, single figures and groups relating to the Creation, Fall, Expulsion, Cain and Abel, Noah constructing the Ark, &c. In those above the middle row, Angels, Seraphs, &c. No. 15. English Work (?) 13th Century. [Lady Alford, plate 58]. Kept in the Museo Civico, Bologna, Italy. Hood, very small (if any ?). No Morse, nor Bordure, nor Orphrey. Body, two rows of Gothic canopies, twelve in lower, seven in upper row, containing groups of subjects from the New Testament. One compartment has the martyrdom of St. Thomas, of Canterbury. In the spandrels, half-length figures of angels rising from the clouds. Above the lower row of canopies a broad band containing a series of small eight-pointed compartments, in each of which (twenty-one complete, two half) is a head of some sacred personage. Above the upper row is a similar band, with eight complete and two half compartments of same form with heads. No. 16.-English Work (?) 15th Century. Recently destroyed. "Of Pius II." (Bartolomeo Piccolomini, "Eneas Silvius," Pontificate 1458-1464). Now kept in the Palazzo Piccolomini, at the native town of Pius II., Pienza, near Siena. A short paragraph in the St. James's Gazette, of Friday, April 18th, 1884, contains the following: . . . . "The material was gold brocade, covered with wonderful designs carried out in needlework . . . The whole was adorned with pearls and precious stones, the value of which alone was estimated at about £80,000. At his death the Pope bequeathed this vestment to his native town. One night last month the Cope was stolen from the treasury of Pienza; and a few days ago it was discovered in the shop of a dealer in antiquities in Florence, but completely stripped of its pearls and precious stones, and some of its more valuable embroidery. . . . ." A very clear and distinct photograph of the whole Cope has been taken since the robbery, by Cavaliere Lombardi, of Siena, in which there are no traces of damage, except in one place where the work seems to have got worn through, and a rather small patch of quite different material has been put in. Hood, very small, triangular, two sides curved, embroidered with two six-winged seraphs. Morse, embroidered, with foliations. Bordure, a series of alternate interlaced quatrefoils and eight-pointed figures; the former, about seventynine in number, each containing a bird or beast; the latter enclosing various devices. Orphrey, a series of quatrefoils and semi-quatrefoils interlaced, and enclosing a multitude of conventional animals and beautifully executed natural birds of immense variety. Body, three rows of elaborate Gothic canopies -thirteen in the lowest row, nine in the middle row, four and a central double one in the top row. Two intertwined serpents take the place of columns, their heads forming a kind of baseno capitals-in the lowest row. In the two other rows the twists spring from grotesque heads. In the lowest row of compartments are subjects from the lives of St. Margaret and St. Catherine, of Alexandria. In the other rows from the lives of Our Lord and of the Blessed Virgin. In each of the spandrels over the lowest row of arches is an apostle with a scroll inscribed with an article from the Apostles' Creed. In those above the second row are kings and prophets, ancestors of Our Lord, David, Solomon, and others. In the half spandrel at each end of each row is a bird. No. 17.-English Work. Late 14th or early 15th Century. Cut to pieces. Parts made up into Chasuble, Stole, and Maniple, which, with some detached scraps, were formerly kept at Mount St. Mary's College, Eckington, near Chesterfield. Other portions, combined with scraps of which the material and work were quite of a different sort, were made up into an antependium, which was kept at Southgate House, near Barlbro (a few miles from the above named College), the residence of the Bowden family. All the parts, except some which are missing, have been arranged more or less in their original positions, and stitched upon a strong cotton sheeting, the design having been carried out through the vacant spaces in water colour, painted on the sheeting. The whole is now in the possession of the Bowden family at Pleasington, near Blackburn, Lancashire. Hood, missing, except perhaps two small fragments on which are worked half figures of angels issuing horizontally from the clouds, and swinging thuribles; back-ground gold, with diaper pattern. No Morse. Bordure, gold ground, wrought with two alternating scroll patterns of conventional flowering sprigs, divided by sexfoil rosettes in seed-pearls. Orphrey, gold ground, variously diapered with leopards, spread eagles, fleurs-de-lys, trefoils, &c. Eight Gothic canopies or tabernacles of beautiful design, a standing figure, Archbishop, Bishop, Queen, &c., under each canopy. All wrought in various coloured silks with some gold. Body, rich ruby velvet. In his "Textile Fabrics" Dr. Rock has the following"Velvet is a silken textile, the history of which has still to be written. Of the country whence it first came, of the people who were the earliest to hit upon the happy way of weaving it, we know nothing. The oldest piece we remember to have ever seen was in the beautiful crimson Cope, embroidered by English hands in the fourteenth century, now kept at the College of Mount St. Mary, Chesterfield. . . . ." Three rows of graceful and elaborate Gothic canopies, with crockets, finials and numerous cusps, the most prominent of which are tipped with two oak-leaves and an acorn. Twists with oak-leaves, and acorns take the place of pillars. A golden lion recumbent on a flowery green bank, at base, in lowest row. Instead of a capital, a head of a kind of monster, "horned" and "langued." In each compartment is a single standing figure, apostles, male and female saints, but the three double compartments up the centre of the back have the Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, and Christ with the Blessed Virgin Mary seated on the same throne. In the spandrels over the arches in the two lowest rows, angels seated on fald-stool thrones in form of green beasts with golden heads. Each angel bears a seed-pearl star on his lap. Over the double canopy in the top row are two birds which, according to Dr. Rock, are popinjays, and have a mystic meaning. The tracery-work is in gold, the drapery of the figures in gold with some various coloured silks in certain portions. The "monster" heads, acorns, and some other details are in seed-pearls. The design is very ingeniously planned to fit into the semi-circular space, to allow all the details to stand out distinctly, without crowding, from the crimson back-ground, and to secure, as nearly as may be, that each figure shall appear in an upright position when the vestment is worn. A. W. Pugin, the well-known architect, wrote on April 22nd, 1849, after seeing some parts of this Cope-"I have no hesitation in pronouncing it to be the most interesting and beautiful specimen of church embroidery I have ever seen." IN APPENDIX. NOTES ON THE STITCHES EMPLOYED THE BY MARY ELLEN BAGNALL-OAKELEY. As early as the 13th century the various stitches used in embroidery were described by technical names, and in an inventory of the vestments of the Church of St. Paul, London, made in A.D. 1295, we read of Opus plumarium, or feather stitch, which included all flat stitches; Opus pulvinarium, or cushion work, which was like the cross stitch of modern times; Opus consutum, or cut work, which is really an appliqué of one material on another; and Opus pectineum, which is not true embroidery at all, but a woven imitation of it. Beside these there was the celebrated Opus Anglicum, or Broderie Anglaise, which became the glory of English embroiderers. This was done in a kind of chain stitch,1 while in the representation of the human face Lady Marian Alford in her excellent book "Needle-work as Art," calls it split stitch. and many other places, was worked, in circular lines, which gradually fell off into straight, or curved ones, where the outlines of the design required it when finished the worker took a heated iron knob, which was placed under certain parts of the figure, and by this means they became permanently raised. : Some very fine examples of this kind of embroidery are described by Father Clifford; the first of which is the celebrated Steeple Aston Cope, No. 9. No. 9. This is of richly ribbed faded silk; and the figures and foliage are all worked in fine chain stitch. No. 10.-Cope of Boniface VIII. This is considered as English work by Father Clifford, but described by Lady Marian Alford as coarse Italian work. Probably it has been so mixed up with other work, as described under No. 5, that some portions are of each style, while the remainder is German. No. 11. The Daroca Cope is of fine Opus Anglicum, and has the peculiar shrine-work, and twisted columns on the Orphreys, which were used only in our own land. The shape of the panels is also considered to be distinctly English. No. 12-The Sion Cope is a perfect example of this style of embroidery, and the grounding of the quatrefoils is done in a long zig-zag pattern in different colours. The stitch in which the Orphrey is worked is the same we now use under the name of cross stitch (Opus pulvinarium), and of more recent date than the body of the Cope. It contains the arms of Warwick, Castile and Leon, Ferrars, Geneville, Everard, the badge of the Knights Templars, Clifford, Spencer, Lemisi or Lindsey, Le Botiler, Sheldon, Monteney of Essex, Champernoun, England, Tyddeswall, Grandeson, Fitz Alan, Hampden, Percy, Chambowe, Ribbesford, Bygod, Roger de Mortimer, Golbare or Grove, De Bassingburn, and many others not recognised. These coats of arms, being mostly blazoned on lozenge-shaped shields, suggest that possibly they record those of the noble ladies who worked the Orphreys.2 No. 13.-The Cope of St. Sylvester. This is also worked in fine chain stitch, the gold grounding and design are distinctly English, as also are the two Cherubims clothed in peacocks' feathers, which was a way of representing them not usual in other countries. - Rock's " Textiles," p. 275. |