8352.
Piece of Silk Damask, sky-blue and white; pattern, intersecting ribbons with flowers in the spaces. French, late 16th century. 9-3/4 inches by 4-3/4 inches.
A very agreeable specimen of the taste of the period and country, as
well as grateful to the eye for the combination and management of its two
colours in such a way that neither overmatches the other—a beauty
often forgotten by the designers of textiles, but to be found in several
other examples of the mediæval loom in this collection.
8353.
Dalmatic of Yellow Silk, damasked with a pattern of the pomegranate form, in raised velvet, of a lightish green tint. The tissue, Italian, late 15th century; the embroidery and inscriptions, German, late 15th century. 7 feet 8 inches by 4 feet 3 inches.
This fine dalmatic—for the liturgical use of which the reader may
consult the "Church of our Fathers," t. i. p. 375—is rather curious
for the way in which the two very singular tassels hanging on the back
from the shoulders are ornamented. These usual appendages are in
this instance made of remarkably long (15 inches) flakes of white, red,
and deep-brown silken thread, and, instead of silk nobs at the end of
the cords, have large round balls of rock crystal. The orphreys, or
stripes, down both sides, before and behind, are 2-1/2 inches broad, woven
in gold and charged with squares of flower-bearing trees, and inscribed
in blue with "Jhesus," "Maria." The fringes on the two lower
borders of the dalmatic, 3-1/2 inches deep, are alternately red, green,
white, and blue, and those on the sides and around the sleeves are much
narrower. The sleeves themselves from being 18 inches wide at the
shoulder become as narrow as 12 inches towards the wrist. The two
apparels on the upper part, before and behind, are woven in gold, and
measure 16-1/2 inches in length, and 5-1/4 inches in breadth; the one on the back
just under the neck is figured with three golden-grounded squares, the
centre one ornamented with a crimson quatrefoil, barbed, and enclosing
a various-coloured conventional flower; the other two, with a green
