8568.
Piece of Gold Tissue, embroidered with the needle; ground, gold; pattern, the Archangel Gabriel, with his head, hands, folds of his dress, and lines in his wings done by needle in different coloured silks. Italian, 14th century. 8-1/2 inches by 5 inches.
This beautiful and rare kind of textile, combined with needlework,
merits the particular attention of those occupied with embroidery. The
loom has done its part well; not so well, however, he or she who had
to fill in the lines, especially the spaces for the hands and head, on which
the features of the face are rather poorly marked.
8569.
Two Portions (joined together) of Gold Tissue; ground, gold; pattern, in various-coloured silks, of birds, beasts, monsters, and foliage. English or French, 13th century. 13 inches by 2 inches.
Among the monsters, we have the usual heraldic ones that so often
occur upon the textiles of that period; but the recurrence of the unmistakable
form of the fleurs-de-lis, though sometimes coloured green,
persuades us that this piece, entirely the produce of the loom, came
from French, very likely Parisian hands, and was wrought for female
use, as a band or fillet to confine the hair about the forehead, just as we
see must have been the fashion in England at the time from the marked
way in which that attire is shown in the illuminations of MSS. and
sepulchral effigies of our Plantagenet epoch. Our countryman, John
Garland, tells us, as we noticed in our Introduction, that women-weavers,
in their time, wove such golden tissues, not only for ecclesiastical,
but secular uses; and these two pieces seem to belong to the
latter class.
8570.
Portion of an Orphrey; ground, crimson silk; pattern, foliage with fruit and flowers in gold. German, 14th century. 9-1/2 inches by 3-3/4 inches.
