8316.
Piece of Silk Embroidery on green silk ground. The pattern is in branches decorated with glass beads, and gilt spangles, flowers in white and red silk, and leaves in red and yellow. German, middle of 15th century. 6 inches square.
Remarkable for the freedom of its design and beautiful regularity of
its stitches. The thin green sarcenet upon which the embroidery was
originally made is nearly all gone, and scarcely anything like a grounding
is to be seen beside the thick blue canvass, which is backed by a
lining of the same material, but white. Those small opaque white
beads, in all likelihood, came from Venice, where Murano, to this day,
is the great manufactory for Africa of the same sort of ornament.
8317.
Napkin, or Towel, in White Linen Diaper, with patterns woven in blue and brown. German, beginning of the 15th century. 19-1/2 inches by 9 inches.
Though not conspicuous for the richness of its material, this linen
textile is somewhat a curiosity, as such specimens have now become rare;
and it shows how, even in towels, the ornamentation of colour, as well
as the pattern in warp and weft, were attended to in the mediæval
period.
8318.
Piece of Silk Damask, green, with pattern of pomegranates, crowns, and wreaths of flowers. Flemish, middle of 16th century.
The tastefully-arranged design of this silk would seem to have been
a favourite, as we shall again meet it in other specimens, especially at
No. 8332.
