and looking on the foliage separating them, all in gold. Sicilian, 14th century. 17 inches by 8-1/2 inches.
The fine and spirited pattern of this piece is now very indistinct,
owing to the bad colour of the ground, which has so much faded, and
the inferior quality of the gold upon the thread.
1303.
Silk Damask; ground, a rose-coloured tint; pattern, in a dull tone of the same, broad strap-work, in reticulations enclosing a circular conventional floriation. Moresco-Spanish, 14th century. 6 inches by 5-1/2 inches.
The tone of the colour has changed from its first brightness, and the
stuff is of a very thin texture.
1304.
Silk and Gold Damask; ground, crimson silk much faded; design, harts collared and flying eagles amid foliage, all in gold. Sicilian, 14th century. 2 feet 8 inches by 1 foot.
In this spirited pattern the running harts in the upper row have
caught one of their hind-legs in the cord tied to their collar, and an
eagle swoops down upon them; in the second row, the same animal
has switched its tail into the last link of the chain fastened to its
collar, and an eagle seems flying at its head, as it screams with gaping
beak. The last use of this specimen of so magnificent a stuff appears
to have been as part of a curtain (with its 15th century poor parti-*coloured
thread fringe) for hanging at the sides of an altar.
1305.
Embroidered Lappet of a Mitre; ground, linen; design, beneath a tall niche, a female in various coloured silks and gold; and under her, within a lower-*headed niche, a male figure after the same style. German, late 14th century. 17-1/2 inches by 3 inches.
