,transcriber's ,note3 ,the ,table of ,contents was added by the ,transcriber4 ,,south ,,kensington ,,museum ,,art ,,handbooks4 ,,edited ,,by ,,william ,,maskell4 ,,no4 #a4--,,textile ,,fabrics4 ,these ,handbooks are reprints of the prefaces or introductions to the large catalogues of the chief divisions of works of art in the ,museum at ,south ,kensington2 arranged and so far abridged as to bring each into a portable shape4 ,the ,lords of the ,committee of ,council on ,education having determined on the publication of them1 the editor trusts that they will meet the purpose intended2 namely1 to be useful1 not alone for the collections at ,south ,kensington but for other collections1 by enabling the public at a trifling cost to understand something of the history and character of the subjects treated of4 ,the authorities referred to by the authors will be found named in the large catalogues2 where are also given detailed descriptions of the very numerous examples in the ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,,textile ,,fabrics4 ,,by ,,the ,,very ,,rev4 ,,daniel ,,rock1 ,d4,d4 ,,with ,,numerous ,,woodcuts4 ,illustration ,published for the ,committee of ,council on ,education ,,by ,,chapman ,,and ,,hall1 #aic1 ,,piccadilly4 #ahgf4 ,,printed ,,by ,,taylor ,,and ,,co41 ,,little ,,queen ,,street1 ,,lincoln',s ,,inn ,,fields4 ,,contents ,page ,,chapter ,i #a ,,chapter ,,ii #g ,,chapter ,,iii #ad ,,chapter ,,iv #bd ,,chapter ,v #ce ,,chapter ,,vi #di ,,chapter ,,vii #gj ,,chapter ,,viii #gh ,,chapter ,,ix #hh ,,chapter ,x #ie ,,chapter ,,xi #ajd ,,index #aac ,,list ,,of ,,woodcuts4 ,page ,indian woman reeling silk #ac ,ladies in fifteenth century spinning and weaving #cd ,mortuary cloth #dd ,silk damask with imitated ,arabic letters #df ,ladies in fourteenth century carding and spinning #dh ,byzantine ,dalmatic #ea ,sicilian silk damask #eg ,florentine silk damask #fb ,part of the ,syon ,cope #hd ,embroidered saddle-cloth #hg ,ancient banner of the city of ,strasburg #ia ,embroidered hangings of a bed #id ,banner of the tapestry workers of ,lyons #ig ,tapestry of the fourteenth century #ih ,the weaver1 in #aegd #ajj ,tapestry of the fifteenth century #ajb ,state gloves of ,louis the thirteenth #aab ,,textiles4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,under its widest acceptation the word 8textile0 means every kind of stuff1 no matter its material1 wrought in the loom4 ,whether1 therefore1 the threads are spun from the produce of the animal1 vegetable1 or mineral kingdom2 whether of sheep's wool1 goats' hair1 camels' wool1 or camels' hair2 whether of flax1 hemp1 mallow1 or the filaments drawn out of the leaves of plants of the lily and asphodel tribes of flowers1 or the fibrous coating about pods1 or cotton2 whether of gold1 silver1 or of any other metal2 the webs from all such materials are textiles4 ,unlike these are other appliances for garment-making in many countries2 and of such materials not the least curious1 if not odd to our ideas1 is paper1 which is so much employed for the purpose by the ,japanese4 ,a careful reference to a map of the world will show us the materials which from the earliest ages the inhabitants of the world had at hand1 in every clime1 for making articles of dress4 ,in all the colder regions the well-furred skins of several families of beasts could1 by the ready help of a thorn for a needle and of the animal's own sinews for thread1 be fashioned after a manner into various kinds of clothing4 ,sheep1 in a primitive period1 were bred for raiment perhaps as much as for food4 ,at first1 the locks of wool torn away from the animal's back by brambles were gathered3 afterwards shearing was thought of and followed in some countries1 while in others the wool was not cut off but plucked by the hand away from the living creature4 ,obtained by either method the fleeces were spun generally by women from the distaff4 ,this very ancient daily work was followed by women among our ,anglo-saxon ancestors of all ranks of life1 from the king's daughter downwards4 ,spinning from a distaff is even now common in many countries on the continent1 particularly so all through ,italy4 ,long ago the name of spindle-tree was given in ,england to the ,euonymus plant1 on account of the good spindles which its wood affords3 and the term 8spinster0 as meaning every unmarried woman even of the gentlest blood is derived from the same occupation4 ,every now and then from the graves in which women of the ,british and succeeding epochs were buried1 are picked up the elaborately ornamented leaden whorls which were fastened at the lower end of their spindles to give them a due weight and steadiness4 ,a curious instance of the use of woollen stuff not woven but plaited1 among the older stock of the ,britons1 was very lately brought to light while cutting through an early ,celtic grave-hill or barrow in ,yorkshire3 the dead body had been wrapped1 as was shown by the few unrotted shreds still cleaving to its bones1 in a woollen shroud of coarse and loose fabric wrought by the plaiting process without a loom4 ,as time passed by it brought the loom1 fashioned after its simplest form1 to the far west1 and its use became general throughout the ,british islands4 ,the art of dyeing soon followed2 and so beautiful were the tints which our ,britons knew how to give to their wools that strangers wondered at and were jealous of their splendour4 ,a strict rule limited the colour of the official dress assigned to each of the three ranks into which the bardic order was distinguished to one simple unbroken shade3 spotless white1 symbolic of sunlight and holiness1 for the druid or priest2 sky-blue1 emblem of peace1 for the bard or poet2 and green1 the livery of the wood and field1 for the teacher of the supposed qualities of herbs and leech-craft4 ,postulants1 again1 asking leave to be admitted into either rank were recognized by the robe barred with stripes of white1 blue1 and green1 which they had to wear during the term of their initiation4 ,with regard to the bulk of the people1 we learn from ,dion ,cassius 7born ,a4 ,d4 #aee7 that the garments worn by them were of a texture wrought in a square pattern of several colours2 and1 speaking of ,boadicea1 the same writer tells us that she usually had on1 under her cloak1 a motley tunic chequered all over with many colours4 ,this garment we are fairly warranted in deeming to have been a native stuff1 woven of worsted after a pattern in tints and design like one or other of the present ,scotch plaids4 ,pliny1 who seems to have gathered a great deal of his natural history from scraps of hearsay1 most likely included these ancient sorts of ,british textiles with those from ,gaul1 when he tells us that to weave with a good number of threads1 so as to work the cloths called polymita1 was first taught in ,alexandria2 to divide by checks1 in ,gaul4 ,the native botanical home of cotton is in the east4 ,india almost everywhere throughout her wide-spread countries arrayed1 as she still arrays1 herself in cotton1 gathered from a plant of the mallow family which has its wild growth there2 and in the same vegetable produce the lower orders of people dwelling still further to the east also clothed themselves4 ,hemp1 a plant of the nettle tribe and called by botanists 8cannabis sativa10 was of old well known in the far north of ,germany and throughout the ancient ,scandinavia4 ,more than two thousand years ago we find it thus spoken of by ,herodotus3 8,hemp grows in the country of the ,scythians1 which1 except in the thickness and height of the stalk1 very much resembles flax2 in the qualities mentioned1 however1 the hemp is much superior4 ,it grows in a wild state1 and is also cultivated4 ,the ,thracians make clothing of it very like linen cloth2 nor could any person1 without being very well acquainted with the substance1 say whether this clothing is made of hemp or flax40 ,from 8cannabis10 its name in ,latin1 we have taken our word 8canvas10 to mean any texture woven of hempen thread4 ,although flax is to be found growing wild in many parts of ,great ,britain1 it is very doubtful whether for many ages our ,british forefathers were aware of the use of this plant for clothing purposes3 they would otherwise have left behind them some shred of linen in one or other of their many graves4 ,following1 as they did1 the usage of being buried in the best of the garments they were accustomed to1 or most loved when alive1 their bodies would have been found dressed in some small article of linen texture1 had they ever worn it4 ,we must go to the valley of the ,nile if we wish to learn the earliest history of the finest flaxen textiles4 ,time out of mind the ,egyptians were famous as well for the growth of flax as for the beautiful linen which they wove out of it1 and which became to them a most profitable1 because so widely sought for1 article of commerce4 ,their own word 8byssus0 for the plant itself became among the ,greeks1 and afterwards among the ,latin nations1 the term for linens wrought in ,egyptian looms4 ,long before the oldest book in the world was written1 the tillers of the ground all over ,egypt had been heedful in sowing flax1 and anxious about its harvest4 ,it was one of their staple crops1 and hence was it that1 in punishment of ,pharaoh1 the hail plague which at the bidding of ,moses fell from heaven destroyed throughout the land the flax just as it was getting ripe4 ,flax grew also upon the banks of the ,jordan1 and in ,juda generally2 and the women of the country1 like ,rahab1 carefully dried it when pulled1 and stacked it for future hackling upon the roofs of their houses4 ,nevertheless1 it was from ,egypt1 as ,solomon hints1 that the ,jews had to draw their fine linen4 ,at a later period1 among the woes foretold to ,egypt1 the prophet ,isaiah warns her that 8they shall be confounded who wrought in combing and weaving fine linen40 ,how far the reputation of ,egyptian workmanship in the craft of the loom had spread abroad is shown us by the way in which1 besides sacred1 heathenish antiquity has spoken of it4 ,herodotus says1 8,amasis king of ,egypt gave to the ,minerva of ,lindus a linen corslet well worthy of inspection30 and further on1 speaking of another corslet which ,amasis had sent the ,lacedmonians1 he observes that it was of linen and had a vast number of figures of animals inwoven into its fabric1 and was likewise embroidered with gold and tree-wool4 ,this last was especially to be admired because each of the twists1 although of fine texture1 contained within it #cfj threads1 all of them clearly visible4 ,but we have material as well as written proofs at hand to show the excellence of old ,egyptian work in linen4 ,during late years many mummies have been brought to this country from ,egypt1 and the narrow bandages with which they were found to have been so admirably and1 according even to our modern requirements of chirurgical fitness1 so artistically swathed have been unwrapped4 ,these bandages are often so fine in their texture as fully to verify the praises of old bestowed upon the beauty of the ,egyptian loom-work4 ,we learn from ,sir ,gardiner ,wilkinson that 8the finest piece of mummy-cloth1 sent to ,england by ,mr4 ,salt1 and now in the ,british museum1 of linen1 appears to be made of yarns of nearly #ajj hanks in the pound1 with #adj threads in an inch in the warp and about #fd in the woof40 ,another piece of linen1 which the same distinguished traveller obtained at ,thebes1 has #aeb threads in the warp and #ga in the woof4 ,although from all antiquity upwards1 till within some few years back1 the unbroken belief had been that such mummy-clothing was undoubtedly made of linen woven out of pure unmixed flax1 some writers led1 or rather misled1 by a few stray words in ,herodotus 7speaking of the corslet of ,amasis1 quoted just now7 took that historian to mean wool1 and argued that ,egyptian textiles wrought a thousand years before were mixed with cotton4 ,while the question was agitated1 specimens of mummy-cloth were submitted to the judgment of several persons in the weaving trade deemed most competent to speak upon the matter4 ,helped only by the fingers' feel and the naked eye1 some among them agreed that such textures were really woven of cotton4 ,this opinion was but shortlived4 ,other individuals1 more philosophical1 went to work on a better path4 ,in the first place they clearly learned1 through the microscope1 the exact and never-varying physical structure of both these vegetable substances4 ,they found cotton to be in its fibre a transparent tube without joints1 flattened so that its inward surfaces are in contact along its axis and also twisted spirally round its axis2 flax on the contrary is a transparent tube1 jointed like a cane and not flattened or twisted spirally4 ,examined in the same way1 old samples of byssus or mummy-bandages from ,egypt in every instance were ascertained to be of fine unmixed flaxen linen4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,for many reasons the history of silk is not only curious but highly interesting4 ,in the earliest ages even its existence was unknown1 and when discovered the knowledge of it stole forth from the far east1 and straggled westward very slowly4 ,for all that lengthened period during which their remarkable civilization lasted1 the older ,egyptians probably never saw silk3 neither they1 nor the ,israelites1 nor any other of the most ancient kingdoms of the earth1 knew of it in any shape1 either as a simple twist or as a woven stuff4 ,not the smallest shred of silk has hitherto been found in the tombs or amid the ruins of the ,pharaonic period4 ,no where does ,holy ,writ1 old or new1 tell anything of silk but in one single place1 the ,apocalypse xviii4 #ab4 ,it is true that in the ,english authorized version we read of 8silk0 as if spoken of by ,ezekiel xvi4 #aj1 #ac2 and again1 in ,proverbs xxxi4 #bb2 yet there can be no doubt that in both these passages1 the word silk is wrong through the translators misunderstanding the original ,hebrew4 ,the ,hebrew word is not so rendered in any ancient version3 and the best ,hebraists have decided that silk was not known by the old ,israelites4 ,when ,st4 ,john speaks of it he includes it with the gold1 and silver1 and precious stones1 and pearls1 and fine linen and purple which1 with many other costly freights1 merchants were wont to bring to ,rome4 ,it was long after the days of ,ezekiel that silk in its raw form only1 made up into hanks1 first found its way to ,egypt1 western ,asia1 and eastern ,europe4 ,we owe to ,aristotle the earliest notice of the silkworm1 and although his account be incorrect it has much value1 because he gives us information about the original importation of raw silk into the western world4 ,brought from ,china through ,india the silk came by water across the ,arabian ocean1 up the ,red ,sea1 and thence over the isthmus of ,suez 7or perhaps rather by the overland route1 through ,persia7 to the small but commercial island of ,cos1 lying off the coast of ,asia minor4 ,pamphile1 the daughter of ,plates1 is reported to have first woven silk in ,cos4 ,here1 by female hands1 were wrought those light thin gauzes which became so fashionable2 these were stigmatized by some of the ,latin poets1 as well as by heathen moralists1 as anything but seemly for women's wear4 ,tibullus speaks of them2 and ,seneca condemns them3 8,i behold0 he says 8silken garments1 if garments they can be called1 which are a protection neither for the body nor for shame40 ,later still1 and in the ,christian era1 we have an echo to the remarks of ,seneca in the words of ,solinus3 8,this is silk1 in which at first women but now even men have been led1 by their cravings after luxury1 to show rather than to clothe their bodies40 ,looking over very ancient manuscripts we often find between richly gilt illuminations1 to keep them from harm or being hurt through the rubbings of the next leaf1 a covering of the thinnest gauze1 just as we now put sheets of silver paper for that purpose over engravings4 ,it is not impossible that some at least of these may be shreds from the translucent textiles which found favour in the world for so long a time during the classic period4 ,the curious example of such gauzy interleafings in the manuscript of ,theodulph1 now at ,puy en ,velay1 will occur perhaps to more than one of our readers4 ,it may be easily imagined that silken garments were brought1 at an early period1 to imperial ,rome4 ,not only1 however1 were the prices asked for them so high that few could afford to buy such robes for their wives and daughters1 but1 at first1 they were looked upon as quite unbecoming for men's wear2 hence1 by a law of the ,roman senate under ,tiberius1 it was enacted3 8,ne vestis serica vicos fdaret40 ,while noticing how womanish ,caligula became in his dress ,suetonius remarks his silken attire3 8,aliquando sericatus et cycladatus40 ,an exception was made by some emperors for very great occasions1 and both ,titus and ,vespasian wore dresses of silk when they celebrated at ,rome their triumph over ,juda4 ,heliogabalus was the first emperor who wore whole silk for clothing4 ,aurelian1 on the other hand1 neither had himself in his wardrobe a garment wholly silk nor gave one to be worn by another4 ,when his own wife begged him to allow her to have a single mantle of purple silk he replied1 8,far be it from us to allow thread to be reckoned worth its weight in gold40 ,for then a pound of gold was the price of a pound of silk4 ,clothing made wholly or in part out of silk1 nevertheless1 became every year more and more sought for4 ,so remunerative was the trade of weaving the raw material into its various forms1 that1 by the revised code of laws for the ,roman empire published ,a4 ,d4 #ecc1 a monopoly in it was given to the court1 and looms worked by women were set up in the imperial palace4 ,thus ,byzantium became and long continued famous for the beauty of its silken stuffs4 ,still1 the raw silk itself had to be brought thither from abroad2 until two ,greek monks1 who had lived many years among the ,chinese1 learnt the whole process of rearing the worm4 ,returning1 they brought with them a number of eggs hidden in their walking-staves2 and1 carrying them to ,constantinople1 they presented these eggs to the emperor who gladly received them4 ,when hatched the worms were distributed over ,greece and ,asia minor1 and very soon the western world reared its own silk4 ,in some places1 at least in ,greece1 the weaving not only of the finer kinds of cloth but of silk fell into the hands of the ,jews4 ,benjamin of ,tudela1 writing in #aafa1 tells us that the city of ,thebes contained about two thousand ,jewish inhabitants4 8,these are the most eminent manufacturers of silk and purple cloth in all ,greece40 ,south ,italy wrought rich silken stuffs by the end of the eleventh century2 for we are told by our countryman ,ordericus ,vitalis1 who died in the first half of the twelfth century1 that ,mainerius1 the abbot of ,st4 ,evroul at ,uzey in ,normandy1 on coming home brought with him from ,apulia several large pieces of silk1 and gave to his church four of the finest ones1 with which four copes were made for the chanters4 ,from a feeling alive in the middle ages throughout the length and breadth of ,christendom1 that the best of all things ought to be given for the service of the ,church1 the garments of its celebrating priesthood were1 if not always1 at least very often wholly of silk2 holosericus4 ,owing to this fact1 we are now able to learn from the few but tattered shreds before us what elegantly designed and gorgeous stuffs the foreign medival loom could weave1 and what beautiful embroidery our own countrywomen knew so well how to work4 ,these specimens help us also to rightly understand the description of the splendid vestments enumerated with such exactness in the old inventories of our cathedrals and parish churches1 as well as in the early wardrobe accompts of our kings1 and in the wills and bequests of dignified ecclesiastics and nobility4 ,coming westward among us1 these much coveted stuffs brought with them the several names by which they were commonly known throughout the east1 whether ,greece1 ,asia minor1 or ,persia4 ,hence when we read of samit1 ciclatoun1 cendal1 baudekin1 and other such terms unknown to trade now-a-days1 we should bear in mind that1 notwithstanding the wide variety of spelling which each of these appellations has run through1 we arrive at their true derivations1 and discover in what country and by whose hands they were wrought4 ,as commerce grew these fine silken textiles were brought to our markets1 and articles of dress were made of silk for men's as well as women's wear among the wealthy4 ,at what period the raw material came to be imported here1 not so much for embroidery as to be wrought in the loom1 we do not exactly know2 but from several sides we learn that our countrywomen of all degrees1 in very early times1 busied themselves in weaving4 ,among the home occupations of maidens ,st4 ,aldhelm1 at the end of the seventh century1 includes weaving4 ,in the council at ,cloveshoo1 in #gdg1 nuns are exhorted to spend their time in reading or singing psalms rather than weaving and knitting vainglorious garments of many colours4 ,by that curious old ,english book the #8,ancren ,riwle1' written towards the end of the twelfth century1 ankresses are forbidden to make purses or blodbendes 7which were narrow strips to bind round the arm after bleeding71 to gain friends therewith4 ,were it not that the weaving especially of silk was so generally followed in the cloister by ,english women1 it had been useless to have so strongly discountenanced the practice4 ,but on silk weaving by our women in small hand-looms a very important witness1 especially about several curious specimens in the great collection at ,south ,kensington1 is ,john ,garland1 born at the beginning of the thirteenth century in ,london1 where many of his namesakes were and are still known4 ,first1 a ,john ,garland1 in #aagj1 held a prebend's stall in ,st4 ,paul's cathedral4 ,another was sheriff at a later period4 ,a third1 a wealthy draper of ,london1 gave freely towards the building of a church in ,somersetshire4 ,a fourth1 who died in #adfa1 lies buried in ,st4 ,sythe's2 and1 at the present day1 no fewer than twenty-two tradesmen of that name1 of whom six are merchants of high standing in the city1 are mentioned in the ,london post office directory for the year #ahfh4 ,we give these instances as some have tried to rob us of ,john ,garland by saying he was not an ,englishman1 though he has himself told us he was 8born in ,england and brought up in ,france40 ,in a kind of short dictionary drawn up by that writer and printed at the end of #8,paris sous ,philippe le ,bel1' edited by ,m4 ,geraud1 our countryman tells us that1 besides the usual homely textiles1 costly cloth-of-gold webs were wrought by women2 and very likely1 among their other productions1 were those blodbendes 8cingula0 the weaving of which had been forbidden to ankresses and nuns4 ,perhaps1 also1 some of the narrow gold-wrought ribbons in the ,south ,kensington collection1 nos4 #abcc1 #abef1 #abgj1 #hefi1 etc41 may have been so employed4 ,john ,garland's 8cingula0 may also mean the rich girdles or sashes worn by women round the waist1 of which there is one example in the same collection1 no4 #hega4 ,of this sort is that fine border1 amber coloured silk and diapered1 round a vestment found in a grave at ,durham2 which is described by ,mr4 ,raine in his book about ,st4 ,cuthbert as 8a thick lace1 one inch and a quarter broad--evidently owing its origin1 not to the needle1 but to the loom40 ,in an after period the same bands are shown on statuary1 and in the illuminated manuscripts of the thirteenth century3 as instances of the narrow girdle1 the effigy of a lady in ,romney church1 ,hants and of ,ann of ,bohemia in ,westminster abbey may be referred to2 both to be found in ,hollis's monumental effigies of ,great ,britain2 for the band about the head1 the examples in the wood-cuts in ,planch's ,british costumes1 p4 #aaf4 ,specimens of such head bands may be seen at ,south ,kensington1 nos4 #hefi1 #hehc1 #hehd1 and #hehe4 ,they are1 no doubt1 the old snd of the ,anglo-saxon period4 ,for ladies they were wrought of silk and gold2 women of lower degree wore them of simpler stuff4 ,the silken snood1 used in our own time by young unmarried women in ,scotland1 is a truthful witness to the fashion in vogue during ,anglo-saxon and later ages in this country4 ,the breeding of the worm and the manufacture of its silk spread themselves with steady though slow steps over most of the countries which border on the shores of the ,mediterranean2 so that1 by the tenth century1 those processes had reached from the far east to the uttermost western limits of that sea4 ,even then1 and a long time after1 the natural history of the silkworm became known but to a very few4 ,our countryman ,alexander ,neckham1 abbot of ,cirencester ,a4 ,d4 #abac1 was probably the first who tried to help others to understand the habits of the insect3 his brief explanation may be found in his once popular book #8,de natura rerum1' which has been lately reprinted by order of the ,master of the ,rolls4 ,illustration3 ,indian woman reeling silk from a wheel4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,of the several raw materials which from the earliest periods have been employed in weaving1 though not in such frequency as silk1 one is gold3 which1 when judiciously brought in1 adds not a barbaric but artistical richness4 ,the earliest written notice which we have about the employment of this precious metal in the loom1 or of the way in which it was wrought for such a purpose1 is in the ,pentateuch4 ,among the sacred vestments made for ,aaron was an ephod of gold1 violet1 and purple1 and scarlet twice dyed1 and fine twisted linen1 with embroidered work2 and the workman cut also thin plates of gold and drew them small into strips1 that they might be twisted with the woof of the aforesaid colours4 ,instead of 8strip10 the authorised protestant version says 8wire20 the ,douay translation reads 8thread30 but neither can be right1 for both of these ,english words mean a something round or twisted in the shape given to the gold before being wove1 whereas the metal must have been worked in quite flat1 as we learn from the text4 ,the use of gold for weaving1 both with linen or by itself1 existed almost certainly among the ,egyptians long before the days of ,moses4 ,the psalmist describing the dress of the king's daughter 7that is1 ,pharaoh's daughter71 not only speaks of her being 8in raiment of needlework0 but that 8her clothing is of wrought gold40 ,in order to be woven the precious metal was at first wrought in a flattened1 never in a round or wire shape4 ,to this hour the ,chinese and the people of ,india work the gold into their stuffs after the ancient form4 ,in the same fashion1 even now1 the ,italians weave their lama d'oro1 or the more glistening toca3 those cloths of gold which to all ,asiatic and many ,european eyes do not glare with too much garishness1 but shine with a glow that befits the raiment of personages in high station4 ,among the nations of ancient ,asia garments made of webs dyed with the costly purple tint1 and interwoven with gold1 were on all grand occasions worn by kings and princes4 ,so celebrated did the ,medes and ,persians become in such works of the loom1 that cloths of extraordinary beauty got their several names from those peoples1 and ,medean1 ,lydian1 and ,persian textiles were everywhere sought for4 ,writing of the wars carried on in ,asia and ,india by ,alexander the great almost four centuries before the birth of ,christ1 ,quintus ,curtius often speaks about the purple and gold garments worn by the ,persians and more eastern ,asiatics4 ,among the many thousands of those who came forth from ,damascus to the ,greek general1 ,parmenio1 numbers were so clad3 8,they wore robes splendid with gold and purple40 ,all over ,india the same fashion was followed in dress4 ,when an ,indian king with his two sons came to ,alexander1 the three were so arrayed4 ,princes and the high nobility1 all over the east1 are called by ,quintus ,curtius 8purpurati40 ,not only garments but hangings were made of the same costly fabric4 ,when ,alexander wished to give some ambassadors a splendid reception1 the golden couches upon which they lay to eat their meat were screened with cloths of gold and purple2 and the ,indian guests themselves were not less gorgeously clothed in their own national costume1 as they came wearing linen 7perhaps cotton7 garments equally resplendent4 ,the dress worn by ,darius1 as he went forth to do battle1 is thus described by the same historian3 8the waist part of the royal purple tunic was wove in white1 and upon his mantle of cloth of gold were figured two golden hawks as if pecking at one another with their beaks40 ,from the east this love for cloth of gold reached the southern end of ,italy1 and thence soon got to ,rome2 where1 even under its early kings1 garments made of it were worn4 ,pliny1 speaking of this rich textile1 says3 8gold may be spun or woven like wool1 without any wool being mixed with it40 ,we are told by ,verrius that ,tarquinius ,priscus rode in triumph in a tunic of gold2 and ,agrippina the wife of the emperor ,claudius1 when he exhibited the spectacle of a naval combat1 sat by him covered with a robe made entirely of gold woven without any other material4 ,about the year #ahdj the marquis ,campagna dug up near ,rome two old graves1 in one of which had been buried a ,roman lady of high birth1 inferred from the circumstance that all about her remains were found portions of such fine gold flat thread1 once forming the burial garment with which she had been arrayed for her funeral4 ,when pope ,paschal1 ,a4 ,d4 #hba1 sought for the body of ,st4 ,cecily who was martyred in the year #bcj1 the pontiff found the body in the catacombs1 whole and dressed in a garment wrought all of gold1 with some of her raiment drenched in blood lying at her feet4 ,in making the foundations for the new ,st4 ,peter's at ,rome the workmen came upon and looked into the marble sarcophagus in which had been buried ,probus ,anicius1 prefect of the ,pretorian1 and his wife ,proba ,faltonia1 each of whose bodies was wrapped in a winding-sheet woven of pure gold strips4 ,the wife of the emperor ,honorius died sometime about the year #djj1 and when her grave was opened1 in #aedd1 the golden tissues in which her body had been shrouded were taken out and melted1 amounting in weight to thirty-six pounds4 ,the late father ,marchi also found among the remains of ,st4 ,hyacinthus several fragments of the same kind of golden web4 ,childeric1 the second king of the ,merovingean dynasty1 was buried ,a4 ,d4 #dhb1 at ,tournai4 ,in the year #afec his grave was discovered1 and amid the earth about it so many remains of pure gold strips were turned up that there is every ground for thinking that the ,frankish king was wrapped in a mantle of golden stuff for his burial4 ,we have reason to conclude that the strips of pure gold out of which the burial cloak of ,childeric was woven were not round but flat1 from the fact that in a ,merovingean burial ground at ,envermeu the distinguished archologist ,cochet a few years ago came upon the grave once filled by a lady whose head had been wreathed with a fillet of pure golden web1 the tissue of which is thus described3 8,ces fils aussi brillants et aussi frais que s'ils sortaient de la main de l'ouvrier1 n'taient ni tirs ni cords4 ,ils taient plats et se composaient tout simplement de petites lanires d'or d'un millimtre de largeur1 coupe mme une feuille d'or paisse de moins d'un dixime de millimtre4 ,la longeur totale de quelques-uns atteignait parfois jusqu' quinze ou dix-huit centimtres40 ,our own country can furnish an example of this kind of golden textile4 ,on ,chessel down1 in the isle of ,wight1 when ,mr4 ,hillier was making some researches in an old ,anglo-saxon place of burial1 the diggers found pieces of gold strips1 thin and quite flat1 which are figured in ,m4 l'abb ,cochet's learned book just mentioned4 ,of the same rich texture must have been the vestment given to ,st4 ,peter's at ,rome in the middle of the ninth century1 and described in the ,liber ,pontificalis as made of the purest gold1 and covered with precious stones3 8,carolus rex sancto ,apostolo obtulit ex purissimo auro et gemmis constructam vestem1 etc40 ,such a weaving of pure gold was1 here in ,england1 followed certainly as late as the beginning of the tenth century2 very likely much later4 ,in the chapter library belonging to ,durham cathedral may be seen a stole and maniple1 which bear these inscriptions3 8lfflaed fieri precepit4 ,pio episcopo ,fridestano40 ,fridestan was consecrated bishop of ,winchester ,a4 ,d4 #ije4 ,with these webs under his eye1 ,mr4 ,raine writes thus3 8,in the first1 the ground work of the whole is woven exclusively with thread of gold4 ,i do not mean by thread of gold1 the silver-gilt wire frequently used in such matters1 but real gold thread1 if ,i may so term it1 not round1 but flat4 ,this is the character of the whole web1 with the exception of the figures1 the undulating cloud-shaped pedestal upon which they stand1 the inscriptions and the foliage2 for all of which1 however surprising it may appear1 vacant spaces have been left by the loom1 and they themselves afterwards inserted with the needle40 ,further on1 in his description of a girdle1 the same writer tells us3 8,its breadth is exactly seven-eighths of an inch4 ,it has evidently proceeded from the loom2 and its two component parts are a flattish thread of pure gold1 and a thread of scarlet silk40 ,another very remarkable piece1 a fragment 7probably7 of a stole1 was also found lately at ,durham in the grave of bishop ,pudsey1 who was buried about the middle of the twelfth century4 ,this was exhibited at the ,society of antiquaries1 in the present year1 #ahge4 ,it is made of rich silk1 with a diaper pattern in gold thread4 ,this love for such glittering attire1 not only for sacred use but secular wear1 lasted long in ,england4 ,the golden webs went under different names2 at first they were called 8ciclatoun10 8siglaton10 or 8siklatoun10 as the writer's fancy led him to spell the ,persian word common for them at the time throughout the east4 ,by the old ,english ritual plain cloth of gold was allowed1 as now1 to be used for white when that colour happened to be ordered by the rubric4 ,thus in the reign of ,richard the second1 among the vestments at the chapel of ,st4 ,george1 ,windsor castle1 there was 8one good vestment of cloth of gold30 and ,st4 ,paul's1 ,london1 had at the end of the thirteenth century two amices embroidered with pure gold4 ,this splendid web was often wrought so thick and strong that each string1 whether it happened to be of hemp or of silk had in the warp six threads1 while the weft was of flat gold shreds4 ,hence such a texture was called 8samit10 a word shortened from its first and old ,byzantine name 8exsamit40 ,the quantity of this costly cloth kept in the wardrobe of ,edward the first was so great1 that the nobles of that king were allowed to buy it out of the royal stores2 for instance1 four pieces at thirty shillings each were sold to ,robert de ,clifford1 and another piece at the same price to ,thomas de ,cammill4 ,not only ,asia minor but the island of ,cyprus1 the city of ,lucca1 and ,moorish ,spain1 sent us these rich tissues4 ,with other things left at ,haverford castle by ,richard the second were twenty-five cloths of gold of divers suits1 of which four came from ,cyprus1 the others from ,lucca3 8xxv4 draps d'or de diverses suytes dount iiii4 de ,cipres les autres de ,lukes40 ,how ,edward the fourth liked cloth of gold for his personal wear may be gathered from his wardrobe accounts1 edited by ,nicolas2 and the lavish use of this stuff ordered by ,richard the third for his coronation is recorded in the ,antiquarian ,repertory4 ,a 8gowne of cloth-of-gold1 furred with pawmpilyon1 ayenst ,corpus ,xpi day0 was bought for ,elizabeth of ,york1 afterwards queen of ,henry the seventh1 for her to wear as she walked in the procession on that great festival4 ,the affection shown by ,henry the eighth and all our nobility1 men and women1 of the time1 for cloth of gold in their garments was unmistakingly set forth in many of the paintings brought together in the very instructive exhibition of national portraits in #ahff1 in the ,south ,kensington museum4 ,the price of this stuff seems to have been costly2 for princess 7afterwards queen7 ,mary1 thirteen years before she came to the throne1 8payed to ,peycocke1 of ,london1 for xix yerds iii4 qt of clothe of golde at xxxviij4 the yerde1 xxxvijli4 xs4 vjd40 ,and for 8a yerde and dr qt of clothe of siluer xls40 ,as between common silk and satin there runs a broad difference in appearance1 one being dull1 the other smooth and glossy1 so there is a great distinction to be made among cloths of gold2 some are1 so to say1 dead2 others1 brilliant and sparkling4 ,when the gold is twisted into its silken filament it takes the deadened look2 when the flattened1 filmy strip of metal is rolled about it so evenly as to bring its edges close to one another1 it seems to be one unbroken wire of gold1 sparkling and lustrous4 ,this kind during the middle ages went by the term of ,cyprus gold2 and rich samits woven with it were allied damasks of ,cyprus4 ,as time went on cloths of gold had other names4 ,what the thirteenth century called1 first1 8ciclatoun10 then 8baudekin10 afterward 8nak10 was called1 two hundred years later1 8tissue03 a bright shimmering golden textile4 ,the very thin smooth paper which still goes by the name of tissue-paper was originally made to be put between the folds of this rich stuff to prevent fraying or tarnish1 when laid by4 ,the gorgeous and entire set of vestments presented to the altar at ,st4 ,alban's abbey1 by ,margaret1 duchess of ,clarence1 ,a4 ,d4 #adbi1 and made of the cloth of gold commonly called 8tyssewys10 must have been as remarkable for the abundance and purity of the gold in its texture1 as for the splendour of the precious stones set on it and the exquisite beauty of its embroideries4 ,the large number of vestments made out of gold tissue1 and of crimson1 light blue1 purple1 green1 and black1 once belonging to ,york cathedral1 are all duly registered in the valuable 8,fabric rolls0 of that church lately published by the ,surtees society4 ,among the many rich and costly vestments in ,lincoln cathedral1 some were made of this sparkling golden tissue contra-distinguished in its inventory from the duller cloth of gold1 thus3 8,four good copes of blew tishew with orphreys of red cloth of gold1 wrought with branches and leaves of velvet20 8a chesable with two tunacles of blew tishew having a precious orphrey of cloth of gold40 ,silken textures ornamented with designs in copper gilt thread were manufactured and honestly sold for what they really were3 of such inferior quality we find mention in the inventory of vestments at ,winchester cathedral1 drawn up by order of ,henry the eighth1 where we read of 8twenty-eight copys of white bawdkyne1 woven with copper gold40 ,another imitation of woof of gold was possibly fraudulent4 ,this1 originally perhaps ,saracenic1 was practised by the ,spaniards of the south1 and was not easily discovered4 ,the very finest skins were sought out for the purpose1 as thin as that now rare kind of vellum called 8uterine0 by collectors of manuscripts4 ,these were heavily gilt and then cut into very narrow strips1 to be used instead of the true golden thread4 ,the gilding of fine silk and canvas in imitation of cloth of gold1 like our gilding of wood and other substances1 was also sometimes resorted to for splendour's sake on temporary occasions2 such1 for instance1 as some stately procession or a solemn burial service4 ,mr4 ,raine tells us he found in a grave at ,durham1 among other textiles1 8a robe of thinnish silk2 the ground colour of the whole is amber2 and the ornamental parts were literally covered with leaf gold1 of which there remained distinct and very numerous portions40 ,in the churchyard of ,cheam1 ,surrey1 in #ahfe1 the skeleton of a priest was found who had been buried some time during the fourteenth century2 around the waist was a flat girdle made of brown silk that had been gilt4 ,in the #8,romaunt of the rose' translated by ,chaucer1 dame ,gladnesse is thus described3-- --in an over gilt samite ,clad she was2 and on a piece of ,german orphrey-web1 in the ,south ,kensington collection1 no4 #acgc1 and probably made at ,cologne in the sixteenth century1 the gold is laid by the gilding process4 ,silver also1 as well as gold1 was hammered out into very thin sheets which were cut into narrow long shreds to be woven1 unmixed with anything else1 into a web for garments4 ,of this we have a striking illustration in the ,acts of the apostles1 where ,st4 ,luke1 speaking of ,herod ,agrippa1 says that he presented himself to the people arrayed in kingly apparel1 who1 to flatter him1 shouted that his was the voice not of a man but of a god2 and forthwith he was smitten by a loathsome disease which shortly killed him4 ,this royal robe1 as ,josephus informs us1 was a tunic made of silver and wonderful in its texture4 ,intimately connected with the raw materials1 and how they were wrought in the loom1 is the question about the time when wire drawing was found out4 ,at what period and among what people the art of working up pure gold1 or gilded silver1 into a long1 round1 hair-like thread--into what may be correctly called 8wire0--began1 is quite unknown4 ,that with their mechanical ingenuity the ancient ,egyptians bethought themselves of some method for the purpose is not unlikely4 ,from ,sir ,gardiner ,wilkinson we learn that at ,thebes were found objects which appeared to be made of gold wire4 ,we may fairly presume that the work upon the corslets of king ,amasis1 already spoken of as done by the needle in gold1 required by its minuteness that the metal should be not flat but in the shape of wire4 ,by delicate management perhaps of the fingers1 the narrow flat strips might have been pinched or doubled up so that the two edges should meet1 and then rubbed between two pieces of hard material a golden wire of the required fineness would be produced4 ,in ,etruscan and ,greek jewellery wire is often to be found2 but in all instances it is so well shaped and so even that it must have been fashioned by some rolling process4 ,the filigree work of the middle ages is often very fine and delicate4 ,probably the embroidery which we read of in the descriptions of the vestments belonging to our old churches 7for instance 8,an amice embroidered with pure gold07 was worked with gold wire4 ,to go back to ,anglo-saxon times in this country1 such gold wire would seem to have been then well known and employed1 since in ,peterborough minster there were two golden altar-cloths3 8ii4 gegylde eofad sceatas20 and there were at ,ely cathedral 8two girdles of gold wire0 in the reign of ,william ,rufus4 ,the first use of a wire-drawing machine seems to have been about the year #acfj1 at ,nuremberg2 and it was not until two hundred years after1 in #aefj1 that the method was brought to ,england4 ,two examples of a stuff with pure wire in it may be seen in the ,south ,kensington collection1 nos4 #heha and #hbbh4 ,the process of twining long narrow strips of gold1 or gilt silver1 round a line of silk or flax and thus producing gold thread is much earlier than has been supposed2 and when ,attalus's name was bestowed upon a new method of interweaving gold with wool or linen1 thence called 8,attalic10 it was probably because he suggested to the weaver the introduction of the long-known golden thread as a woof into the textiles from his loom4 ,it would seem1 from a passage in ,claudian1 that ladies at an early ,christian period used to spin their own gold thread4 ,writing at the end of the fourth century1 the poet thus compliments ,proba3 ,the joyful mother plies her learned hands1 ,and works all o'er the trabea golden bands1 ,draws the thin strips to all their length of gold1 ,to make the metal meaner threads enfold4 ,the superior quality of some gold thread was known to the medival world under the name of the place where it had been made4 ,thus we find mention at one time of ,cyprus gold thread2 8a vestment embroidered with eagles of gold of ,cyprus30 later1 of ,venice gold thread1 8for frenge of gold of ,venys at vjs4 the ounce20 and again1 8one cope of unwatered camlet laid with strokes of ,venis gold40 ,what may have been their difference cannot now be pointed out3 perhaps the ,cyprian thread was esteemed because its somewhat broad shred of flat gold was wound about the hempen twist beneath it so nicely as to have the smooth unbroken look of gold wire2 while the manufacture of ,venice showed everywhere the twisting of common thread4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,in earlier times1 as at present1 silks had various names1 distinguishing either their kind of texture1 their colour1 the design woven on them1 the country from which they were brought1 or the use for which1 on particular occasions1 they happened to be especially set apart4 ,all these designations are of foreign growth2 some sprang up in the seventh and following centuries at ,byzantium2 some are half ,greek1 half ,latin1 jumbled together2 others1 borrowed from the east1 are so shortened1 so badly and variously spelt1 that their ,arabic or ,persian derivation can be hardly recognized at present4 ,yet without some slight knowledge of them we hardly understand a great deal belonging to trade1 and the manners of the times glanced at by old writers2 much less can we see the true meaning of many passages in our medival ,english poetry4 ,among the terms significative of the kind of web1 or mode of getting up some sorts of silk1 we have ,holosericum1 the texture of which is warp and woof wholly pure silk4 ,from a passage in ,lampridius we learn that so early as the reign of ,alexander ,severus the difference between 8vestes holoseric0 and 8subseric0 was strongly marked1 and that subsericum implied that the texture was not entirely but in part1 probably the woof1 of silk4 ,examitum1 xamitum1 or1 as it is called in old ,english documents1 samit1 is made up of two ,greek words1 1 8six10 and 1 8threads20 the number of the strings in the warp of the texture4 ,it is evident that stuffs woven so thick must have been of the best quality4 ,hence1 to say of any silken tissue that it was 8examitum0 or 8samit0 meant that it was six-threaded1 and therefore costly and splendid4 ,at the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries 8examitum0 was much used for vestments in ,evesham abbey1 as we gather from the chronicle of that house1 published lately for the ,master of the ,rolls4 ,about the same period among the best copes1 chasubles1 and vestments in ,st4 ,paul's1 ,london1 many were made of samit4 ,so1 again among the nine gorgeous chasubles bequeathed to ,durham cathedral by its bishop in #aaie1 the chief was of red samit superbly embroidered4 ,and1 to name no more1 we find in the valuable inventory1 lately published1 of the rich vestments belonging to ,exeter cathedral in #abgg that the best of its numerous chasubles1 dalmatics1 and copes1 were made of samit4 ,in a later document1 ,a4 ,d4 #acbg1 this precious silk is termed 8samicta40 ,the poets did not forget to array their knights and ladies in this gay attire4 ,when ,sir ,lancelot of the lake brought back ,gawain to king ,arthur3 ,launcelot and the queen were cledde ,in robes of a rich wede1 ,of samyte white1 with silver shredde3 99 99 99 99 99 ,the other knights everichone1 ,in samyte green of heathen land1 ,and their kirtles1 ride alone4 ,in his #8,romaunt of the rose1' ,chaucer describes the dress of ,mirth thus3 ,full yong he was1 and merry of thought ,and in samette1 with birdes wrought1 ,and with gold beaten full fetously1 ,his bodie was clad full richely4 ,many of the beautifully figured damasks in the ,south ,kensington collection are what anciently were known as 8samits20 and if they really be not six-thread1 according to the etymology of their name1 it is because at a very early period the stuffs so called ceased to be woven of such a thickness4 ,the strong silks of the present day with the thick thread called 8organzine0 for the woof1 and a slightly thinner thread known by the technical name of 8tram0 for the warp1 may be taken to represent the old 8examits40 ,no less remarkable for the lightness of its texture than was the samit on account of the thick substance of its web1 and quite as much sought after1 was another kind of thin glossy silken stuff 8wrought in the orient10 and here called first by the ,persian name which came with it1 ciclatoun1 that is1 bright and shining2 but afterwards sicklatoun1 siglaton1 cyclas4 ,sometimes a woof of golden thread lent it still more glitter2 and it was used both for ecclesiastical vestments and for secular articles of stately dress4 ,in the inventory of ,st4 ,paul's cathedral1 #abie1 there was a cope made of cloth of gold1 called ciclatoun3 8capa de panno aureo qui vocatur ciclatoun40 ,among the booty carried off by the ,english when they sacked the camp of ,saladin1 ,king ,richard took the pavillouns ,of sendal1 and of cyclatoun4 ,in his #8,rime of ,sire ,thopas1' ,chaucer says ,of ,brugges were his hosen broun ,his robe was of ciclatoun4 ,though so light and thin1 this cloak of 8ciclatoun0 was often embroidered in silk and had golden ornaments sewn on it2 we read in the #8,metrical romances' of a maiden who sat ,in a robe ryght ryall bowne ,of a red syclatowne ,be hur fader syde2 ,a coronell on hur hedd set1 ,hur clothys with bestes and byrdes wer bete ,all abowte for pryde4 ,knights in the field wore over their armour a long sleeveless gown slit up almost to the waist on both sides2 sometimes of 8samit10 often of 8cendal10 oftener still of 8ciclatourn30 and the name of the gown itself1 shortened from the material1 became known as 8cyclas40 ,matthew of ,westminster records that when ,edward the first knighted his son in ,westminster abbey he sent to three hundred sons of the nobility1 whom the prince was afterward to dub knights in the same church1 a most splendid gift of attire1 fitting for the ceremony2 among which were clycases woven with gold4 ,that these garments were very light and thin we gather from the quiet wit of ,john of ,salisbury1 who jeers a man affecting to perspire in the depth of winter1 though clad in nothing but his fine cyclas4 ,not so costly was a silken stuff known as cendal1 cendallus1 sandal1 sandalin1 cendatus1 syndon1 syndonus1 as the way of writing the word altered as time went on4 ,when ,sir ,guy of ,warwick was knighted1 ,and with him twenty good gomes ,knightes' and barons' sons1 ,of cloth of ,tars and rich cendale ,was the dobbing in each deal4 ,the ,roll of ,caerlaverock tells us that among the grand array which joined ,edward the first at ,carlisle in #acjj1 there was to be seen many a rich caparison embroidered upon cendal and samit3 ,la ot meint riche guarnement ,brod sur sendaus e samis3 and ,lacy1 earl of ,lincoln1 leading the first squadron1 hoisted his banner made of yellow cendal blazoned with a lion rampant purpre ,baner out de un cendal safrin1 ,o un lioun rampant purprin4 ,when ,sir ,bevis of ,southampton wished to keep himself unknown at a tournament1 we thus read of him3 ,sir ,bevis disguised all his weed ,of black cendal and of rede1 ,flourished with roses of silver bright1 etc4 ,of the ten silken albs which ,hugh ,pudsey left to ,durham1 two were made of samit and two of cendal1 or as the bishop calls it1 sandal4 ,exeter cathedral had a red cope with a green lining of sandal and a cape of sandaline3 8,una capa de sandalin40 ,piers ,ploughman speaks thus to the women of his day3 ,and ye lovely ladies ,with youre long fyngres1 ,that ye have silk and sandal ,to sowe1 whan tyme is4 ,chesibles for chapeleyns1 ,chirches to honoure1 etc4 ,a stronger kind of cendal was wrought and called1 in the ,latin inventories of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries1 8cendatus afforciatus30 there was a cope of this material at ,st4 ,paul's1 and another cope of cloth of gold was lined with it4 ,syndonus or ,sindonis1 as it would seem1 was a bettermost sort of cendal4 ,st4 ,paul's had a chasuble as well as a cope of this fabric4 ,taffeta1 if not a thinner1 was a less costly silken stuff than cendal2 which word1 to this day1 is used in the ,spanish language1 and is defined to be a thin transparent textile of silk or linen3 8,tela de seda lino muy delgada y trasparente40 ,taffeta and cendal were used for linings in medival ,england4 ,chaucer says of his 8doctour of phisike10 ,in sanguin and in perse he clad was alle ,lined with taffeta and with sendalle4 ,sarcenet during the fifteenth century took by degrees the place of cendal1 at least here in ,england4 ,by some improvement in their weaving of cendal1 the ,saracens in the south of ,spain earned for this light web a good name in our markets1 and it became much sought for here4 ,among other places1 ,york cathedral had several sets of curtains for its high altar1 8de sarcynet40 ,at first this stuff was called from its makers 8saracenicum40 ,but1 in ,anglicising1 the name was shortened into 8sarcenet20 a word which we use now for the thin silk which of old was known among us as 8cendal40 ,satin1 though far from being so common as other silken textures1 was not unknown to ,england in the middle ages2 and ,chaucer speaks of it in his #8,man of lawes tale3' ,in ,surrie whilom dwelt a compagnie ,of chapmen rich1 and therto sad and trewe1 ,that wide were senten hir spicerie1 ,clothes of gold1 and satins rich of hewe4 ,when satin first appeared in trade it was called round the shores of the ,mediterranean 8aceytuni40 ,the term slipped through early ,italian lips into 8zetani20 coming westward this name1 in its turn1 dropped its 8i10 and smoothed itself into 8satin40 ,so1 also1 it is called in ,france2 while in ,italy it now goes by the name of 8raso10 and the ,spaniards keep up its first designation4 ,in the earlier inventories of church vestments no mention can be found of satin2 but this fine silk is spoken of among the various rich bequests made to his cathedral at ,exeter by bishop ,grandison1 about #acdj2 though later1 and especially in the royal wardrobe accompts1 it is very commonly specified4 ,hence we may fairly assume that till the fourteenth century satin was unknown in ,england2 afterwards it met with much favour4 ,flags were made of it4 ,on board the stately ship in which ,beauchamp earl of ,warwick1 in the reign of ,henry the sixth1 sailed from ,england to ,france1 there were flying 8three penons of satten10 besides 8sixteen standards of worsted entailed with a bear and a chain10 and a great streamer of forty yards in length and eight yards in breadth1 with a great bear and griffin holding a ragged staff poudred full of ragged staffs4 ,like other silken textiles1 satin seems to have been in some instances interwoven with flat gold thread3 for example1 ,lincoln had of the gift of one of its bishops eighteen copes of red tinsel sattin with orphreys of gold4 ,though not often1 yet sometimes we read of a silken stuff called cadas1 carda1 carduus1 and used for inferior purposes4 ,the outside silk on the cocoon is of a poor quality compared with the inner filaments1 from which it is kept apart in reeling1 and set aside for other uses4 ,we find mention of such cloths as belonging to the cathedrals of ,exeter and ,st4 ,paul's in the thirteenth century4 ,more frequently1 instead of being spun1 it served as wadding in dress3 on the barons at the siege of ,caerlaverock might be seen many a rich gambeson garnished with silk1 cadas1 and cotton3 ,meint riche gamboison guarni ,de soi1 de cadas e coton4 ,the quantity of card purchased for the royal wardrobe1 in the year #abii1 is set forth in the ,liber quotidianus4 ,camoca1 camoka1 camak1 as the name is differently written1 was a textile of which in ,england we hear nothing before the latter end of the fourteenth century4 ,no sooner did it make its appearance than this camoca rose into great repute2 the ,church used it for her vestments1 and royalty employed it for dress as well as in adorning palaces1 especially in draping beds of state4 ,in the year #ache1 besides some smaller articles1 the royal chapel in ,windsor castle had a whole set of vestments and other ornaments for the altar1 of white camoca2 and our princes must have arrayed themselves1 on grand occasions1 in the same material2 for ,herod1 in one of the ,coventry mysteries--the adoration of the ,magi--is made to boast of himself3 8,in kyrtyl of cammaka kynge am ,i cladde40 ,but it was in draping its state-beds that our ancient royalty showed its affection for camoca4 ,edward the ,black ,prince bequeaths to his confessor 8a large bed of red camoca with our arms embroidered at each corner10 and the prince's mother leaves to another of her sons 8a bed of red camak40 ,edward lord ,despencer1 in #acge1 wills to his wife 8my great bed of blue camaka1 with griffins1 also another bed of camaka1 striped with white and black40 ,what may have been the real texture of this stuff1 thought so magnificent1 we do not positively know1 but it was probably woven of fine camels' hair and silk1 and of ,asiatic workmanship4 ,from this mixed web we pass to another more precious1 the ,cloth of ,tars2 which we presume to have been the forerunner of the now celebrated cashmere1 and together with silk made of the downy wool of goats reared in several parts of ,asia1 but especially in ,tibet4 ,velvet is a silken textile1 the history of which has still to be written4 ,of the country whence it first came1 or the people who were the earliest to hit upon the happy way of weaving it1 we know nothing4 ,a very old piece was in the beautiful crimson cope embroidered by ,english hands in the fourteenth century1 now kept at the college of ,mount ,st4 ,mary1 ,chesterfield4 ,we are probably indebted to central ,asia1 or perhaps ,china1 for velvet as well as satin2 and among the earliest places in ,europe where it was manufactured1 were perhaps first the south of ,spain1 and then ,lucca4 ,in the earliest of the inventories which we have of church vestments1 that of ,exeter cathedral1 #abgg1 velvet is not spoken of2 but in ,st4 ,paul's1 ,london1 ,a4 ,d4 #abie1 there is some notice of velvet with its kindred web 8fustian10 for chasubles4 ,velvet is for the first time mentioned at ,exeter in #acbg1 but as in two pieces not made up1 of which some yards had been then sold for vestment-making4 ,from the middle of the fourteenth century velvet is of common occurrence4 ,the name itself of velvet1 8velluto10 seems to point out ,italy as the market through which we got it from the east1 for the word in ,italian indicates something which is hairy or shaggy1 like an animal's skin4 ,fustian was known at the end of the thirteenth century4 ,st4 ,paul's cathedral at that date had 8a white chasuble of fustian40 ,in an ,english sermon preached at the beginning of the same century great blame is found with the priest who had his chasuble made of middling fustian3 8e meshakele of medeme fustian40 ,as then wove1 fustian had a short nap on it1 and one of the domestic uses to which during the middle ages it had been put was for bed clothes1 as thick undersheets4 ,lady ,bargavenny bequeaths1 in #adcd1 8,a bed of gold of swans1 two pair sheets of raynes 7fine linen1 made at ,rheims71 a pair of fustians1 six pair of other sheets1 etc40 ,it is not unlikely that this stuff may have hinted to the ,italians the way of weaving silk in the same manner1 and so of producing velvet4 ,other nations took up the manufacture1 and the weaving of velvet was wonderfully improved4 ,it became diapered and1 upon a ground of silk or of gold1 the pattern came out in a bold manner1 with a raised pile4 ,at last1 the most beautiful of all manners of diapering1 namely1 making the pattern to show itself in a double pile1 one pile higher than the other and of the same tint1 now1 as formerly1 known as velvet upon velvet1 was brought to its highest perfection2 and velvets in this fine style were wrought in greatest excellence in ,italy1 in ,spain and in ,flanders4 ,our old inventories often specify these differences in the making of the web4 ,york cathedral had 8four copes of crimson velvet plaine1 with orphreys of clothe of goulde1 for standers20 8a greene cushion of raised velvet20 and 8a cope of purshed velvet 7redd730 8purshed0 means that the velvet was raised in a network pattern4 ,diaper was a silken fabric1 held everywhere in high estimation during many hundred years1 both abroad and in ,england4 ,we know this from documents beginning with the eleventh century3 but the origin of the name is uncertain4 ,possibly1 in order to indicate a one-coloured yet patterned silk1 which diaper is1 the ,byzantine ,greeks of the early middle ages invented the term 1 diaspron1 from 1 ,i separate1 to signify 8what distinguishes or separates itself from things about it10 as every pattern does on a one-coloured silk4 ,with this textile the ,latins took the name for it from the ,greeks and called it 8diasper10 which in ,english has been moulded into 8diaper40 ,in the year #ajff the empress ,agnes gave to ,monte ,cassino a diaper-chasuble of cloth of gold1 8planetam diasperam40 ,this early mention of the name seems to be a conclusive argument against those writers who derive it from ,yprs1 in ,flanders2 a town celebrated for linen manufactures at a somewhat later period3 yet even then1 according to ,chaucer1 rivalled by workwomen in ,england4 ,he tells us of the 8good wif of ,bathe0 that ,of cloth-making she hadde swiche an haunt ,she passed hem of ,ipres and of ,gaunt4 ,in the ,south ,kensington collection1 no4 #abgj shows how these cloths were wrought2 and it would seem that cloth of gold was often diapered with a pattern1 at least in the time of ,chaucer1 who describes it on the housing of a king's horse3 ----trapped in stele1 ,covered with cloth of gold diapred wele4 ,church inventories make frequent mention of such diapered silks for vestments4 ,exeter cathedral had a cope of white diaper with half moons1 the gift of bishop ,bartholomew1 in #aafa4 ,sometimes the pattern of the diapering is noticed2 for instance1 at ,st4 ,paul's1 8a chasuble of white diaper1 with coupled parrots in places1 among branches40 ,probably the most elaborate specimen of diaper-weaving on record is that which ,edmund1 earl of ,cornwall1 gave to the same cathedral2 8a cope of a certain diaper of ,antioch colour covered with trees and diapered birds1 of which the heads1 breasts and feet1 as well as the flowers on the tress1 were woven in gold thread40 ,by degrees the word 8diaper0 became widened in its meaning4 ,not only all sorts of textile1 whether of silk1 of linen1 or of worsted1 but the walls of a room were said to be diapered when the self-same ornament was repeated and sprinkled well over it4 ,thus1 in #8the squire of low degree1' the king of ,hungary promises his daughter a chair or carriage1 that ,shal be coverd wyth velvette reede ,and clothes of fyne golde al about your heede1 ,with damaske whyte and azure blewe ,well dyaperd with lylles newe4 ,the bow for arrows held by ,sweet-looking is1 in ,chaucer's #8,romaunt of the rose1' described as painted well1 and thwitten ,and over all diapred and written1 etc4 ,so now1 we call our fine table linen 8diaper0 because it is figured with flowers and fruits4 ,sometimes silks diapered were called 8fygury30 as the cope mentioned in the ,york fabric rolls1 8una capa de sateyn fygury40 ,illustration3 ,ladies spinning and weaving2 from a manuscript of the fifteenth century4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,there are some very ancient names1 distinguishing different textiles1 which require notice3 such as 8chrysoclavus10 8stauraccin10 8polystaurium10 8gammadion0 or 8gammadi10 8de quadruplo10 8de octoplo10 and 8de fundato40 ,textiles of silk and gold are1 over and over again1 enumerated as then commonly known under such names1 in the #8,liber pontificalis seu de gestis ,romanorum pontificum3' a book of great value for every student of early ,christian art-work1 and in particular of textiles and embroidery4 ,the ,chrysoclavus1 or golden nail-head1 was a remnant which lingered a long time among the ornaments embroidered on ecclesiastical vestments and robes for royal wear of that once so coveted 8latus clavus10 or broad nail-head-like purple round patch worn upon the outward garment of the old ,roman dignitaries4 ,in the court of ,byzantium this mark of dignity was elevated1 from being purple on white1 into gold upon purple4 ,hence it came that all rich purple silks1 woven or embroidered with the 8clavus0 in gold1 were known from their pattern as gold nail-headed1 or chrysoclavus2 and silken textiles of ,tyrian dye1 sprinkled all over with large round spots1 were once in great demand4 ,pope ,leo in #gie1 among his several other gifts to the churches at ,rome1 bestowed a great number of altar frontals made of this purple and gold fabric1 as we are told by ,anastasius in the ,liber pontificalis4 ,sometimes these 8clavi0 were made so large that upon their golden ground an event in the life of a saint or the saint's head was embroidered1 and then the whole piece was called 8sigillata10 or sealed4 ,stauracin or 8stauracinus10 taking its name from the ,greek for 8cross10 was a silken stuff figured with small plain crosses1 and therefore from their number sometimes farther distinguished by the word signifying that meaning in ,greek1 ,polystauron4 ,the crosses woven on the various fabrics were sometimes of the simplest shape2 oftener they were designed after an elaborate type with a symbolic meaning about it that afforded an especial name to the stuffs upon which they were figured4 ,this name ,gammadion1 or ,gammadi1 was a word applied as often to the pattern upon silks as to the figures wrought upon gold and silver4 ,in the ,greek alphabet the capital letter gamma takes the shape of an exact right angle thus1 4 ,being so1 many writers have seen in it an emblem of our ,lord as our corner-stone4 ,following this idea artists at a very early period struck out a way of forming the cross after several shapes by various combinations with it of this letter 4 ,four of these gammas put so2 ,illustration fall into the shape of the so-called ,greek cross2 and in this form it was woven upon the textiles denominated stauracin2 or patterned with a cross4 ,being one of the four same-shaped elements of the cross's figure1 the part was significant of the whole3 and as an emblem of the corner-stone1 our ,lord1 the gamma or 1 was frequently shown at one edge of the tunic worn by the apostles in ancient mosaics2 wherein sometimes we find1 in place of the single gamma1 the figure ,h2 another combination of the four gammas in the cross4 ,whatsoever1 therefore1 whether of metal or of silk1 was found to be marked in this or any other way of putting the gammas together1 or with only a single one1 was called 8gammadion10 or 8gammadi40 ,ancient ingenuity for throwing its favourite gamma into other combinations1 and thus bringing out pretty and graceful patterns to be wrought on all sorts of work for ecclesiastical use1 did not stop here4 ,in the ,liber pontificalis of ,anastasius we meet not unfrequently with accounts of vestments1 etc4 8de stauracin seu quadrapolis02 or 8de quadrapolo02 or 8de octapolo40 ,the author here evidently means to imply a distinction between a something amounting to four1 and to eight1 in or upon these textiles4 ,it cannot be to say that one fabric was woven with four1 the other with eight threads2 had that been so meant1 the fact would probably then have been explained by a word constructed like 8examitus10 p4 #bd4 ,as the contrast is not in the texture it must be in the pattern of the stuffs2 that is1 in the number of the crosses3 and we further see why 8stauracin0 and 8de quadrapolis0 are interchangeable terms4 ,at the end of ,du ,cange's glossary is an engraving of a work of ,greek art2 plate ,,ix4 ,here ,st4 ,john ,chrysostom stands between ,st4 ,nicholas and ,st4 ,basil4 ,all three are arrayed in their liturgical garments1 which being figured with crosses are of the textile called of old 8stauracin20 but there is a marked difference in the way in which the crosses are inserted4 ,the crosses are arranged upon the vestment of ,st4 ,john thus2 ,illustration ,st4 ,nicholas and ,st4 ,basil have chasubles which are not only worked all over with crosses made with gammas1 but are surrounded with other gammas joined so as to edge in the crosses1 thus2 ,illustration ,as four gammas only are necessary to form all the crosses upon ,st4 ,john's vestment1 we there see the textile called 8stauracin de quadruplo10 or the stuff figured with a cross of four 7gammas72 while as eight of these letters are required for the pattern on the others1 we have in them an example of the 8stauracin de octapolo10 or 8octapulo10 a fabric with a pattern composed of eight gammas4 ,a far more ancient and universal shape fashioned out of the repetition of the same letter 1 is that known as ,gammadion2 or1 as commonly called at one time in ,england1 the ,filfot4 ,several pieces in the ,south ,kensington collection exhibit on them some modification of it3 for example1 nos4 #abfa1 #acbe1 #gjeb1 #hbi;,a1 #hcje1 #hfce1 and #hfeb4 ,its figure is made out of the usual four gammas1 so that they should fall together thus2 ,illustration ,of silks patterned with the plain ,greek cross or 8stauracin0 there are also several examples in the same collection2 and though not of the remotest period are interesting4 ,no4 #hbcd1 perhaps wrought in ,sicily by the ,greeks brought as prisoners from the ,morea in the twelfth century1 is not without some value4 ,in the chapter library at ,durham may be seen 7as we learn from ,mr4 ,raine7 an example of ,byzantine stauracin 8colours purple and crimson2 the only prominent ornament a cross--often repeated1 even upon the small portion which remains40 ,those who have seen in ,st4 ,peter's sacristy at ,rome that beautiful light-blue dalmatic said to have been worn by ,charlemagne when he sang the gospel1 vested as a deacon1 on the day he was crowned emperor1 will remember how plentifully it is sprinkled with crosses between its exquisite embroideries1 so as to make the vestment a real 8stauracin40 ,it has been well given by ,sulpiz ,boissere in his #8,kaiser dalmatika in der ,st4 ,peterskirche2' but far better by ,dr4 ,bock in his splendid work on the coronation robes of the ,german emperors4 ,silks called de fundato1 from the pattern woven on them1 are frequently spoken of by ,anastasius4 ,from the text of that writer1 and from passages in other authors of his time1 it would seem that the silks themselves were dyed of the richest purple and figured with gold in the pattern of netting4 ,as one of the meanings for the word 8funda0 is a fisherman's net1 rich textiles so figured in gold were denominated 8de fundato0 or netted4 ,we gather also from ,fortunatus that the costly purple-dyed silks called 8blatta0 were always interwoven with gold4 ,this net-pattern lingered long and1 no doubt1 we find it under a new name 8laqueatus0--meshed--upon a cope belonging to the church of ,st4 ,paul's1 ,london1 #abie3 where an inventory1 printed by ,dugdale1 includes a cope of baudekin with fir-cones 8in campis laqueatis40 ,modifications of this very old pattern may be seen at ,south ,kensington1 nos4 #abfd1 #abff1 and #hbcd4 ,in the diapered pattern on some of the cloth of gold found lately in the grave of an archbishop1 buried at ,york about the end of the thirteenth century1 the same netting is discernible4 ,stragulat1 striped or barred silks1 were at one time in much request4 ,frequent mention is made of them in the ,exeter inventories2 for example1 in #abgg1 there were two palls of baudekin1 one 8stragulata40 ,the illuminations in the manuscript in the ,harley collection at the ,british museum of the deposition of ,richard the second affords us instances of this textile4 ,the young man to the right sitting on the ground at the archbishop's sermon is entirely1 hood and all1 arrayed in this striped silk2 and at the altar1 where ,northumberland is swearing on the eucharist1 the priest who is saying mass wears a chasuble of the same stuff4 ,old ,st4 ,paul's had an offertory-veil of the same pattern2 8stragulatum0 with the stripes red and green4 ,at the end of the twelfth century there was brought to ,england1 from ,greece1 a sort of precious silk named there ,imperial4 ,ralph1 dean of ,st ,paul's cathedral1 tells us that ,william de ,magna ,villa1 on coming home from his pilgrimage to the holy land about #aagh1 made presents to several churches of cloths which at ,constantinople were called 8,imperial40 ,we are told by ,roger ,wendover1 and after him by ,matthew ,paris1 that the apparition of king ,john was dressed in royal robes made of the stuff they call imperial4 ,in the inventory of ,st4 ,paul's1 drawn up in #abie1 four tunicles 7vestments for subdeacons and lower ministers at the altar7 are mentioned as made of this imperial4 ,no colour is specified1 except in the one instance of the silk being marbled2 and the patterns are noticed as of red and green1 with lions woven in gold4 ,it seems not to have been thought good enough for the more important vestments1 such as chasubles and copes4 ,probably the name was not derived from its colour 7supposed royal purple7 nor its costliness1 but for quite another reason3 woven at a workshop kept up by the ,byzantine emperors1 like the ,gobelins is to-day in ,paris1 and bearing about it some small though noticeable mark1 it took the designation of 8,imperial40 ,we know it was partly wrought with gold2 but that its tint was always some shade of the imperial purple is a gratuitous assumption4 ,in ,france this textile was in use as late as the second half of the fifteenth century1 but looked upon as old4 ,at ,york somewhat later1 in the early part of the sixteenth1 one of its deans bestowed on that cathedral 8two 7blue7 copes of clothe imperialle40 ,baudekin was a costly stuff much employed and often spoken of in our literature during many years of the medival period4 ,ciclatoun1 as we have already remarked1 was the usual term during centuries throughout western ,europe by which the showy golden textiles were called4 ,when1 however1 ,bagdad or ,baldak held for no short length of time the lead all over ,asia in weaving fine silks1 and in especial golden stuffs shot as now in different colours1 tinted cloths of gold became known1 and more particularly among the ,english1 as 8baldakin10 8baudekin10 or 8baudkyn10 or silks from ,baldak4 ,at last the earlier term 8ciclatoun0 dropped out of use4 ,remembering this the reader will more readily understand several otherwise puzzling passages in our old writers1 as well as in the inventories of royal furniture and church vestments4 ,kings and the nobility affected much this rich stuff for the garments worn on high occasions4 ,when ,henry the third knighted ,william of ,valence1 in #abdg1 he had on a robe of cloth of gold made of baudekin2 8facta de pretiosissimo baldekino40 ,in the year #abei the master of ,sherborn hospital in the north bequeathed to that house a cope made of the like stuff3 8de panno ad aurum scilicet baudekin40 ,vestments of this material are frequently mentioned in the old church inventories4 ,these ,bagdad or ,baldak silks1 with a weft of gold1 known among us as 8baudekins0 were often woven very large in size1 and applied here in ,england to especial ritual purposes4 ,as a thanks-offering after a safe return home from a journey they were brought and given to the altar2 at the solemn burial of our kings and queens and other great people1 the mourners1 when offertory time came1 went to the hearse and threw a baudekin of costly texture over the coffin4 ,we may learn the ceremonial from the descriptions of many of our medival funerals4 ,at the obsequies of ,henry the seventh in ,westminster abbey3--8,twoe herauds came to the duke of ,buck4 and to the earles1 and conveyed them into the revestrie where they did receive certen palles which everie of them did bringe solemly betwene theire hands and comminge in order one before another as they were in degree unto the said herse1 thay kissed theire said palles and delivered them unto the said heraudes which laide them uppon the kyngs corps1 in this manner3 the palle which was first offered by the duke of ,buck4 was laid on length on the said corps1 and the residewe were laid acrosse1 as thick as they might lie40 ,in the same church at the burial of ,anne of ,cleves in #aeeg1 a like ceremonial of carrying cloth-of-gold palls to the hearse was followed4 ,so also the religious guilds1 or other companies1 in the middle ages kept palls to be thrown over the bodies of all brothers or sisters at their burial1 however lowly may have been their rank4 ,the word 8baudekin0 itself became at last enlarged in its meaning4 ,so warm1 so mellow1 so fast were the tones of crimson which the dyers of ,bagdad knew how to give their silks that1 without a thread of gold in them1 the mere glowing tints of the plain crimson silken webs won for themselves the name of baudekins4 ,furthermore1 when they quite ceased to be partly woven in gold and from their consequent lower price and cheapness came into use for cloths of estate over royal thrones1 the canopy hung over the high altar of a church acquired and yet keeps the appellation 7at least in ,italy7 of 8baldachino40 ,how very full in size1 how costly in materials and embroidery1 must have sometimes been the cloth of estate spread overhead and behind the throne of our kings1 may be gathered from the privy purse expenses of ,henry the seventh2 wherein this item occurs3 8,to ,antony ,corsse for a cloth of an estate conteyning #dg yerds1 #aa the yerd1 #ebb #ajs40 ,canopies of this kind are still occasionally to be seen in the throne-room of some of the ,roman palaces1 whose owners have the old feudal right to the cloth of estate4 ,the custom itself is thus noticed by ,chaucer3 ,yet nere and nere forth in ,i gan me dress ,into an hall of noble apparaile1 ,with arras spred1 and cloth of gold ,i gesse1 ,and other silke of easier availe3 ,under the cloth of their estate sauns faile ,the king and quene there sat as ,i beheld4 ,this same rich golden stuff had a third and even better known name1 to be found all through our early literature as ,cloth of ,pall4 ,the state cloak 7in ,latin pallium1 in ,anglo-saxon paell71 worn alike by men as well as women1 was always made of the most gorgeous stuff that could be found4 ,from a very early period in the medival ages golden webs shot in silk with one or other of the various colours1 occasionally blue but oftener crimson1 were sought for through so many years1 and everywhere1 that at last each sort of cloth of gold had given to it the name of 8pall10 no matter the immediate purpose to which it might have to be applied or after what fashion4 ,vestments for sacred use and garments for knights and ladies were equally made of it4 ,the word is common enough in the church inventories4 ,as to worldly use1 the king's daughter in the #8,squire of low degree' had ,mantell of ryche degre ,purple palle and armyne fre3 and in the poem of ,sir ,isumbras-- ,the rich queen in hall was set2 ,knights her served1 at hand and feet ,in rich robes of pall4 ,for ceremonial receptions our kings used to order that every house should be 8curtained0 along the streets which the procession would have to take through ,london1 8incortinaretur40 ,how this was done we learn from ,chaucer in the #8,knight's tale'2 ,by ordinance1 thurghout the cite large ,hanged with cloth of gold1 and not with sarge2 as well as from the #8,life of ,alexander3' ,al theo city was by-hong ,of riche baudekyns and pellis 7palls7 among4 ,hence1 when ,elizabeth1 queen of ,henry the seventh1 8proceeded from the towre throwge the citie of ,london 7for her coronation7 to ,westminster1 al the strets ther wich she shulde passe by1 were clenly dressed and besene with clothes of tappestreye and arras4 ,and some strets1 as ,cheepe1 hangged with rich clothes of gold1 velvetts1 and silks1 etc40 ,machyn in his diary tells us that as late as #aeee 8,bow chyrche in ,london was hangyd with cloth of gold and with ryche hares 7arras740 ,both in ,england and abroad1 it was customary in the middle ages to provide richly decorated palls with which to cover the biers of dead people3 more especially the members of various guilds4 ,some of these are still existing2 one1 belonging to the ,london fishmongers' company2 another1 of the fifteenth century1 is in the museum at ,amiens4 ,illustration3 ,mortuary ,cloth from the church of ,folleville 7,somme71 now in the museum at ,amiens4 ,a celebrated ,mohammedan writer1 ,ebn-,khaldoun1 who died about the middle of the fifteenth century1 while speaking of that spot in an ,arab palace1 the 8,tiraz10 so designated from the name itself of the rich silken stuffs therein woven1 tells us that one of the privileges of the ,saracenic kings was to have the name of the prince himself1 or the special ensign chosen by his house1 woven into the stuffs intended for his personal wear1 whether wrought of silk1 brocade1 or even coarser kind of silk4 ,while gearing his loom the workman contrived that the letters of the title should come out either in threads of gold1 or in silk of another colour from that of the ground4 ,the royal apparel thus bore about it its own especial marks1 and distinguished not only the sovereign but those personages around him who were allowed by their official rank in his court to wear it2 or those again upon whom he had bestowed rich garments as especial tokens of the imperial favour1 like the modern pelisse of honour4 ,before the time of ,mahomet the eastern princes used to have woven upon the stuffs wrought for their personal use1 or as gifts to others1 their own especial likeness1 or at times the peculiar ensign of their royalty4 ,but afterwards the custom was changed and names were substituted1 to which words were added foreboding good or certain formulas of praise4 ,wherever the ,moslem ruled the practice was introduced2 and thus1 whether in ,asia1 in ,egypt1 or other parts of ,africa1 or in ,moorish ,spain1 the silken garments for royalty and its favourites showed woven in them the prince's name1 or his chosen text4 ,the robes wrought in ,egypt for the far-famed ,saladin1 and worn by him as caliph1 bore very conspicuously upon them the name of that conqueror4 ,in the old lists of church ornaments frequent mention is found of vestments inscribed with words in real or pretended ,arabic2 and when ,st4 ,paul's inventory more than once speaks of silken stuffs 8de opere ,saraceno0 it is not improbable that some at least of those textiles were so called from having ,arabic characters woven on them4 ,such1 too1 were the letters on the red pall figured with elephants and a bird1 belonging in the fourteenth century to the cathedral at ,exeter4 ,somewhat later1 our trade with the south of ,spain led us to call such words on woven stuffs ,moorish3 thus1 ,joane lady ,bergavenny bequeaths 7#adcd7 a 8hullyng 7hangings for a hall7 of black red and green1 with morys letters1 etc40 ,illustration3 ,silk damask 7,sicilian7 with imitated ,arabic letters4 ,the weaving of letters in textiles is neither a ,moorish nor ,saracenic invention2 ages before1 the ancient ,parthians used to do so1 as we learn from ,pliny3 8,parthi literas vestibus intexunt40 ,a curious illustration of the frequent use of silken stuffs bearing letters1 borrowed from some real or supposed oriental alphabet1 is the custom which many of the illuminators had of figuring on frontals and altar canopies1 evidently intended to represent silk1 meaningless words2 and the artists of ,italy up to the middle of the sixteenth century did the same on the hems of the garments worn by great personages1 in their paintings4 ,the eagle1 single and double-headed1 may frequently be found in the patterns of old silks4 ,in all ages certain birds of prey have been looked upon by heathens as ominous for good or evil4 ,upon the standard which was carried at the head of the ,danish invaders of ,northumbria was figured the raven1 the bird of ,odin4 ,this banner had been worked by the daughters of ,regnar ,lodbrok1 in one noontide's while2 and it is recorded by ,asser that if victory was to follow1 the raven would seem to stand erect and as if about to soar before the warriors2 but if a defeat was impending1 the raven hung his head and drooped his wings4 ,another and a more important flag1 that which ,harold fought under at ,hastings1 is described by ,malmesbury as having been embroidered in gold with the figure of a man in the act of fighting1 and studded with precious stones1 woven sumptuously4 ,in still earlier ages the eagle1 known for its daring and its lofty flight1 was held in high repute2 as the emblem of power and victory it is to be seen flying in triumph over the head of some ,assyrian conqueror1 as may be witnessed in ,layard's work on ,nineveh4 ,homer calls it the bird of ,jove4 ,quintus ,curtius says that a golden eagle was carved upon the yoke of the war chariot of king ,darius1 as if outstretching his wings4 ,the ,romans bore the bird upon their standards2 the ,byzantine emperors kept it as their device2 and1 following the ancient traditions of the east and heedless of their law that forbids the making of images1 the ,saracens1 especially when they ruled in ,egypt1 had the eagle figured on several things about them1 sometimes single at others double-headed1 which latter was the shape adopted by the emperors of ,germany as their blazon2 in which form it is borne to this day by several reigning houses4 ,it is not strange1 therefore1 that eagles of both fashions are so often to be observed woven upon ancient and eastern textiles4 ,as early as #abgg ,exeter cathedral reckoned among her vestments several so decorated2 for instance1 a cope of baudekin figured with small two-headed eagles3 and ,richard king of ,germany1 brother of ,henry the third of ,england1 gave to the same church a cope of black baudekin with eagles in gold figured on it4 ,these are recorded in the inventories printed by ,dr4 ,oliver2 and many like instances might be noticed in other lists4 ,illustration3 ,ladies carding and spinning2 from ,,mss4 of the fourteenth century1 in the ,british museum4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,hitherto no attempt has been made to distribute olden silken textiles into various schools2 but the numerous specimens in the admirable collection at ,south ,kensington enable us to separate them into several groups--,chinese1 ,persian1 ,byzantine1 ,indian1 ,syrian1 ,saracenic1 ,moresco-,spanish1 ,sicilian1 ,italian1 ,flemish1 ,british1 and ,french4 ,we shall now especially refer to that collection4 ,the ,chinese examples are not many3 but1 whether plain or figured1 they are beautiful in their own way4 ,from all that we know of the people1 we are led to believe that their style two thousand years ago is the same still2 so that the web wrought by them this year or three hundred years ago1 like no4 #acfh1 would differ hardly in a line from their far earlier textiles2 of which ,dionysius ,periegetes wrote that 8the ,seres make precious figured garments1 resembling in colour the flowers of the field1 and rivalling in fineness the work of spiders40 ,in these stuffs1 warp and woof are of silk and both of the best kinds4 ,persian textiles1 as we see them at ,south ,kensington1 must also have been for many centuries very much the same in design and character4 ,sometimes the design is made up of various kinds of beasts and birds1 real or imaginary1 with the sporting cheetah spotted among them2 and the 8homa0 or tree of life conspicuously set above all4 ,in such cases we may conclude that the web was wrought by ,persians1 and generally the textile will be found in all its parts to be of the richest materials4 ,no4 #hbcc1 may be referred to as an illustration of the ,persian type4 ,a school of design sprung up among the ,byzantine ,greeks1 from the time when in the sixth century they began to weave home-grown silk1 which retained not a little of the beauty1 breadth1 and flowing outline of ancient art4 ,together with this1 a strong feeling of ,christianity showed itself as well in many of the subjects which they took out of holy writ as in the smaller elements of ornamentation4 ,figures1 whether of the human form or of beasts1 are given in a much larger and bolder size than on any other ancient stuffs4 ,though there are not many known specimens from the old looms of ,constantinople there is one1 no4 #gjcf1 showing ,samson wrestling with a lion1 which may serve as a type4 ,in the year #abie ,st4 ,paul's cathedral would seem to have possessed several vestments made of ,byzantine silk4 ,a very splendid dalmatic of ,byzantine silk1 probably of the twelfth century1 is preserved in the treasury of ,st4 ,peter's at ,rome4 ,the colour is dark blue1 and the embroidery in gold and colours4 ,the specimens at ,south ,kensington from the ,byzantine and later ,greek loom are not to be taken as by any means first-rate examples of its general production4 ,they are poor both in material and1 when figured1 in design4 ,there are1 however1 many pieces3 nos4 #abda1 #abdf1 #abeg1 #abff1 etc4 ,indian ancient silks and textiles have their own distinctive marks4 ,from ,marco ,polo1 who wandered much over the far east some time during the thirteenth century1 we learn that the weaving in ,india was done by women who wrought in silk and gold1 after a noble manner1 beasts and birds upon their webs3--8,le loro donne lavorano tutte cose a seta e ad oro e a uccelli e a bestie nobilmente e lavorano di cortine ed altre cose molto ricamente40 ,illustration3 ,byzantine ,dalmatic3 preserved at ,rome4 ,several of the ,south ,kensington medival specimens from ,tartary and ,india show well the truthfulness of the great ,venetian traveller1 while speaking about the textiles which he saw in those countries4 ,the dark purple piece of silk figured in gold with birds and beasts of the thirteenth century1 no4 #gjhf1 is good2 but better still is the shred of blue damask1 no4 #gjhg1 with its birds1 its animals1 and flowers wrought in gold and different coloured silks4 ,india1 also1 has ever been famous for its cloud-like transparent muslins1 which since ,marco ,polo's days have kept that oriental name1 through being better woven at ,mosul than elsewhere4 ,the ,syrian school is well represented at ,south ,kensington by several fine pieces4 ,the whole sea-board of that part of ,asia minor1 as well as far inland1 was inhabited by a mixture of ,jews1 ,christians1 and ,saracens2 and all were workers in silk4 ,the reputation of the neighbouring ,persia had of old stood high for the beauty and durability of her silken textiles1 which caused them to be sought for by the ,european traders4 ,persia's outlet to the west for her goods lay through the great commercial ports on the coast of ,syria4 ,persia was accustomed to set her own peculiar seal upon her figured webs1 by mingling in her designs the mystic 8homa30 and1 naturally1 this part of the pattern became in the eyes of ,europeans1 at first1 a sort of assurance that those goods had been made in ,persian looms4 ,by one of the tricks of imitation followed in that day1 as well as now1 the ,syrian designers threw the 8homa0 into their patterns4 ,borrowed perhaps originally from ,hebrew tradition1 this symbol of 8the tree of life0 had in it nothing objectionable either to the ,christian1 the ,jew1 or the ,moslem3 all three1 therefore1 took it and made it a leading portion of design in the patterns of their silks2 and hence it is that we meet with it so often4 ,though at the beginning1 it may be1 done with a fraudulent intention of palming on the world ,syrian for ,persian silks1 the ,syrians usually put also into their fabrics a something which declared the real workmanship4 ,mixed with the 8homa10 the 8cheetah10 and other elements of ,persian patterns1 the discordant two-handled vase or the badly-imitated ,arabic sentence betrays the textile to be not ,persian but ,syrian4 ,no4 #hcei exemplifies this4 ,furthermore1 probably in ignorance about ,persia's superstitious use of the 8homa0 in her old religious services1 the ,christian weavers of ,syria put the sign of the cross by the side of the 8tree of life30 as we find upon the piece of silk1 no4 #gjid4 ,another remarkable specimen of the ,syrian loom is no4 #gjcd1 whereon the ,nineveh lions come forth conspicuously4 ,as good examples of well-wrought 8diaspron0 or diaper1 no4 #hbcc and no4 #gjeb may be mentioned4 ,saracenic weaving1 as shown by the design upon the web1 is exemplified in several specimens at ,south ,kensington4 ,however much against what looks like a heedlessness of the teaching of the ,koran1 it is certain that the ,saracens1 those of the upper classes in particular1 felt no difficulty in wearing robes upon which animals and the likenesses of created things were woven2 with the strictest of their princes a double-headed eagle1 possibly borrowed from the crusaders1 was a royal heraldic device4 ,stuffs figured with birds and beasts1 with trees and flowers1 were not the less on that account of ,saracenic workmanship1 and meant for ,moslem wear4 ,what1 however1 may be chiefly looked for upon ,saracenic textures is a pattern consisting of longitudinal stripes of blue1 red1 green1 and other colour2 some of them charged with animals1 small in form2 some written1 in large ,arabic letters1 with a word or sentence4 ,moresco-,spanish or ,saracenic textiles wrought in ,spain1 though partaking of the striped pattern and bearing words in real or imitated ,arabic1 had some distinctions of their own4 ,the designs shown upon these stuffs are almost always drawn out of strap-work1 reticulations1 or some combination of geometrical lines1 amid which are occasionally to be found different forms of conventional flowers4 ,sometimes1 but very rarely1 the crescent moon is figured as in the curious piece1 no4 #hfci4 ,the colours of these silks are usually either a fine crimson or a deep blue with almost always a fine toned yellow as a ground4 ,but one remarkable feature in these ,moresco-,spanish textiles is the presence of the ingenious imitation 7before spoken of7 of gold2 for which shreds of gilded parchment cut up into narrow flat strips are substituted and woven with the silk4 ,this1 when fresh1 must have looked very bright1 and have given the web all the appearance of the favourite stuffs called here in ,england 8tissues40 ,the fraud1 as already explained1 if fraud it were1 is not easily discovered without a magnifying glass4 ,a guide may be found in the blackness of the gold4 ,nos4 #gjie1 #heij1 and #hfci1 are examples of this gilded vellum4 ,the ,sicilian school strongly marked wide differences between itself and all the others which had lived before2 and the history of its loom is as interesting as it is varied4 ,the first to teach the natives of ,sicily how to rear the silkworm and spin its silk were1 as it would seem1 the ,mahomedans1 who coming over from ,africa brought with them1 besides the art of weaving silken textiles1 a knowledge of the fauna of that vast continent--its giraffes1 its antelopes1 its gazelles1 its lions1 its elephants4 ,these invaders told them also of the parrots of ,india and the hunting sort of leopard1--the cheetahs2 and when the stuff was wrought for ,european wear both beast and bird were imaged upon the web1 and at the same time a word in ,arabic was woven in4 ,like all other ,saracens1 those in ,sicily loved to mingle gold in their tissues2 and1 to spare the silk1 cotton thread was not unfrequently worked up in the warp4 ,when1 therefore1 we meet with beasts taken from the fauna of ,africa1 such1 especially1 as the giraffe and the several classes of the antelope family1 with perhaps also an ,arabic motto1 and part of the pattern wrought in gold1 as well as cotton in the warp1 we may fairly take the specimen as a piece of ,sicily's work in its first period of weaving silk4 ,the second epoch was when in the twelfth century ,roger1 king of ,sicily1 took ,corinth1 ,thebes1 and ,athens2 from each of which cities he led away captives all the men and women he could find who knew how to weave silks1 and carried them to ,palermo4 ,these ,grecian new comers brought fresh designs which were adopted sometimes wholly1 at others but in part and mixed up with the older ,saracenic style4 ,in this second period of the island's loom we discover what traces the ,byzantine school impressed upon ,sicilian silks1 and helped so much to alter the type of their first designs4 ,on one silk1 the pattern is a grotesque mask amid the graceful twinings of luxuriant foliage1 such as might have been then found upon many a fragment of old ,greek sculpture2 this may be seen on no4 #hbda2 on another1 a sovereign on horseback wearing the royal crown and carrying a hawk upon his wrist1 as in no4 #hehi2 on a third1 no4 #hbcd1 is the ,greek cross1 with a pattern much like the old netted or 8de fundato0 kind which has been described1 p4 #ch4 ,but ,sicily's third is quite her own peculiar style4 ,at the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth century she struck into an untried path4 ,without throwing aside the old elements employed by the ,mahomedans ,sicily put with them the emblem of ,christianity1 the cross1 in various forms1 on some occasions with the letter ,v4 four times repeated4 ,from the east to the uttermost western borders of the ,mediterranean the weavers of every country had been in the habit of figuring upon their silks those beasts and birds they saw around them3 the ,tartar1 the ,indian1 and the ,persian gave us the parrot and the cheetah2 the ,africans1 the giraffe and the gazelle2 the people of each continent1 the lions1 the elephants1 the eagles1 and the other birds common to both4 ,from the sculpture of the ,greeks and ,romans the ,sicilians could have easily copied the fabled griffin and the centaur2 but it was left for their own wild imaginings to figure such an odd compound in one being as the animal--half elephant1 half griffin--which we see in no4 #abhh4 ,their daring flights of fancy in coupling the difficult with the beautiful are curious2 in one piece large eagles are perched in pairs with a radiating sun between them1 and beneath are dogs1 in pairs1 running with heads turned back2 in another1 running harts have caught one of their hind legs in a cord tied to their collar1 and an eagle swoops down upon them2 and the same animal1 in another place on the same piece1 has switched its tail into the last link of a chain fastened to its neck2 on a third sample are harts1 the letter ,m floriated1 winged lions1 crosses floriated1 crosses sprouting out on two sides with fleurs-de-lis1 and four-legged monsters1 some like winged lions1 some biting their tails4 ,hardly elsewhere to be found are certain elements peculiar to the patterns upon silks from medival ,sicily2 such1 for instance1 as harts1 and demi-dogs with very large wings1 both animals having remarkably long manes streaming far behind them2 or harts lodged under green trees in a park with paling about it4 ,the hawk1 the eagle1 double and single headed1 or the parrot1 may be found on stuffs all over the east2 not so1 however1 the swan1 which was a favourite with ,sicilians and may be seen often drawn with much gracefulness4 ,the ,sicilians showed their strong affection for certain plants and flowers4 ,on a great many of the silks in the ,south ,kensington collection from ,palermitan looms we see figured upon a tawny coloured grounding beautifully drawn foliage in green2 sometimes vine leaves1 sometimes what looks like parsley1 so curled1 crispy1 and serrated are its leaves4 ,another peculiarity is the introduction of the letter ,u1 repeated so as to mark the feathering upon the tails of birds2 or to fall into the shape of an ,o2 as in nos4 #heia1 #heii4 ,whether it was that the crusaders made ,sicily so often the halting spot on their way to the holy land1 or that knights crowded there for other purposes1 and thus dazzled the eyes of the islanders with the bravery of their armorial bearings1 it is certain that the ,sicilians were particularly given to introduce many heraldic charges--wyverns1 eagles1 lions rampant1 and griffins--into their designs4 ,the occasions in which such elements of blazoning come in are so numerous that one of the features belonging to the ,sicilian loom in its third period is that1 bating tinctures1 it is decidedly heraldic4 ,illustration3 ,silk damask--,sicilian3 fourteenth century4 ,all this beauty and happiness of invention1 set forth by bold1 free1 spirited drawing1 were bestowed too often upon stuffs of a very poor inferior quality1 in which the gold if not actually base was always scanty1 and a good deal of cotton was wrought up with the silk4 ,till within a few years past the royal manufactory at ,sta4 ,leucia1 near ,naples1 produced silks of remarkable richness2 and the piece1 no4 #gba1 does credit to its loom1 as it wove in the seventeenth century4 ,northern ,italy was not idle2 and the looms which she set up in several of her great cities1 in ,lucca1 ,florence1 ,genoa1 ,venice1 and ,milan1 earned for themselves a good repute and a wide trade for their gold and silver tissues1 their velvets1 and their figured silken textiles4 ,yet1 in the same way as each of these free states had its own accent and provincialisms in speech1 so also had it a something often thrown into its designs and style of drawing which told of the place and province whence the textiles came4 ,lucca at an early period made herself known in ,europe for her textiles2 but her workmen1 like those of ,sicily1 seem to have thought themselves bound to follow the style brought by the ,saracens of figuring parrots and peacocks1 gazelles1 and even cheetahs1 as we see in the specimens no4 #hbeh and no4 #hfaf4 ,but with these eastern animals she mixed up emblems of her own1 such as angels clothed in white4 ,she soon dropped what was oriental from her patterns which she began to draw in a larger1 bolder manner1 and showing an inclination for light blue as a colour4 ,as in other places abroad so at ,lucca cloths of gold and of silver were often wrought1 and the ,lucchese cloths of this costly sort were in much request in ,england during the fourteenth century4 ,in all likelihood they were not of the deadened but the sparkling kind1 afterwards especially known as 8tissue40 ,exeter cathedral1 in #acbg1 had a cope of silver tissue1 or cloth of ,lucca3--8de panno de ,luk40 ,at a later date1 belonging to the same church1 were two fine chasubles--one purple1 the other red--of the same glittering stuff3 8de purpyll panno40 ,york cathedral possessed many copes of tissue shot with every colour required by its ritual1 and among them were 8a reade cope of clothe of tishewe with orphry of pearl1 a cope with orphrey1 a cope of raised clothe of goulde10 making a distinction between tissue and the ordinary cloth of gold4 ,in the wardrobe accounts of ,edward the second the golden tissue1 or ,lucca cloth1 is several times mentioned4 ,whether the ceremony happened to be sad or gay this glittering web was used2 palls made of ,lucca cloth were1 at masses for the dead1 strewed over the corpse2 at marriages the care-cloth was made of the same stuff3 thus when ,richard de ,arundell and ,isabella1 ,hugh le ,despenser's daughter1 had been wedded at the door of the royal chapel1 the veil held spread out over their heads as they knelt inside the chancel during the nuptial mass was of ,lucca cloth4 ,about the same time velvet became known1 and came into use both for vestments and for personal wear2 and ,lucca probably was among the first places in ,europe to weave it4 ,the specimens at ,south ,kensington of this fine textile from ,lucchese looms1 though few in comparison with those from ,genoa1 still have a certain historical value for the ,english workman3 no4 #aceg1 with its olive green plain silken ground and trailed all over with flowers and leaves in a somewhat deeper tone1 and the earlier example1 no4 #hcbb1 with its ovals and feathering stopped with graceful cusps and artichokes1 afford us good instances of what ,lucca could produce in the way of artistic velvets4 ,genoa1 though in medival times not so conspicuous as she afterwards became for her textile industry1 encouraged over her narrow territory the weaving of silken webs4 ,of these the earliest mention we have found is in the inventory of vestments belonging to ,st4 ,paul's cathedral1 ,london1 in #abie3 besides a cope of ,genoa cloth that church had1 of the same manufacture1 a hanging patterned with wheels and two-headed birds4 ,though this first description be scant1 we may reasonably gather that the ,genoese cloths must have resembled the textiles wrought at ,lucca4 ,genoa still keeps up her old reputation for beautiful velvets4 ,in the collection at ,south ,kensington there are examples of every kind of ,genoese velvets2 some with a smooth unbroken surface1 some elaborately patterned and showing1 together with wonderful skill in the weaving1 much beauty of design4 ,some are raised or cut1 the design being worked in a pile standing well up by itself out of a flat ground of silk1 either of the same or of another colour1 and not unfrequently wrought in gold4 ,no4 #ggie is an example of a very costly kind2 in which the ground is velvet1 and again of velvet is the pattern itself but raised one pile higher than the other1 so as to show its form and shape distinctly4 ,no4 #hcbc shows how the design was worked in various coloured velvet4 ,this last was a favourite in ,england and called motley2 in his will1 #adae1 printed in ,rymers ,fdera1 ,henry lord ,scrope bequeathed two vestments1 one1 motley velvet rubeo de auro2 the other1 motley velvet nigro1 rubeo et viridi1 etc4 ,venice does not seem to have been at any time1 like ,sicily and ,lucca1 smitten with the taste of imitating in her looms the patterns which she saw abroad upon textile fabrics1 but appears to have borrowed from the orientals only one kind of weaving cloth of gold3 the yellow chasuble at ,exeter cathedral in #acbg1 figured with beasts1 is the only instance we know where she wove animals upon silks4 ,venice1 however1 set up for herself a new branch of textiles1 and wrought for church use square webs of a crimson ground on which were figured1 in gold or on yellow silk1 subjects taken from the ,scriptures or the persons of saints and angels4 ,these square pieces were employed1 sewed together1 as frontals to altars1 but when longwise more generally as orphreys to chasubles1 copes1 and other vestments4 ,there is a remarkable similarity between the drawing of the figures upon old ,venetian silks and the woodcuts in books published at ,venice in the early part of the sixteenth century2 such as the fine pontifical by ,giunta1 or the 8,rosario0 by ,varisco4 ,we find in both the same style and manner2 the same broad fold and fall of drapery2 the same plumpness and outline of the human face and figure4 ,so near is the likeness in design that we may almost believe that the artists who supplied the blocks for the printers sketched also the drawings for the looms4 ,by the fifteenth century ,venice knew how to produce good damasks in silk and gold3 if we had nothing more than the specimen1 no4 #acaa1 where ,st4 ,mary of ,egypt is so well represented1 it would be quite enough for her to claim for herself such a distinction4 ,nor can there be much doubt that ,venice wrought in velvet2 and if those rich stuffs were made there1 sometimes raised1 sometimes pile upon pile1 in which her painters loved to dress the personages1 men especially1 in their pictures1 then ,venetian velvets were certainly beautiful4 ,of this any one may satisfy himself by one visit to our ,national gallery4 ,there1 in the 8,adoration of the magi0 painted by ,paulo ,veronese1 the second of the wise men is clad in a robe of crimson velvet1 cut or raised after a design in keeping with the style of the period4 ,no insignificant article of ,venetian textile workmanship were her laces wrought in every variety2 in gold1 in silk1 in thread4 ,the portrait of a ,doge usually shows him clothed in his dress of state4 ,his wide mantle1 with large golden buttons1 is made of some rich dull silver cloth2 and on his head is the ,phrygian-shaped ducal cap bound round with broad gold lace diapered1 as we see in the bust portrait of ,loredano1 painted by ,john ,bellini1 in the ,national gallery4 ,not only was the gold in the thread particularly good but the lace itself in great favour at the ,english court at one time2 bought1 not by yard measure but by weight1 8a pounde and a half of gold of ,venys0 was employed 8aboute the making of a lace and botons for the king's mantell of the garter40 ,this was for ,henry the seventh4 8,frenge of ,venys gold0 appears twice in the wardrobe accounts of ,edward the fourth4 ,laces in worsted or in linen thread wrought by the bobbin at ,venice1 but more especially her point laces or such as were done with the needle1 always had1 as they still have1 a great reputation4 ,venetian linens1 for fine towelling and napery in general1 were in favourite use in ,france during a part of the fifteenth century4 ,in the #8,ducs de ,bourgogne' by ,laborde1 more than once we meet with such an entry as 8une pice de nappes1 ouvraige de ,venise40 ,illustration3 ,silk damask--,florentine3 fifteenth century4 ,florence1 about the middle of the fourteenth century1 obtained a place in the foremost rank amid the weavers of northern ,italy4 ,specimens of her earliest handicraft are rare2 there are two at ,south ,kensington4 ,one of these1 no4 #hefc1 shows the excellence of her work in secular silks4 ,other pieces witness to the delicacy of her design at a later time1 the sixteenth century4 ,the orphrey-webs of ,florence are equally conspicuous for drawing and skill in weaving1 and in beauty come up to those made at ,venice1 far surpassing anything of the kind ever wrought at ,cologne4 ,but it was of her velvets that ,florence was warrantably proud4 ,henry the seventh bequeathed 8to ,god and ,st4 ,peter1 and to the abbot and prior and convent of our monastery of ,westminster1 the whole suit of vestments made at ,florence in ,italy40 ,we may yet see how gorgeous this textile was in one of these ,westminster abbey copes still in existence1 preserved at ,stonyhurst college4 ,the golden ground is trailed all over with leaf-bearing boughs of a bold type1 in raised or cut ruby-toned velvet of a rich soft pile1 which is freckled with gold thread sprouting up like loops4 ,though not so rich in material nor so splendid in pattern1 there are at ,south ,kensington1 nos4 #ggib and #ggii1 two specimens of ,florentine cut crimson velvet on a golden ground1 like the royal vestments in their kind and having the same peculiarity1 the little gold thread loop shooting out of the velvet pile4 ,these pieces are a full century later than the cope at ,stonyhurst4 ,that peculiar sort of ornamentation--the little loop of gold thread standing well up and in single spots--upon some velvets1 seems at times to have been replaced1 perhaps with the needle1 by small dots of solid metal1 gold or silver gilt1 upon the pile3 of the gift of one of its bishops1 ,john ,grandisson1 ,exeter cathedral had a crimson velvet cope1 the purple velvet orphrey of which was so wrought3 8purpyll velvette worked with pynsheds0 of pure gold4 ,milan1 though now-a-days she stands in such high repute for the richness and beauty of her silks of all sorts1 was not1 we believe1 at any period during medival times as famous for her velvets1 her brocades1 or cloths of gold1 as for her armour1 so strong and trustworthy for the field1 so exquisitely demascened for courtly service4 ,still1 in the sixteenth century1 she earned a name for rich cut velvets as may be seen in the specimen1 no4 #fih2 for her silken net-work1 no4 #hccf1 which may have led the way to weaving silk stockings2 and for her laces of the open tinsel kind once in great vogue for both sacred and secular use1 as in no4 #hcca4 ,england1 from her earliest period1 had textile fabrics varying in design and material2 the colours in the woollen garments worn by each of the three several classes into which the ,bardic order was divided1 and of the chequered pattern in ,boadicea's cloak1 have been already mentioned4 ,it would seem from ,john ,garland1 whose witness is referred to above1 p4 #ab1 that the lighter and more tasteful webs wrought here came from women's hands2 and the loom1 one of which must have been in almost every ,english nunnery and homestead1 was of the simplest make4 ,in ancient times the ,egyptians wove in an upright loom1 and beginning at top so as to weave downwards sat at their work4 ,in ,palestine also the weaver had an upright loom1 but1 beginning at bottom and working upwards1 was obliged to stand4 ,during the medival period the loom in ,england was horizontal1 as is shown by that figured in the ,bedford book of ,hours 7preserved in the ,british museum71 fol4 #cb2 at which the blessed ,virgin is seated weaving curtains for the temple4 ,there are several examples at ,south ,kensington of the work of ,english women1 showing the excellence of their handicraft as well as elegance in design during the thirteenth century4 ,nos4 #abcc1 #abef1 and #abgj may be referred to4 ,but for specimens of the commoner sorts of silken textiles and of wider breadth1 which began to be woven in this country under ,edward the third1 it would be hazardous to direct the reader4 ,recent examples1 velvets among the rest1 may be found in the ,brooke collection4 ,to some students the piece of old ,english printed chintz1 no4 #afbb1 will not be without an interest4 ,for the finer sort of linen napery ,eylisham or ,ailesham in ,lincolnshire was famous during the fourteenth century4 ,exeter cathedral1 in #acbg1 had a hand towel of 8,ailesham cloth40 ,our coarser native textiles in wool or in thread1 or in both woven together1 formed a stuff called 8burel40 ,st4 ,paul's in #abie had a light blue chasuble1 and ,exeter cathedral in #abgg a long pall of this texture4 ,burel and1 in short1 all the coarser kinds of work were wrought by men3 sometimes in monasteries4 ,the old ,benedictine rule obliged the monks to give a certain number of hours every week-day to hand-work1 either at home or in the field4 ,the weaving in this country of woollen cloth1 as a staple branch of trade1 is very old4 ,of the monks at ,bath abbey we are told by a late writer1 8that the shuttle and the loom employed their attention 7about the middle of the fourteenth century71 and under their active auspices the weaving of woollen cloth 7which made its appearance in ,england about the year #accj1 and received the sanction of an act of parliament in #accg7 was introduced1 established1 and brought to such perfection at ,bath as rendered the city one of the most considerable in the west of ,england for this manufacture40 ,worcester cloth was so good that1 by a chapter of the ,benedictine order held in #adbb at ,westminster abbey1 it was forbidden to be worn by the monks and declared smart enough for military men4 ,norwich also wove stuffs that were in demand for costly household furniture2 and ,sir ,john ,cobham1 in #acid1 bequeathed 8a bed of ,norwich stuff embroidered with butterflies40 ,in one of the chapels at ,durham priory there were four blue cushions of ,norwich work4 ,worsted1 a town in ,norfolk1 by a new method of its own for the carding of the wool with combs of iron well heated1 and then twisting the thread harder than usual in the spinning1 enabled our weavers to produce a woollen stuff of a peculiar quality1 to which the name itself of worsted was immediately given4 ,to such a high repute did the new web grow that church vestments and domestic furniture of the choicest sorts were made out of it4 ,exeter cathedral among its chasubles had several 8de nigro worsted0 in cloth of gold4 ,vestments made of worsted1 variously spelt 8worsett0 and 8woryst10 are enumerated in the fabric rolls of ,york minster4 ,elizabeth de ,bohun1 in #acef1 bequeathed to her daughter the countess of ,arundel 8a bed of red worsted embroidered20 and ,joane lady ,bergavenny leaves to ,john of ,ormond 8a bed of cloth of gold with lebardes1 with those cushions and tapettes of my best red worsted40 ,irish cloth1 white and red1 in the reign of king ,john was much used in ,england2 and in the household expenses of ,swinford1 bishop of ,hereford in #abij1 an item occurs of ,irish cloth for lining4 ,english weavers knew also how to work artificially designed and well-figured webs4 ,in the wardrobe accounts of ,edward the second is this item3 8to a mercer of ,london for a green hanging of wool wove with figures of kings and earls upon it1 for the king's service in his hall on solemn feasts at ,london40 ,such 8salles10 as they were called in ,france1 and 8hullings0 or rather 8hallings0 the name they went under here1 were much valued abroad and in common use at home4 ,under the head of 8,salles d',angleterre0 among the articles of costly furniture belonging to ,charles the fifth of ,france1 in #acfd1 one set of hangings is thus entered3 8une salle d',angleterre vermeille brode d'azur1 et est la bordeure vignettes et le dedens de lyons1 d'aigles et de lyepars40 ,here in ,england1 ,richard earl of ,arundel in #acib willed to his dear wife 8the hangings of the hall which was lately made in ,london1 of blue tapestry with red roses with the arms of my sons10 etc42 and lady ,bergavenny1 after bequeathing her hullying of black1 red1 and green to one friend1 left to another her best stained 8hall40 ,flemish textiles1 at least of the less ambitious kinds such as napery and woollens1 were much esteemed centuries ago2 and our countryman ,matthew of ,westminster says of ,flanders that1 made from the material which we sent her1 the wool1 she sent us back precious garments4 ,so important was the supply of wool to the ,flemings in the fourteenth century that the check given to it by the wars between ,england and ,france at that time led to a special treaty between ,edward the third and the burghers of the ,flemish communes under the guidance of ,james van ,artevelde4 ,though industrious everywhere within her limits1 some of the towns of ,flanders stood foremost for certain kinds of stuff1 and ,bruges became in the latter end of the fifteenth century conspicuous for its silken textiles4 ,the satins of ,bruges were used in ,england for church garments4 ,haconbie church1 in #aeff1 had 8one white vestmente of bridges satten repte in peces and a clothe made thereof to hange before our pulpitt20 and in #aebj ,york cathedral had 8a vestment of balkyn 7baudekin7 with a crosse of green satten in bryges40 ,her damasks silks were equally in demand2 and the specimens at ,south ,kensington will interest the student4 ,nos4 #hcah and #hccb show the ability of the ,bruges loom2 while the favourite pattern with the pomegranate in it betrays the likings of the ,spaniards1 at that time the rulers of the country1 for this token of their renowned ,isabella4 ,no4 #hcai is another sample of ,flemish weaving1 rich in its gold and full of beauty in design4 ,in her velvets ,flanders had no need to fear a comparison with anything of the kind that ,italy ever threw off from her looms1 whether at ,venice1 ,florence1 or ,genoa4 ,not to name others one example1 with its cloth of gold ground and its pattern in a dark blue deep-piled velvet1 is not surpassed in gorgeousness even by that splendid stuff from ,florence of which the ,stonyhurst cope1 just spoken of1 was made4 ,block-printed linen toward the end of the fourteenth century was another production of ,flanders4 ,though existing examples to the eyes of many may look poor or mean1 yet to men like the cotton-printers of ,lancashire they will have a strong attraction2 and to the scholar they will be deeply interesting as suggestive of the art of printing4 ,such specimens are rare1 but it is likely that ,england can show in the chapter library at ,durham the earliest sample of the kind as yet known2 a fine sheet wrapped about the body of some old bishop found in a grave opened by ,mr4 ,raine in #ahbg1 within the cathedral4 ,several pieces of ancient silks and ,english embroidery were found at the same time4 ,what ,bruges was in silks and velvets1 ,yprs1 in the sixteenth century1 became for linen2 and for many years ,flemish linens were in favourite use throughout ,england4 ,hardly a church of any size1 scarcely a gentleman's house in this country1 but used a quantity of towels and other napery that was made in ,flanders1 especially at ,yprs4 ,french silks1 now in such extensive use1 were not much cared for until the end of the sixteenth century in ,france itself1 and seldom heard of abroad4 ,the reader1 then1 must not be astonished at finding so few examples of the ,french loom in any collection of ancient silken textiles4 ,in ,france1 as in ,england1 women in medival days1 old and young1 rich and poor1 while filling up their leisure hours in-doors used to work on a small loom1 weaving narrow webs1 often of gold and diapered with coloured silks4 ,at ,south ,kensington1 nos4 #abej1 #gjfb1 and #gjfd are examples of such ,french wrought stuffs belonging to the thirteenth century4 ,in damasks1 the earliest ,french productions are of the sixteenth century2 and no4 #hceb is a favourable example of what this manufacture then was in ,france2 everything later is of the type so well known to everybody4 ,in several of her textiles a leaning towards classicism in design is discernible4 ,like ,flanders1 ,france knew how to weave fine linen which here in ,england was much employed for ecclesiastical as well as household purposes4 ,three new cloths of ,rains 7,rennes in ,brittany7 were1 in #acbg1 in use for the high altar in ,exeter cathedral1 and many altar cloths of ,paris linen4 ,in the poem of the #8,squire of low degree' the lady is told ,your blankettes shal be of fustyane1 ,your shetes shal be of cloths of rayne2 and1 in #adcd1 lady ,bergavenny devises in her will 8two pair sheets of ,raynes1 a pair of fustians10 etc4 ,cologne1 the queen of the ,rhine1 became famous during the whole of the fifteenth and part of the sixteenth century for a certain kind of ecclesiastical textile which1 from the very general use to which it has been applied1 we may call 8orphrey web40 ,the productions of ,cologne1 however1 are every way far below in beauty the similar works of ,italy4 ,italian orphrey-webs are generally worked in gold or yellow silk upon a crimson ground of silk4 ,florentine are often distinguished from the ,venetian by the introduction of white for the faces2 those of ,cologne vary from both by introducing blue1 while the material is almost always poor and the weaving coarse4 ,in ,england this orphrey web was in church use and called1 as we learn from the ,york 8wills and testaments10 8rebayn de ,colayn40 ,the piece of ,german napery1 no4 #hcag 7of the beginning of the fifteenth century71 will be to those curious about household linen an acceptable specimen4 ,if in some old inventory of church vestments we find an entry mentioning a chasuble made of cloth of ,cologne1 we should understand it to mean not a certain broad textile woven there1 but merely a vestment composed of several pieces of this kind of web sewed together2 like the frontal made of pieces of woven ,venice orphreys1 no4 #higf4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,the countries whence silks came to ,england are numerous2 we find early notices of ,antioch1 ,tarsus1 ,alexandria1 ,damascus1 ,byzantium1 ,cyprus1 ,trip or ,tripoli1 and ,bagdad1 and later of ,venice1 ,genoa1 and ,lucca4 ,to fix the localities of others would be but guess work4 ,at the beginning of the fourteenth century a silk called 8,acca0 is occasionally mentioned3 and1 from the description1 it must have been a cloth of gold shot with coloured silk1 figured with animals3 ,william de ,clinton1 earl of ,huntingdon1 gave to ,st4 ,alban's monastery a whole vestment of cloth of gold shot with sky-blue and called cloth of ,acca4 ,it would look as if this stuff took its name from having been brought to us through the port of ,acre3 and ,macri1 in his valuable ,hierolexicon1 says that the name of the ancient ,ptolemais in ,syria was so written4 ,what in one age and at a particular place happened to be well made and therefore was eagerly sought for1 at a later period and in another place was better wrought and at a lower price4 ,time1 indeed1 changed the name of the market1 but did not alter in any great degree either the quality of the material or the style of the design wrought upon it4 ,throughout the kingdom of the ,byzantine ,greeks the loom had to change its gearing very little4 ,the ,saracenic loom1 whether in ,asia1 ,africa1 or ,spain1 was always ,arabic1 though ,persia could not forget her old traditions about the 8hom0 or tree of life1 and cheetahs1 and birds of various sorts4 ,with regard to the whole of ,asia1 its many peoples from the earliest ages knew how not only to weave cloth of gold but to figure it with birds and beasts4 ,in later times1 ,marco ,polo in the thirteenth century found exactly the same kinds of textile known in the days of ,darius still everywhere1 from the shores of the ,mediterranean to the far east4 ,what he says of ,bagdad he repeats in fewer words about many other cities4 ,in finding their way to ,england these fabrics received1 if not in all at least in most instances1 the names of the seaports in the ,mediterranean where they had been shipped4 ,for beautifully wrought and figured silk1 one of the few terms that still outlive the medival period is ,damask4 ,china1 no doubt1 was the first country to ornament its silken webs with a pattern4 ,india1 ,persia1 and ,syria1 then ,byzantine ,greece1 followed1 but at long intervals between1 in ,china's footsteps4 ,stuffs so figured brought with them to the west the name 8diaspron0 or diaper1 bestowed upon them at ,constantinople4 ,but about the twelfth century the city of ,damascus1 even then long celebrated for its looms1 so far outstripped all other places for beauty of design that her silken textiles were in demand everywhere2 and thus1 as often happens1 traders fastened the name of ,damascen or ,damask upon every silken fabric richly wrought and curiously designed1 no matter whether it came or not from ,damascus4 ,at last1 samit1 having long been the epithet betokening all that was rich and good in silk1 was forgotten1 and diaper1 from being the very word significant of pattern1 became a secondary term descriptive of merely a part in the elaborate design on damask4 ,baudekin1 that sort of costly cloth of gold spoken of so much during so many years in ,english literature1 took 7as was said before7 its famous name from ,bagdad4 ,many specimens of baudekin in the ,south ,kensington collection furnish proofs of the ancient weavers' dexterity in their management of the loom1 and especially of the artists' taste in setting out their intricate and beautiful designs4 ,an identification between very many samples there brought together of ancient textiles in silk and the descriptions of similar stuffs given us in those valuable records1 our old church inventories1 might be carried on if necessary to a very lengthened extent4 ,dorneck was the name given to an inferior kind of damask wrought of silk1 wool1 linen thread and gold1 in ,flanders4 ,this was manufactured towards the end of the fifteenth century mostly at ,tournay2 which city in ,flemish was often called ,dorneck--a word variously spelt as ,darnec1 ,darnak1 ,darnick1 and sometimes even ,darness4 ,the guild of the blessed ,virgin at ,boston had a care cloth of 8silke dornex0 and church furniture4 ,the 8care cloth0 was a sort of canopy held over the bride and bridegroom as they knelt for the nuptial blessing1 according to the ,salisbury rite1 at the marriage mass4 ,at ,exeter dorneck was used in chasubles for orphreys4 ,a specimen of dorneck may be seen1 no4 #gjeh4 ,it is several times mentioned in the ,york fabric rolls4 ,buckram1 so called from ,bokkara where it was originally made1 in the middle ages was much esteemed for being costly and very fine2 and consequently fit for use in church vestments and for secular personal wear4 8,panus ,tartaricus0 or ,tartary cloth is often spoken of4 ,john ,grandison1 bishop of ,exeter in #acbg1 gave to his cathedral flags of white and red buckram2 and among the five very rich veils for covering the moveable lectern in that church three were lined with blue 8bokeram40 ,as late as the beginning of the sixteenth century this stuff was held good enough for lining to a black velvet gown for a queen1 ,elizabeth of ,york4 ,the coarse thick fabric which now goes by the name is very different from the older production known as 8bokeram40 ,burdalisaunder1 ,bordalisaunder1 ,bourde de ,elisandre1 with other varieties in spelling1 is a term often to be met with in old wills and church inventories4 ,in the year #acbg ,exeter had a chasuble of ,bourde de ,elisandre of divers colours3 and from the ,yorkshire wills we find that sometimes it was wide enough for half a piece to form the adornment of a high altar4 8,bord0 in ,arabic means a striped cloth2 and we know1 both from travellers and the importation of the textile itself1 that many tribes in north and eastern ,africa weave stuffs for personal wear of a pattern consisting of white and black longitudinal stripes4 ,st4 ,augustin1 living in north ,africa near the modern ,algiers1 speaks of a stuff for clothing called 8burda0 in the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth century4 ,it is not impossible that the curtains for the tabernacle as well as the girdles for ,aaron and his sons1 of fine linen and violet and purple and scarlet twice dyed1 were wrought with this very pattern1 so that in the 8burd ,alisaunder0 we behold the oldest known design for any textile4 ,this stuff in the middle ages was a silken web in different coloured stripes1 and specimens also may be found at ,south ,kensington4 ,though made in many places round the ,mediterranean this silk took its name1 at least in ,england1 from ,alexandria4 ,fustian1 of which we still have two forms in velveteen and corduroy1 was originally wove at ,fustat on the ,nile1 with a warp of linen thread and a woof of thick cotton1 so twilled and cut that it showed on one side a thick but low pile2 and the web thus managed took its name of ,fustian from that ,egyptian city4 ,at what period it was invented we do not rightly know1 but we are well aware it must have been brought very early to this country2 for our countryman ,st4 ,stephen ,harding1 when a ,cistercian abbot and an old man about the year #aaad1 forbade chasubles in his church to be made of anything but fustian or plain linen4 ,the austerity of his rule reached even the ornaments of the church4 ,from such a prohibition we are not to draw as a conclusion that fustian was at the time a mean material2 quite the contrary1 although not splendid it was a seemly textile4 ,years afterwards1 in the fourteenth century1 ,chaucer tells us of his knight3-- ,of fustian he wered a gepon4 ,in the fifteenth century ,naples had a repute for weaving fustians2 and our ,english churchwardens1 not being learned in geography or spelling1 made some odd mistakes in their accounts about this as about some other continental stuffs3 8,fuschan in appules0 for fustian from ,naples is droll2 yet droller still is 8mustyrd devells10 for a cloth made in ,france at a town called ,mustrevilliers4 ,muslin1 as it is now throughout the world so from the earliest antiquity1 has been everywhere in ,asia in favourite use both as an article of dress and as furniture4 ,its cloud-like thinness and its lightness were not the only charms belonging to this stuff3 it was esteemed equally as much for the taste with which stripes of gold had been woven in its warp4 ,as we learn from the travels of ,marco ,polo1 the further all wayfarers in ,asia wandered among eastern nations the higher they found the point of excellence which had been reached in weaving silk and gold into splendid fabrics4 ,the silkworm lived and thrived there and the cotton plant also was in its home1 its birth-place1 in those regions4 ,like many cities of central ,asia1 ,mosul had earned for itself a reputation of old for the beauty of its gold-wrought silken textiles4 ,cotton grew all around in plenty2 the inhabitants1 especially the women1 were gifted with such quick feeling of finger that they could spin thread from this cotton of more than hair-like fineness4 ,cotton with them took the place of silk in the loom2 and gold was not forgotten in the weaving4 ,their work1 not only because it was so much cheaper but from its own peculiar beauty and comeliness1 won for itself a high place in common estimation3 and the name of the town where it was wrought in such perfection was given to it as its distinctive name4 ,hence1 whether wove with or without gold1 we call this cotton web muslin1 from the ,asiatic city of ,mosul4 ,cloth of ,areste is another term for woven stuffs1 to be found in our old ,english deeds and inventories4 ,the first time we meet it is in an order given1 #abdd1 by ,henry the third for finding two cloths of ,areste with which two copes were to be made for royal chapels4 ,again it comes a few years later at ,st4 ,paul's1 which cathedral ,a4 ,d4 #abie had1 besides a dalmatic and tunicle of this silk 8white silk of ,areste diapered10 as many as thirty and more hangings of the same texture4 ,from the description of these pieces we gather that this so-called cloth of ,areste must have been both beautiful and rich1 being for the most part cloth of gold figured elaborately2 some with lions and double-headed eagles1 others1 for example1 with the death and burial of our ,lord4 ,we are not disposed to agree with the suggestion that this cloth was a kind of arras4 ,arras had not won for itself a reputation for its tapestry before the fourteenth century4 ,tapestry itself is too thick and heavy for use in vestments2 yet this cloth of ,areste was light enough for tunicles1 and when worn out was sometimes condemned at ,st4 ,paul's to be put aside for lining other ritual garments4 ,among the three meanings for the medival 8,aresta0 one is any kind of covering4 ,it seems1 therefore1 probable that these cloths of ,areste took their name not from the place where they had been woven1 but from the use to which they were generally put2 namely1 for hangings about churches4 ,moreover1 tapestry or ,arras work1 being thick and heavy1 could never have been employed for such light use as that of apparels nor would it have been diapered like silk1 yet we find 8,areste0 to have been so fashioned and so used4 ,silks also were distinguished through their colours and shades of colours3 and the men who drew up the medival inventories seem to have been gifted with a keen eye for varieties of shades and tints4 ,for instance1 a chasuble at ,st4 ,paul's is set down1 late in the thirteenth century1 as made of samit dyed in a purple somewhat bordering on a blood-red tone4 ,tarsus colour is often mentioned3 and it was1 probably1 some shade of purple4 ,the people of ,tarsus no doubt got from their murex1 a shell-fish of the class mollusca and purpurifera family to be found on their coast1 their dyeing matter2 and when we remember what changes are wrought in the animal itself by the food it eats1 and what strong effects are made by slight variations in climate1 even atmosphere1 upon materials for colouring in the moment of application1 we may easily understand how the difference arose between the two tints of purple4 8,cloth of ,tarsus0 itself was of a rare and costly kind1 of fine goats' hair and silk4 ,the tint was some shade of royal purple4 ,chaucer tells us that ,the great ,emetrius1 the king of ,inde1 ,upon a stede bay1 trapped in stele1 ,covered with cloth of gold diapred wele1 ,came riding like the god of armes ,mars4 ,his cote armure was of a cloth of ,tars1 ,couched with perles1 etc4 ,other cities besides ,tarsus gave their names to various shades of purple2 according as they were dyed at ,antioch1 ,alexandria1 or ,naples4 ,each place had a particular shade which distinguished it from the others4 ,it is not now possible to ascertain what were the exact distinctions of tint4 ,sky-blue was a colour everywhere in church use for certain festivals throughout ,england4 ,in the early inventories the name for that tint is 8,indicus10 8,indus10 reminding us of our present indigo4 ,in later lists it is called 8,blodius10 not sanguinary but blue4 ,murrey1 or a reddish brown1 is also often specified4 ,silks woven of two colours1 so that one of them showed itself unmixed and quite distinct on one side1 and the second appeared equally clear on the other--a thing sometimes now looked upon as a wonder in modern weaving--might occasionally be met with here at the medival period3 ,exeter cathedral had1 in #acbg1 a silk cloth 8of red colour inside and yellow outside40 ,at ,york1 in #aedc1 there was 8a vestment of changeable silke10 8besides one of changeable taffety for ,good ,friday40 ,marble silk had a weft of several colours so woven as to make the whole web look like marble1 stained with a variety of tints4 ,there were many such vestments in old ,st4 ,paul's4 ,during full three centuries this marble silk found great favour among us2 for ,henry ,machyn1 in his curious diary1 tells us how 8the old qwyne of ,schottes rod thrught ,london10 and how 8then cam the lord tresorer with a ,c4 gret horsse and ther cotes of marbull10 etc41 to meet her the #fth of ,november1 #aeea4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,we must now speak of embroidery4 ,the art of working with the needle flowers1 fruits1 human and animal forms1 or any fanciful design1 upon webs woven of silk1 linen1 cotton1 wool1 hemp1 besides other kinds of stuff1 is of the highest antiquity4 ,those patterns1 after so many fashions1 which we see figured upon the garments worn by men and women on ,egyptian and ,assyrian monuments1 but especially on the burned-clay vases made and painted by the ,greeks in their earliest as well as in later times1 or which we read about in the writings of that people1 were not wrought in the loom1 but worked by the needle4 ,the old ,egyptian loom--and that of the ,jews must have been like it--was1 as we know from paintings1 of the simplest shape1 and seems to have been able to do little more diversified in design than straight lines in different colours2 and at best nothing higher in execution than checker-work3 beyond this1 all was put in by hand with the needle4 ,in ,paris1 at the ,louvre1 are several pieces of early ,egyptian webs coloured1 drawings of which have been published by ,sir ,gardner ,wilkinson in his work #8,the ,egyptians in the time of the ,pharaohs4' ,there are two pieces wrought up and down with needlework2 the second piece of blue is figured all over in white embroidery with a pattern of netting1 the meshes of which shut in irregular cubic shapes1 and in the lines of the reticulation the mystic 8fylfot0 is seen4 ,sir ,j4 ,g4 ,wilkinson says of them3 8,they are mostly cotton1 and1 though their date is uncertain1 they suffice to show that the manufacture was ,egyptian2 and the many dresses painted on the monuments of the eighteenth dynasty show that the most varied patterns were used by the ,egyptians more than #cjjj years ago1 as they were at a later period by the ,babylonians1 who became noted for their needlework40 ,it is clear from the book of ,exodus that the ,israelites from very early times1 having learnt the art in ,egypt1 embroidered their garments2 although the word 8embroidery0 which occurs so frequently in every ,english version probably sometimes means merely weaving in stripes1 and not work with the needle4 ,the embroidering also of the sails of vessels was not uncommon in the east2 boats used in sacred festivals on the ,nile were so decorated2 and the prophet ,ezekiel says to the people of ,tyre1 8,fine linen with broidered work from ,egypt1 was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail40 ,the reader will here also remember ,shakspeare's description of the barge of ,cleopatra2 ,the barge she sat in1 like a burnished throne ,burned on the water3 ,purple the sails1 and so perfumed1 that ,the winds were love-sick with them2 she did lie ,in her pavilion1 cloth of gold1 of tissue1 etc4 ,pliny says that the ,phrygians invented embroidery1 and that garments so ornamented were called ,phrygionic4 ,of such a fashion were 8the art-wrought vests of splendid purple tint0 brought forth by ,dido1 and the cloak given by ,andromache to ,ascanius4 ,hence1 an embroiderer was called in ,latin 8,phrygio10 and needlework 8,phrygium0 or 8,phrygian0 work4 ,when the design1 as often happened1 was wrought in solid gold wire or golden thread1 the embroidery so worked was named 8auriphrygium40 ,from this term comes the old ,english word 8orphrey40 ,while ,phrygia in general1 ,babylon in particular 7as ,pliny also tells us7 became celebrated for the beauty of its embroideries4 ,all who have seen the sculptures in the ,british museum brought from ,nineveh1 and described and figured by ,layard1 must have remarked how lavishly the ,assyrians adorned their robes with the needlework for which one of their greatest cities was so famous4 ,up to the first century of our era the reputation which ,babylon had won for her textiles and needlework still lived4 ,we know from ,josephus1 who had often been to worship at ,jerusalem1 that the veils of the ,temple were ,babylonian2 and of the outer one that writer says3 8there was a veil of equal largeness with the door4 ,it was a ,babylonian curtain1 embroidered with blue and fine linen1 and scarlet and purple1 and of a texture that was wonderful40 ,what the ,jews did for the ,temple we may be sure was done by ,christians for the ,church4 ,the faithful1 however1 went even further1 and wore garments figured all over with sacred subjects in embroidery4 ,we learn this from a stirring sermon preached by ,st4 ,asterius1 bishop of ,amasia in ,pontus1 in the fourth century4 ,taking for his text 8a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen0 he upbraids the world for its follies in dress1 and complains that some people went about arrayed like painted walls1 with beasts and flowers all over them2 while others1 pretending a more serious tone of thought1 dressed in clothes depicting the doings and wonders of our ,lord4 8,strive10 ,st4 ,asterius exhorts them1 8to follow in your lives the teachings of the ,gospel1 rather than have the miracles of our ,redeemer embroidered upon your outward dress40 ,to have had so many subjects shown upon one garment it is clear that each must have been done very small1 and wrought in outline2 a style which is being brought back1 with great effect1 into modern ecclesiastical use4 ,the discriminating accuracy with which our old writers noted the several kinds of textile gifts bestowed upon a church is as instructive as praiseworthy4 ,ingulph did not think it enough to say that abbot ,egelric had given many hangings to the church at ,croyland1 the great number of which were silken1 but he explains also that some were ornamented with birds wrought in gold and sewed on2 in fact1 of cut-work2 others with those birds woven into the stuff2 others quite plain4 ,we find the same care taken in old inventories4 ,by the latter end of the thirteenth century embroidery obtained for its several styles and various sorts of ornamentation a distinguishing and technical nomenclature4 ,one of the earliest documents in which we meet with this set of terms is the inventory drawn up1 in #abie1 of the vestments belonging to ,st4 ,paul's cathedral1 printed by ,dugdale3 herein1 the 8opus plumarium10 the 8opus pectineum10 the 8opus pulvinarium10 8consutum de serico10 8de serico consuto10 may be severally found4 8,opus plumarium0 was the then usual term for what is now commonly called embroidery2 and was given to needlework of this kind because the stitches were laid down longwise and not across3 that is1 so put together that they seemed to overlap one another like the feathers in the plumage of a bird4 ,this style was aptly called 8feather-stitch0 work1 in contradistinction to that done in cross and tent stitch1 or the 8cushion-style40 ,the 8opus pulvinarium10 or 8cushion-style10 was like the modern so-called ,berlin work4 ,as now1 so then it was done in the same stitching with pretty much the same materials and generally1 if not always1 put to the same purpose2 for cushions1 to sit or to kneel upon in church or to uphold the mass-book at the altar2 hence its name of 8cushion-style40 ,in working it silken thread is known to have been often used4 ,among other specimens1 and in silk1 there is a beautiful cushion of a date corresponding to the ,london inventory at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #acbd4 ,being well adapted for working heraldry this stitch has been used from an early period for the purpose2 and emblazoned orphreys1 like the narrow hem on the ,syon cope1 were wrought in it4 ,the 8opus pectineum0 was a kind of woven work imitative of embroidery1 and employed to supply it4 ,john ,garland1 in his dictionary1 explains that it was made by means of a comb1 or some comb-like instrument3 and from this the work itself received the distinctive appellation of 8pectineum10 or comb-wrought4 ,before ,john ,garland left ,england for ,france1 to teach a school there1 he must have often seen his countrywomen at such an occupation2 and the amice given by ,katherine ,lovell to ,st4 ,paul's1 8de opere pectineo10 may perhaps have been the work of her own hands4 ,women in the middle ages were so ready at the needle that they could make their embroidery look as if it had been done in the loom1 really woven4 ,a shred of crimson cendal figured in gold and silver thread with a knight on horseback1 armed as of the latter time of ,edward the first1 was shown to us some time ago4 ,at first sight the mounted warrior seemed to have been not hand-worked but woven2 so flat1 so even was every thread4 ,looking at it however through a glass and turning it about1 we found it to have been embroidered by the finger in such a way that the stitches laid down upon the surface were carried through into the canvas lining at the back of the thin silk4 ,in this same manner all the design1 both before and behind1 upon the fine ,english-wrought chasuble at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #fgc1 was probably worked4 ,at the latter end of the thirteenth century our countrywomen invented a new way of embroidery4 ,without giving up altogether the old 8opus plumarium0 or feather-stitch1 they mixed it with a new style1 both of needlework and mechanism4 ,so beautiful was the novel method deemed abroad that it won for itself the complimentary appellation of 8opus ,anglicum10 or ,english work4 ,in what its peculiarity consisted has long been a question and a puzzle among foreign archological writers2 and a living one of eminence1 ,m4 ,voisin1 noticing a cope of ,english work given to the church of ,tournai1 says3 8,il serait curieux de savoir quelle broderie ou quel tissu on designait sous le nom de opus ,anglicum40 ,but if we examine that very fine piece of ,english needlework1 the ,syon cope1 at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #iahb1 we find that the first stitches for the human face were begun in the centre of the cheek1 and worked in circular lines2 falling 7after the further side had been made7 into straight lines1 which were so carried on through the rest of the fleshes2 in some instances1 also1 through the draperies4 ,but this was done in a sort of chain-stitch1 and a newly practised mechanical appliance was brought into use4 ,after the whole figure had thus been wrought with this kind of chain-stitch in circles and straight lines1 then with a little thin iron rod ending in a small bulb or smooth knob slightly heated1 those middle spots in the faces that had been worked in circular lines were pressed down2 and the deep wide dimples in the throat1 especially of aged persons4 ,by the hollows thus lastingly sunk a play of light and shadow is brought out1 which at a short distance lends to the portion so treated the appearance of low relief4 ,chain-stitch1 then1 worked in circular lines and relief given to parts by hollows sunk into the faces and other portions of the persons1 constitute the elements of the 8opus ,anglicum10 or embroidery after the ,english manner4 ,how the chain-stitch was worked into circles for the faces1 and straight lines for the rest of the figures1 is well shown by a woodcut1 after a portion of the ,steeple ,aston embroideries1 given in the archological journal1 vol iv4 p4 #bhe4 ,although not merely the faces and the extremities but the dresses also of the persons figured were generally wrought in chain-stitch1 and afterwards treated as we have just described1 another practice was to work the draperies in feather-stitch1 which was also employed for the grounding1 and diapered after a simple1 zigzag design2 as we find in the ,syon cope4 ,illustration3 ,part of the orphrey of the ,syon cope4 ,how highly ,english embroideries were at one period appreciated by foreigners may be gathered from the especial notice taken of them abroad2 as we may find in continental documents4 ,matilda1 queen of ,william the conqueror1 carried away from the abbey of ,abingdon its richest vestments1 and would not be put off with inferior ones4 ,in his will ,a4 ,d4 #acfj cardinal ,talairand1 bishop of ,albano1 speaks of the ,english embroideries on a costly set of white vestments4 ,a bishop of ,tournai1 in #acdc1 bequeathed to that cathedral an old ,english cope1 as well as a beautiful corporal 8of ,english work40 ,among the copes reserved for prelates' use in the chapel of ,charles duke of ,bourgogne1 brother-in-law to ,john duke of ,bedford1 there was one of ,english work very elaborately fraught with many figures1 as appears from this description of it3 8une chappe de brodeure d'or1 faon d',engleterre1 plusieurs histoires de ,n4,d4 et anges et autres ymages1 estans en laceures escriptes1 garnie d'un orfroir d'icelle faon fait apostres1 desquelles les manteulx sont tous couvertes de perles1 et leur diadesmes pourphiler de perles1 estans en manire de tabernacles1 faits de deux arbres1 dont les tiges sont touts couvertes de perles1 et la dite chappe y a une bille des dites armes1 garnie de perles comme la dessus dicte40 ,while so coveted abroad1 our ,english embroidery was highly prized and well paid for at home4 ,we find in the ,issue ,rolls that ,henry the third had a chasuble embroidered by ,mabilia of ,bury ,st4 ,edmund's2 and that ,edward the second paid a hundred marks to ,rose the wife of ,john de ,bureford1 a citizen and mercer of ,london1 for a choir-cope of her embroidering1 and which was to be sent to the ,pope as an offering from the queen4 ,english embroidery afterwards lost its first high reputation4 ,through those years wasted with the wars of the ,roses the work of the ,english needle was very poor1 very coarse1 and1 so to say1 ragged2 as1 for instance1 the chasuble at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #djde4 ,nothing of the celebrated chain-stitch with dimpled faces in the figures can be found about it3 every part is worked in the feather-stitch1 slovenly put down4 ,during the early part of the seventeenth century our embroiderers again struck out a new style1 which consisted in throwing up the figures a good height above the grounding4 ,of this raised work there is a fine specimen in the fourth of the copes preserved in the chapter library at ,durham4 ,it is said to have been wrought for and given by ,charles the first to that cathedral4 ,this red silk vestment is well sprinkled with bodiless cherubic heads crowned with rays and borne up by wings2 while upon the hood is ,david1 holding in one hand the head of ,goliah2 the whole done in highly raised embroidery4 ,bibles of the large folio size1 covered in rich silk or satin and embroidered with the royal arms done in bold raised-work1 are still to be found in our libraries4 ,more than one of these volumes is said to have been a gift from the king to a forefather of the present owner4 ,this style of raised embroidery remained in use for many years4 ,not only large ,bibles but smaller volumes1 especially prayer-books1 had bindings enriched with it4 ,generally such examples are attributed1 and in most cases wrongly1 to the so-called nuns of ,little ,gidding4 ,the same kind of work is sometimes found on the broad frames of old looking-glasses3 setting forth perhaps1 as in the specimen no4 #hib1 the story of ,ahasuerus and ,esther1 or a passage in some courtship carried on after the manners of ,arcadia4 ,few people at the present day have a just idea of the labour1 the money1 and the length of time often bestowed of old upon embroideries1 which had been sketched as well as wrought by the hands of men1 each in his own craft the ablest and most cunning of his time4 ,in behalf of ,england plenty of evidence has been produced already3 as a proof of the same labour elsewhere a remarkable passage may be quoted1 given1 in his life of ,antonio ,pollaiuolo1 by ,vasari3 8,for ,san ,giovanni in ,florence there were made certain very rich vestments after the design of this master1 all of gold-wove velvet with pile upon pile 7di broccato riccio sopra riccio71 each woven of one entire piece and without seam1 embroidered with the most subtile mastery of that art by ,paolo da ,verona1 a man most eminent of his calling1 and of incomparable ingenuity4 ,this work took twenty-six years for its completion1 being wholly in close stitch 7questi ricami fatti con punto serrato72 but the excellent method of which is now all but lost1 the custom being in these days to make the stitches much wider 7il punteggiare piu largo71 whereby the work is rendered less durable and much less pleasing to the eye40 ,these vestments may yet be seen framed and glazed in presses around the sacristy of ,san ,giovanni4 ,antonio died in #adih4 ,the magnificent cope before referred to1 now at ,stonyhurst1 is of one seamless piece of gorgeous gold tissue figured with bold wide-spreading foliage in crimson velvet1 pile upon pile1 and dotted with small gold spots2 probably it came from the same loom that threw off these famous ,san ,giovanni vestments4 ,illustration3 ,embroidered ,saddle-cloth of the sixteenth century4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,the old ,english 8opus consutum0 or cut-work1 called in ,french 8appliqu10 is a term of rather wide meaning1 as it takes in several sorts of decorative accompaniments to needlework4 ,when anything--flower1 fruit1 or figure--is wrought by itself upon a separate piece of silk or canvas and afterwards sewed on to the vestment for church use1 or article for domestic purpose1 it comes to be known as cut-work4 ,this kind of work was employed for dresses and vestments2 but we find it most commonly on bed-curtains1 hangings for rooms and halls1 and other items in household furniture4 ,of cut-work in embroidery those pieces of splendid ,rhenish needlework with the blazonment of ,cleves1 sewed upon a ground of crimson silk1 nos4 #aaid-e1 at ,south ,kensington1 and the chasuble of crimson double-pile velvet1 no4 #gh1 are good examples4 ,in the last1 the niches in which the saints stand are loom-wrought1 but those personages themselves are exquisitely worked on separate pieces of fine canvas and afterwards let into the unwoven spaces left open for them4 ,a ,florentine piece of cut-work1 no4 #eghh1 is alike remarkable for its great beauty and the skill shown in bringing together both weaving and embroidery4 ,much of the architectural accessories is loom-wrought1 while the extremities of the evangelists are all done by the needle2 but the head1 neck1 and long beard are worked by themselves upon very fine linen1 and afterwards put together in such a way that the full white beard overlaps the tunic4 ,other methods gave a quicker help in this cut-work4 ,for the sake of expedition all the figures were sometimes at once shaped out of woven silk1 satin1 velvet1 linen1 or woollen cloth as wanted1 and sewed upon the grounding of the article3 the features of the face and the contours of the body were then wrought by the needle in very narrow lines done in brown silk thread4 ,at times1 even this much of embroidery was set aside for the painting brush1 and instances are to be found in which the spaces left uncovered by the loom for the heads and extremities of the human figures are filled in with the brush4 ,sometimes1 again1 the cut-work done in these ways is framed1 as it were1 with an edging1 either in plain or gilt leather1 hempen1 or silken cord1 like the leadings of a stained glass window4 ,perhaps in no collection open anywhere to public view can a piece of cut-work be found so full of teaching about the process of this easy way of execution as no4 #acgj at ,south ,kensington3 and we earnestly recommend the attention of our readers to that example4 ,for the invention of cut-work1 or 8di commesso0 as ,vasari calls it1 that writer tells us we are indebted to one of his ,florentine countrymen3 8,it was by ,sandro ,botticelli that the method of preparing banners and standards in what is called cut-work was invented2 and this he did that the colours might not sink through1 showing the tint of the cloth on each side4 ,the baldachino of ,orsanmichele is by this master1 and is so treated1 etc40 ,but ,vasari is not correct3 the piece just spoken of1 no4 #acgj1 was made half a century before ,botticelli was born4 ,there are other accessories in medival embroidery which ought not to be overlooked4 ,in some few instances1 gold and silver gilt star-like flowers are to be found sewed upon the silks or amid the embroidery from ,venice and other provinces in ,italy1 and from southern ,germany4 ,some fragments of silk damask1 no4 #hfab1 are curious examples of ,italian taste4 ,these at one time have been thickly strewed with trefoils cut out of gilt metal but very thin1 and not sewed but glued on to the silk3 many of the leaves have fallen off1 and those remaining turned black4 ,precious stones also1 coral1 and seed pearls were sewed upon textiles2 and1 not uncommonly1 small coloured beads and bugles of glass4 ,belonging to ,st4 ,paul's1 in #abie1 among many other amices there was one having glass stones upon it1 both large and small4 ,another form of glass fastened by heat to gold and copper1 enamel1 was extensively employed as an adornment upon textiles4 ,the gorgeous 8chesable of red cloth of gold with orphreys before and behind set with pearls1 blue1 white1 and red1 with plates of gold enamelled1 wanting fifteen plates1 etc410 described in ,dugdale's ,monasticon1 and given by ,john of ,gaunt's duchess to ,lincoln cathedral1 shows how this rich ornamentation was applied to garments1 especially for church use1 in very large quantities4 ,in ,england the old custom was to sew a great deal of goldsmith's work1 for enrichment1 upon articles meant for personal wear4 ,when our first ,edward's grave in ,westminster abbey was opened in #aggd there was seen upon the body1 besides other silken robes1 a stole-like band of rich white tissue about the neck and crossed upon the breast3 it was studded with gilt quatrefoils in filigree work and embroidered with pearls4 ,from the knees downwards the body was wrapped in a pall of cloth of gold4 ,henry the third gave a frontal to the high altar in ,westminster abbey upon which1 besides carbuncles in golden settings and several large pieces of enamel1 were as many as #hff smaller ones3 perhaps the 8esmaux de plique0 of the ,french4 ,in the ,norman-,french silken stuffs thus ornamented were said to be 8batuz10 that is1 beaten with hammered-up gold4 ,the ,treasury calendars1 edited by ,palgrave1 tell us that ,richard the second gave to the chapel in the castle of ,haverford 8ii rydell batuz20 two altar-curtains beaten 7probably with ornaments in gilt silver2 like an amice so described which belonged to ,st4 ,paul's74 ,for the secular employment of this same sort of decoration we have several curious examples4 ,ladies' dresses were so adorned1 as we may see in these verses3 ,a coronell on hur hedd sett1 ,hur clothys wyth bestes and byrdes wer bete1 ,all abowte for pryde4 ,illustration3 ,ancient banner of the city of ,strasburg3 see next page4 ,king ,john in #abae sent an order 7extant in the ,close rolls7 to ,reginald de ,cornhull and ,william ,cook to have made for him1 besides five tunics1 five banners with his arms upon them1 well beaten in gold3 8bene auro batuatas40 ,a very remarkable example attributed to the fourteenth century 8the banner of ,strasbourg0 was preserved there until very lately1 when it was unhappily destroyed in the bombardment of that city in #ahgj4 ,dugdale 7in his ,baronage7 gives the original bill for fitting out one of the ships in which ,beauchamp earl of ,warwick1 during the reign of ,henry the sixth1 went over to ,france4 ,among other items are these3 8,four hundred pencils 7long narrow strips of silk1 used as flags7 beat with the raggedstaff in silver2 the other pavys 7one of two shields probably of wood1 and fastened outside the ship at its bows7 painted with black1 and a raggedstaff beat with silver occupying all the field2 one coat for my lord's body1 beat with fine gold2 two coats for heralds1 beat with demi gold2 a great streamer for a ship of forty yeards in length and eight yeards in breadth1 with a great bear and griffin holding a raggedstaff poudred full of raggedstaffs2 three penons 7small flags7 of satten2 sixteen standards of worsted entailed with the bear and a chain40 ,the quatrefoils on the robe of ,edward the first1 the silver lions on the ,glastonbury cope1 the beasts and birds on the lady's gown1 the bear and griffin and raggedstaff belonging to the ,beauchamp's blazoning1 and all similar enrichments put upon silken stuffs1 were cut out of very thin plates of gold or silver1 so as to hang upon them lightly1 and were hammered up to show in low relief the fashion of the flower and the lineaments of the beast or bird meant to be represented4 ,such a style of ornamentation in gold or silver1 stitched on silken stuffs1 was far more common once than is now thought4 ,it had also a technical description3 in speaking of it people would either write or say1 8silk beaten with gold or silver20 as1 for example1 ,barbara ,mason used the term when in #aech she bequeathed to a church 8a vestment of grene sylke betyn with goold40 ,spangles1 when they happened to be used1 were not like those now employed but fashioned after another and artistic shape1 and put on in a different manner4 ,a fragment still exists from the chasuble belonging to the set of vestments wrought1 it is said1 by ,isabella of ,spain and her maids of honour2 and used the first time high mass was sung in ,granada1 after it had been taken by the ,spaniards from the ,moors4 ,upon this are flowers1 well thrown up in relief1 done in spangles on a crimson velvet ground4 ,the spangles--some in gold1 some in silver--are1 though small1 of several sizes2 all are voided2 that is1 hollow in the middle2 with the circumference not flat but convex1 and are sewed on like tiles1 one overlapping the other1 producing a rich and pleasing effect4 ,our present spangles1 in the flat shape1 are quite modern4 ,another kind of embroidery for garments was in gold1 worked sometimes by itself1 sometimes with coloured silk thread laid down alternately beside it2 so as to lend a tinge of green1 crimson1 pink1 or blue to the imagined tissue of the robe1 as if it were made of a golden stuff shot with another tint4 ,this gold 8passing0 was sewn on4 ,the workwomen taking thin silk1 while fastening the passing1 dotted it all over in small stitches set exactly in a way that showed the same pattern4 ,with no other appliance they were thus enabled to lend to their draperies the appearance of having been not wrought by the needle but actually cut out of a piece of textile2 for which they have been sometimes mistaken4 ,anciently1 also1 in ,england another mode of embroidering articles1 either for church use or for household furniture1 was by darning or working the subject upon linen netting4 ,this was called net-work1 filatorium1 as we learn from the ,exeter inventory1 where we read that its cathedral possessed in #acbg three pieces of it for use at the altar3 one in particular for throwing over the desk4 ,these thread embroideries were chiefly wrought during the fourteenth century2 but as early as #abie ,st4 ,paul's had a cushion of the kind4 ,illustration3 ,embroidered hangings of a bed2 from a ,,ms4 of the fifteenth century1 in the ,british museum4 ,crochet1 knitting done with linen thread1 and the thick kinds of lace wrought 7chiefly in ,flanders7 upon the cushion with bobbins1 were much employed under the name of nun's lace from the sixteenth century and upwards1 for bordering altar-cloths1 albs1 and every sort of towel required for church purposes4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,tapestry is neither real weaving nor true embroidery1 but in a manner unites in its working those two processes into one4 ,though wrought in a loom and upon a warp stretched out along its frame1 it has no woof thrown across those threads with a shuttle or any like appliance but its weft is done with many short threads1 all variously coloured and put in by a needle4 ,it is not embroidery1 though so very like it1 for tapestry is not worked upon what is really a web1 having both warp and woof1 but upon a series of closely set fine strings4 ,from the way in which tapestry is spoken of in ,holy ,writ we may be sure that the art is very old2 and if it did not take its first rise in ,egypt1 we are led by the same authority to conclude that it soon became successfully cultivated by the people of that land4 ,the woman in the book of ,proverbs says3 8,i have woven my bed with cords4 ,i have covered it with painted tapestry1 brought from ,egypt40 ,we find1 therefore1 not only that it was employed as an article of household furniture among the ,israelites1 but that the ,egyptians were the makers4 ,from ,egypt through western ,asia the art of tapestry-making found its way to ,europe1 and after many ages at last to ,england4 ,among the other manual labours followed in religious houses this handicraft was one2 and monks became some of the best workmen4 ,the altars and the walls of their churches were hung with tapestry4 ,matthew ,paris tells us that among other ornaments which1 in the reign of ,henry the first1 abbot ,geoffrey had made for his church of ,st4 ,alban's were three reredoses2 the first a large one wrought with the finding of the body of ,st4 ,alban2 the other two figured with the parables of the man who fell among thieves1 and of the prodigal son4 ,while in ,london in the year #acaf ,simon abbot of ,ramsey bought looms1 staves1 shuttles1 and a slay3 8pro weblomes emptis xxs4 ,et pro staves ad easdem vjd4 ,item pro iiij shittles pro eodem opere ijs vjd4 ,item in j4 slay pro textoribus viijd40 ,collier1 in his history1 quotes a letter from ,giffard1 one of the commissioners for the suppression of the smaller houses1 written to ,cromwell2 in which he says1 speaking of the monastery of ,wolstrope in ,lincolnshire3 8,not one religious person there but that he can and doth use either imbrothering1 writing books with very fair hand1 making their own garments1 carving1 painting1 or graving1 etc40 ,we may collect from ,chaucer that working tapestry was not an uncommon trade2 among his pilgrims he mentions in the prologue1 ,an haberdasher and a carpenter1 ,a webbe1 a dyer1 and a tapisser4 ,pieces of ,english-made tapestry still remain4 ,that fine though greatly damaged specimen at ,st4 ,mary's hall1 ,coventry1 representing the marriage of ,henry the sixth1 is one2 a second is the curious reredos for an altar1 belonging to the vintner's company2 this last is figured with ,st4 ,martin on horseback cutting his cloak in two that he might give one half to a poor man1 and with ,st4 ,dunstan singing mass4 ,a third piece1 of large size and in good preservation1 is in private possession1 and hangs upon the wall in a house in ,cornwall4 ,it is one of four pieces1 of which two have been lost1 representing the marriage of ,henry the seventh and ,elizabeth of ,york2 and was probably made about the year #adij4 ,the art of weaving tapestry was successfully followed in many parts of ,france and throughout ancient ,flanders2 where secular trade-guilds were formed for its especial manufacture in many of the towns4 ,several of these places won for themselves an especial fame2 but so far1 at last1 did ,arras outrun them all that arras-work came to be the common word1 both here and on the continent1 to mean all sorts of tapestry1 whether wrought in ,england or abroad4 ,thus the fine hangings for the choir of ,canterbury cathedral1 now at ,aix-en-,provence1 though probably made at home by his own monks and given to that church by prior ,goldston in #aeie1 are spoken of as arras-work3 8de arysse subtiliter intextos40 ,illustration3 ,banner of the tapestry workers of ,lyons4 ,arras is but one among other terms by which1 during the middle ages1 tapestry was called4 ,its earliest name was ,saracenic work2 8opus ,saracenicum20 and1 at first1 tapestry was wrought as in the east1 in a low or horizontal loom4 ,the artisans of ,france and ,flanders were the first to introduce the upright or vertical frame1 afterwards known abroad as 8de haute lisse10 in contradistinction to the low or horizontal frame called 8de basse lisse40 ,workmen who kept to the unimproved loom were known1 in the trade1 as ,saracens1 for retaining the method of their paynim teachers2 and their work1 ,saracenic4 ,in the year #acci ,john de ,croisettes1 a ,saracen-tapestry worker living at ,arras1 sells to the duke of ,touraine a piece of gold ,saracenic tapestry figured with the story of ,charlemagne3 8,jean de ,croisettes1 tapissier ,sarrazinois demeurant ,arras1 vend au duc de ,touraine un tapis sarrazinois or de l'histoire de ,charlemaine40 ,the high frame1 however1 soon superseded the low one2 and among the pieces of tapestry belonging to ,philippe duke of ,bourgogne and ,brabant many are especially entered as of the high frame2 one of which is thus described3 8ung grant tapiz de haulte lice1 sauz or1 de l'istoire du duc ,guillaume de ,normandie comment il conquist ,engleterre40 ,a very fine example is still to be seen in the collection at the ,louvre1 representing the history of ,st4 ,martin4 ,illustration3 ,the legend of ,st4 ,martin4--,from a piece of tapestry of the fourteenth century in the ,louvre4 ,with the upright1 as with the flat frame1 the workman had to grope in the dark a great deal upon his path4 ,in both1 he was obliged to put in the threads on the back or wrong side of the piece1 following his sketch as best he could behind the strings or warp4 ,as the face was downward in the flat frame it was much less easy to observe and correct a fault4 ,in the upright frame he might go in front1 and with his own work in open view on one hand and the original design full before him on the other1 he could mend as he went on1 step by step1 the smallest mistake1 were it but a single thread4 ,put side by side1 when finished1 the pieces from the upright frame were in beauty and perfection far beyond those from the flat one4 ,we can scarcely particularize the details in which that superiority consisted1 for not one single flat sample is to be identified as certain from evidence within our reach4 ,it is possible that at ,south ,kensington the specimens nos4 #abif and #adfe are 8,saracenic20 that is1 wrought in the low flat loom1 or 8de basse lisse20 but all the rest are of the 8de haute lisse10 worked in the upright frame4 ,the 8weaver0 is among the trades engraved in the curious volume printed at ,frankfort in #aegd1 de mechanicis artibus1 with plates by ,amman4 ,when the illuminators of manuscripts began to put in golden shadings all over their painting the tapestry-workers did the same4 ,such a manner cannot be relied on as a criterion whereby to judge of the exact place where any specimen of tapestry had been wrought1 or to tell its precise age4 ,to work figures on a golden ground and to shade garments1 buildings1 and landscapes with gold1 are two different things4 ,upon several pieces at ,south ,kensington gold thread has been very plentifully used1 but the metal is of so debased a quality that it has become almost black4 ,the use of tapestry for church decoration and household furniture1 both in ,england and abroad1 was for a long period very great4 ,many large pieces1 mostly of a scriptural character1 were provided by cardinal ,wolsey for his palace at ,hampton court4 ,in the next generation1 a very famous set was made in ,flanders1 which for many years decorated the walls of the ,house of ,lords3 it represented the defeat of the ,spanish ,armada4 ,this magnificent memorial was destroyed in the fire of #ahcd4 ,one fragment only is known to exist4 ,this piece was cut out to make way for a gallery at the time of the trial of queen ,caroline1 and was secreted by a ,german servant of the ,lord ,chamberlain4 ,the relic was bought some years after for #bj and presented to the corporation of ,plymouth1 who still possess it4 ,illustration3 ,the ,weaver2 from the engraving by ,j4 ,amman4 ,the most beautiful series now in the world is in the ,vatican at ,rome1 and may be judged of by looking at a few of the original cartoons 7at present in the ,s4 ,k4 museum74 ,duke ,cosimo tried to set up tapestry work at ,florence but did not succeed4 ,later1 ,rome produced some good things2 among others1 the fine copy of ,da ,vinci's ,last ,supper still hung up on ,maunday ,thursday4 ,england made several attempts to re-introduce the manufacture3 first at ,mortlake1 then afterwards in ,london1 at ,soho4 ,works from these two establishments may be met with4 ,at ,northumberland house there was a room hung with large pieces of tapestry wrought at ,soho1 and for that mansion1 in the year #ageh4 ,the designs were by ,francesco ,zuccherelli and consisted of landscapes composed of hills crowned here and there with the standing ruins of temples or strewed with broken columns1 among which groups of country folks are wandering and amusing themselves4 ,mortlake and ,soho were failures4 ,not so the ,gobelins at ,paris1 as every one well knows4 ,in many ,english houses1 especially in the country1 good samples of late ,flemish tapestry may be found4 ,close to ,london1 ,holland house is adorned with some curious specimens1 particularly in the raised style4 ,an earlier example 7engraved on the next page7 of the fifteenth century1 representing the marriage of ,louis ,,xii4 and ,anne of ,brittany is in a foreign collection4 ,imitated tapestry existed here long ago under the name of 8stayned cloth10 and the workers of it were embodied into a ,london guild4 ,at the beginning of the sixteenth century ,exeter cathedral had several pieces of old painted or 8stayned0 cloth3 8i front stayned cum crucifixo1 ,maria et ,johanne1 ,petro et ,paulo2 viij panni linei stayned1 etc40 ,the great use at that time of such articles in household furniture may be witnessed in the will1 #aejc1 of ,katherine lady ,hastings who bequeaths1 besides several other such pieces1 8an old hangin of counterfeit arres of ,knollys1 which now hangeth in the hall and all such hangyings of old bawdekyn1 or lynen paynted as now hang in the chappell40 ,we may also remember that ,falstaff speaks of it as an illustration easily understood2 he says that his troops are 8as ragged as ,lazarus in the painted cloth40 ,carpets are akin to tapestry1 and though the use of them may perhaps be not so ancient yet is very old4 ,here1 again1 we must look to the people of ,asia for the finest as well as the earliest examples of this textile4 ,medival specimens are rare anywhere1 and we are glad to recommend attention to two pieces of that period fortunately in the collection at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #hfdi1 of the fourteenth century1 and no4 #hceg1 of the sixteenth1 both of ,spanish make4 ,illustration3 ,marriage of ,louis ,,xii4 and ,anne of ,brittany4 ,the chambers of our royal palaces and the chancels of our parish churches used to be strewed with rushes4 ,when however they could afford it the authorities of our cathedrals1 even in very early times1 spread the sanctuary with carpets2 and at last old tapestry came to be so employed1 as now in ,italy4 ,among such coverings for the floor before the altar ,exeter had a large piece of ,arras cloth figured with the life of the duke of ,burgundy1 the gift of one of its bishops1 ,edmund ,lacy1 in #adbj2 besides two large carpets1 one bestowed by bishop ,nevill in #adef1 the other1 of a chequered pattern1 by lady ,elizabeth ,courtney3 8carpet et panni coram altari sternendi2 i pannus de ,arys de historia ducis ,burgundie2 i larga carpeta1 etc40 ,in an earlier inventory we find that among the 8bancaria0 or bench-coverings in the choir of the same cathedral1 one was a large piece of ,english-made tapestry with a fretted pattern4 ,it is very probable that as the work of the ,record ,commission goes on1 and our ancient historians are printed1 evidence may be found that the looms at work in all our great monasteries among other webs wrought carpets4 ,from existing testimony we believe that such must have been the practice at ,croyland1 where abbot ,egelric 7the second of the name7 gave to that church1 before the year #iib1 8two large foot-cloths so carpets were then called woven with lions to be laid out before the high altar on great festivals1 and two shorter ones trailed all over with flowers1 for the feast days of the apostles40 ,the quantity of carpeting in our palaces may be seen by the way in which ,leland tells us that 8my lady the queen's rooms0 were strewed with them 8when she took her chamber40 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,the value of such a collection of textile fabrics as that at ,south ,kensington can scarcely be overrated4 ,without such aid it is not possible for the painter or the historian to bring before his own mind1 much less bring before another's1 a true representation of ancient ceremonies and pageants4 ,whether his subject be a coronation or a royal marriage1 a queen's 8taking her chamber10 a progress1 or a funeral1 he cannot correctly set forth the splendour or the details of the occasion1 unless he can refer to existing examples of the cloths of gold1 the figured velvets1 the rich embroidery1 or the splendid silks1 which used to be worn of old4 ,take for example nos4 #acaj and #hfbd4 ,upon these are figured stags with tall branching horns1 couchant1 chained1 upturning their antlered heads to sunbeams darting down upon them amid a shower of rain2 and beneath the stags are eagles4 ,this ,sicilian textile1 woven about the end of the fourteenth century1 brings to one's mind the bronze recumbent figure of a king in ,westminster abbey4 ,it is that of ,richard the second2 made for him before his downfall1 and by two coppersmiths of ,london1 ,nicholas ,broker and ,godfrey ,prest4 ,this effigy1 once finely gilt1 is as remarkable for its beautiful workmanship as for the elaborate manner in which the cloak and kirtle worn by the king are diapered all over with a pattern1 copied from the silken stuff out of which those garments must have been cut for his personal wear while living4 ,the pattern consists of a sprig of the planta genesta1 the humble broom plant--the haughty ,plantagenet's device--along with a couchant hart chained and gazing straight forwards1 and above it a cloud with rays darting up from behind4 ,these were ,richard's favourite cognizances3 the one from his grandfather ,edward the third2 the other from his mother ,joan of ,kent4 ,it is very probable that the king's dress was of the same kind of silk ,sicilian textile as the examples just referred to3 and that those very examples are portions of pieces wrought1 perhaps at ,palermo1 for the court of ,richard4 ,they are of the same date and they show his devices2 the chained hart and the sunbeams issuing from a cloud4 ,the seemliness1 not to say comfort1 of private life was improved by the use of textiles4 ,let the historian contrast the custom even in a royal palace1 during the middle ages1 with that now followed in every tradesman's home4 ,then straw and rushes were strewed in houses upon the floor in every room2 and ,wendover1 in his life of ,st4 ,thomas1 speaks of the king's courtiers platting knots with the litter1 and flinging them with a gibe at a man who had been slighted by the prince4 ,not quite a hundred years later when ,eleanor of ,castile came to ,london for her marriage with our first ,edward she found her lodgings furnished1 under the directions of the ,spanish courtiers who had arrived before her1 with hangings and curtains of silk around the walls1 and carpets spread upon the ground4 ,this offended some of the people2 more of them1 as ,matthew ,paris records1 laughed at the thought that such costly things were laid down to be walked upon4 ,take1 again1 the famous ,syon cope4 ,not only is it full of interest to writers upon liturgies and rituals but of even more to the herald and genealogist4 ,covered as its orphreys are with armorial bearings1 this cope carries with it evidences as important and as valuable as any contemporary roll of arms2 and no inquirer into the pedigrees of the ancient families of the ,percies or ,ferrers1 of ,cliffords or ,botelers1 and of many others1 can afford to neglect it4 ,we have several records of evidence in courts of law taken from heraldic embroideries upon robes and vestments4 ,in the famous controversy between the houses of ,scrope and ,grosvenor1 in the fourteenth century1 inquiries were made and proofs were offered on both sides as to the right of bearing upon their shields the bend or upon a field azure4 ,witnesses produced at ,westminster corporas cases1 copes1 and albs embroidered with the arms of ,scrope4 ,chaucer was one of the witnesses2 and said he had seen those arms on banners and vestments and commonly called the arms of ,scrope4 ,again2 the fact that in her wardrobe was found a vestment embroidered with the royal arms was brought forward to prove the charge of treason against the old countess of ,salisbury1 the mother of cardinal ,pole2 and for which crime she was condemned4 ,collections of ancient textiles are of still greater use to students of ecclesiastical history and church rituals than even to the secular historian4 ,it is probable that the greater number of the specimens which now exist formed originally portions of sacred vestments and furniture for altars4 ,formerly so common1 fragments even of such cloths and robes have become of very great rarity1 especially in ,england2 where for the last two or three centuries the use of the numerous old church vestments and decorations has entirely ceased4 ,again1 for example3 the three cases nos4 #eieh1 #hcbi1 and #hcbg are of the kind known as the 8capsella cum serico decenter ornata0 of the medival writers2 small cases or boxes decently fitted up with silk2 or the 8capsula corporalium10 the box in which were kept the corporals or square pieces of fine linen1 required for service during holy week4 ,the name as well as the use of this appliance is very old1 and both are spoken of in the very ancient #8,ordines ,romani' edited by ,mabillon4 ,one of these1 in the rubric for ,good ,friday1 speaks of the ,host as having been kept in the corporal's case or box3 8in capsula corporialium40 ,in ,england1 such small wooden boxes covered with silks and velvets richly embroidered were once employed for the same purpose3 and several are mentioned in the ,exeter inventories4 ,the two pyx-cloths1 nos4 #hcdb and #hfia1 have an especial interest for the student of medival liturgy4 ,there was a custom during the middle ages in ,england1 as well as in ,france and several other countries on the continent1 of keeping the ,eucharist hung up over the high altar beneath a canopy1 within a pyx of gold1 silver1 ivory1 or enamel1 mantled with a fine linen cloth or veil4 ,this veil for the pyx was sometimes embroidered with golden thread and coloured silks4 ,such an one is mentioned in the records of the ,exchequer1 edited by ,palgrave3 among the valuables belonging to ,richard the second in ,haverford castle and sent by the sheriff of ,hereford to the exchequer1 at the beginning of the reign of ,henry the fourth1 were 8i coupe d'or pour le ,corps ,ihu ,cryst4 i towayll ove 7avec7 i longe parure de mesure la suyte40 ,several names were given to this fine linen covering4 ,in the inventory of things taken from ,dr4 ,caius1 and in the college of his own founding at ,cambridge1 are 8corporas clothes1 with the pix and #8sindon' and canopie40 ,this variety in nomenclature doubtless has led some writers to state that before ,mary queen of ,scots laid her head upon the block she had a 8corporal10 strictly so called1 bound over her eyes3 as it is given in one of our histories of ,england1 8a handkerchief in which the ,eucharist had formerly been enclosed40 ,but this bandage must have been the veil for a pyx4 ,as ,mary wrought much with her needle1 and specimens of her work yet remain at ,chatsworth and at ,greystock1 this piece may have been embroidered by her own hand and perhaps also had been once used4 ,one of these old ,english pyx or ,corpus ,christi cloths1 was found a few years ago at the bottom of a chest in ,hessett church1 ,suffolk4 ,as it is a remarkable specimen of the ingenious handicraft of our medival countrywomen it deserves description4 ,to make this pyx-cloth a piece of thick linen1 about two feet square1 was chosen1 and being marked off into small equal widths on all its four edges1 the threads at every other space were1 both in the warp and woof1 pulled out4 ,the checquers or squares so produced were then drawn in by threads tied on the under side1 having the shape of stars1 so well and delicately worked that1 till it had been narrowly looked into1 the piece was thought to be guipure lace4 ,an old alb1 no4 #hgaj1 and an amice1 #hcjg1 having the apparels yet remaining upon both1 are well worth attention on account of somewhat similar curious ornamental needlework in an intricate manner4 ,in the middle ages in ,england it was not unusual to suspend upon pastoral staffs1 just below the crook1 a piece of fine linen4 ,we see them represented on effigies and in illuminations2 but existing examples are of the utmost rarity4 ,two are at ,south ,kensington3 nos4 #hbgi ,a1 and #hffb4 ,there are also there several specimens of the christening cloaks1 anciently in use4 ,these were not only conspicuous in royal christenings but1 varying in costliness according to the parent's rank1 were handed down in inventories and wills4 ,at the christening of ,arthur prince of ,wales1 eldest son of ,henry the eighth1 8my lady ,cecill1 the queen's eldest sister1 bare the prince wrapped in a mantell of cremesyn clothe of golde furred with ermyn10 etc4 ,shakespeare makes the shepherd1 in the ,winter's tale1 cry out1 8,here's a sight for thee2 look thee1 a bearing cloth for a squire's child60 ,a well-to-do tradesman1 whose will is printed among the ,bury wills1 bequeathed in #afdh to his daughter ,rose his 8beareing cloath1 such 444 linnen as is belonginge to infants at their tyme of baptisme40 ,small square pieces of embroidered linen are sometimes found in country houses in some old chest1 of which the original use is said not to be now known4 ,but in most cases these were made for children's quilts2 and very often have the emblems of the evangelists figured at the corners3 reminding us of the nursery rhyme1 once common both in ,england and abroad-- 8,matthew1 ,mark1 ,luke1 and ,john1 ,bless the bed that ,i lie on40 ,the quilts also for grown people were ornamented in the same way4 ,at ,durham1 in #addf1 in the dormitory of the priory was a quilt 8cum iiij or evangelistis in corneriis40 ,very few examples now exist of the ceremonial shoe anciently worn by bishops4 ,these were of velvet1 or damask1 or strong linen embroidered4 ,one is preserved at ,south ,kensington1 no4 #abij3 another1 once worn by ,waynflete bishop of ,winchester1 is still at ,magdalen college1 ,oxford4 ,we learn from the ,york wills that these shoes were a part of the episcopal vestments3 bishop ,pudsey left his mitre1 staff1 and sandals1 8et ctera episcopalia0 to ,durham cathedral in #aaie4 ,later the name of 8sabatines0 was given them2 and archbishop ,bowet's inventory mentions two pairs3 8pro j pare de sabbatones1 brouddird et couch' cum perell'2 pro j pare de sabbatones de albo panno auri40 ,collections of textile fabrics are of the highest value to the artist4 ,there is none1 anywhere1 so rich or complete as that at ,south ,kensington2 and before it was purchased for public use1 painters were glad to refer to any scanty collection in private hands1 or to old pictures or illuminated manuscripts1 or engravings4 ,but1 now1 artists may see pieces of the actual stuffs represented in the pictures1 say1 of the national ,gallery4 ,for example3 in ,orcagna's coronation of the blessed ,virgin the blue silk diapered in gold1 with flowers and birds1 hung as a back ground2 our ,lord's white tunic diapered in gold with foliage2 the mantle of ,his mother made of the same stuff2 ,st4 ,stephen's dalmatic of green samit1 diapered with golden foliage1 are ,sicilian in design and copied from the rich silks which came1 in the middle of the fourteenth century1 from the looms of ,palermo4 ,while standing before ,jacopo di ,casentino's ,st4 ,john our eye is drawn to the orphrey on that evangelist's chasuble embroidered1 after the ,tuscan style1 with barbed quatrefoils1 shutting in the busts of apostles4 ,isotta da ,ramini1 in her portrait by ,pietro della ,francesca1 wears a gown made of velvet and gold like the cut velvets at ,south ,kensington4 ,so1 again1 instead of copying patterns taken from the rich cloth of gold worn by ,st4 ,laurence in ,francia's picture1 or from the mantle of the doge in that by ,cappaccio1 or from the foot-cloths on the steps in the pictures by ,melozzo da ,forli1 he may find for his authorities in the same collection existing specimens of contemporary and similar fabrics4 ,not merely artists of a higher class but decorators also may be equally benefited by the patterns and examples preserved of old wall-hangings and tapestry4 ,from early times up to the middle of the sixteenth century our cathedrals and parish churches1 our castles and manorial houses1 in short the dwellings of the wealthy everywhere1 used to be ornamented with wall-painting done not in 8fresco0 but in 8secco20 that is1 distemper4 ,upon high festivals the walls of the churches were overspread with tapestry and needlework2 so1 too1 those in the halls of palaces1 for some solemn ceremonial4 ,warton1 in his history of ,english poetry1 gives a passage from ,bradshaw's life of ,st4 ,werburgh written late in the sixteenth century1 from which a few lines are well worth quotation4 ,he is describing how a large hall was arrayed for a great feast3 ,all herbes and flowers1 fragraunt1 fayre and swete ,were strawed in halles1 and layd under theyr fete4 ,clothes of gold and arras were hanged in the hall ,depaynted with pyctures and hystoryes manyfolde1 ,well wroughte and craftely4 ,the story of ,adam1 ,noe1 and his shyppe2 the twelve sones of ,jacob2 the ten plagues of ,egypt1 and-- ,duke ,josue was joyned after them in pycture1 99 99 99 99 99 ,theyr noble actes and tryumphes marcyall ,freshly were browdred in these clothes royall 99 99 99 99 99 ,but over the hye desse in pryncypall place ,where the sayd thre kynges sat crowned all ,the best hallynge hanged as reason was1 ,whereon were wrought the ix orders angelicall1 ,dyvyded in thre ierarchyses1 not cessing to call1 ,sanctus1 ,sanctus1 ,sanctus1 blessed be the ,trynite1 ,dominus ,deus ,sabaoth1 thre persons in one deyte4 ,specimens of tapestry of the later medival period may not uncommonly be found3 but not so pieces of room hangings1 8hallings10 such as those at ,south ,kensington1 nos4 #acgj1 #abig1 and #adfe4 ,similar examples are1 we believe1 unknown4 ,we will add a few words only on one other1 and that not a trivial1 part of ancient dress2 namely1 gloves4 ,formerly these were much more ornamented than now2 and1 when meant for ladies' wear1 sometimes perfume was bestowed upon them4 ,among the new year's day presents to queen ,mary1 before she came to the throne1 was 8a payr of gloves embrawret with gold40 ,a year afterwards 8x payr of ,spanyneshe gloves from a duches in ,spayne0 came to her2 and but a month before1 ,mrs4 ,whellers had sent to her highness 8a pair of swete gloves40 ,shakespeare1 true to the manners of his day1 after making ,autolycus chant the praises of his ,lawn as white as driven snow2 ,cyprus1 black as e'er was crow2 ,gloves1 as sweet as damask roses2 puts this into the mouth of the shepherdess3 8,come1 you promised me a tawdry lace1 and a pair of sweet gloves40 ,we may find a pair of such gloves in the ,south ,kensington collection1 no4 #dffe4 ,it may be proper to add1 in conclusion1 that the greater part of the very valuable and extensive collection of medival textile fabrics at ,south ,kensington was collected by ,dr4 ,bock1 a canon of ,aix la ,chapelle2 and purchased from him about the year #ahfd4 ,illustration3 ,state gloves formerly belonging to ,louis ,,xiii4 ,,index4 ,,page ,acca1 silks1 #gj ,amasis1 his linen corslet1 #e ,anne of ,cleves1 her pall of cloth of gold1 #da ,areste1 cloth of1 #gd not ,arras1 #ge ,aristotle first mentions silk1 #h ,arras1 a name for tapestry1 #ig ,aurelian1 refuses his wife a silk robe1 #i ,babylon1 embroideries1 #gi ,baldachino1 from baudekin1 #db ,banner of ,strasburg1 #ib at ,lyons1 #ig ,bath1 famous for weaving1 #fe ,baudekin1 a costly stuff1 #dj origin of name1 #dj 8,batuz10 its meaning1 #ij ,block-printed linens1 #fg ,blodbendes1 #aa ,blodius1 blue colour1 #gf ,boadicea1 her cloak1 #c ,bordalisaunder1 explained1 #gb ,british bards1 distinction of dress1 #c ,bruges1 her looms famous1 #fg ,buckram1 why so called1 #gb ,byzantine textiles1 #ej not good examples at ,south ,kensington1 #ej ,cadas1 or carduus1 a silken stuff1 #cj ,camoca1 or camak1 how used1 #cj ,canvas1 origin of name1 #d ,care-cloth1 explained1 #gb ,carpets1 #aja ,cecily1 ,saint1 her robe1 #af ,cendal explained1 #bg ,chasubles of stauracin1 #cg not to be made of fustian1 #gc ,childeric1 his burial garment1 #af ,chinese textiles1 #di patterned silks1 #ga ,chrysoclavus explained1 #ce ,ciclatoun1 #ah ,cingula1 explained1 #ab ,cloaks for christenings1 #ajh ,cloth of gold1 two kinds1 #ai 8stayned01 #aja ,cloths of estate1 #db ,copper used to imitate gold thread1 #ba ,cotton1 native home1 #c 8,colayn0 ribbon1 #fi ,cologne orphrey webs1 #fi ,colours of silks1 medival1 #ge ,corporal1 said to be used by ,mary of ,scotland1 #ajg ,crochet1 or 8nun's lace01 #id ,cyclas1 a splendid garment1 #bg ,dalmatic of ,charlemagne at ,rome1 #ch ,byzantine1 #ej ,darius1 his dress described1 #ae ,damasks1 ,french1 #fh why so named1 #ga 8,de fundato10 a pattern on silk1 #ch ,diaper1 a silk1 #cb possible origin of name1 #cb the meaning extended1 #cc ,dorneck1 explained1 #gb ,durham cathedral1 vestments1 #be1 #bh ,eastern princes1 insignia on their robes1 #de ,eagle and other birds1 woven on standards1 #dg ,edward the first1 his gift of 8cyclases01 #bg ,episcopal shoes1 #aji ,egyptian work of the loom1 #e silver and gold wire1 #bb loom1 #gi ,embroidery1 #gi covering ancient dresses1 #hj raised on book covers1 #hf involved great labour1 #hf ,english textiles1 #fd ,exeter cathedral1 vestments1 #be1 #bh1 #bi1 #ca1 #cc1 #df1 #dh1 #eh1 #fc1 #fe1 #gc ,eylesham1 famous for linen1 #fd 8,filatorium10 its meaning1 #ic ,filfot1 explained1 #ch ,flax1 grows wild in ,britain1 #d earliest history1 #d ,flemish textiles1 #ff ,florence1 her silks and velvets1 #fc specimens at ,south ,kensington1 #fc cut-work1 #hh ,french silks1 #fh ,frontal1 at ,westminster1 #ij ,fustian1 known in #acth century1 #ca originally from ,egypt1 #gc woven at ,naples1 #gd ,fygury1 silks so called1 #cd ,gammadion1 explained1 #cf ,garland1 an ,englishman1 #aa ,gems1 etc41 sewn on textiles1 #hi ,genoa1 her silks1 #ei specimens at ,south ,kensington1 #fj ,gilding1 used for textiles1 #ba ,gloves1 embroidered1 #aaa ,gold1 used in weaving1 #ae cloths made of gold alone1 #af1 #ag see 8copper0 ,greek monks1 first bring silkworms1 #i ,haconbie church vestments1 #fg ,hebrew word used improperly for silk1 #g embroidery1 #gi ,heliogabalus1 first wore whole-silk1 #i ,hemp1 native home1 #c ,heraldic charges on ,sicilian silk1 #ef ,herod1 his dress of woven silver1 #bb ,holosericum1 explained1 #bd ,honorius1 his wife's robe1 #af ,hullings1 i4e4 hangings1 #df1 #ff ,imperial1 a rich silk1 #ci meaning of the name1 #dj ,indian1 ancient splendour of dress1 #ae textiles1 #ej ,italy1 northern1 medival silks1 #eh ,irish cloth1 in ,king ,john's time1 #ff ,king ,henry the third orders cloth of ,areste1 #gd ,edward the second orders ,english embroidery1 #he ,richard the second1 gifts to ,haverford castle1 #ij ,lama d'oro of ,italy1 #ae ,letters woven on textiles1 an ancient practice1 #dg ,liber pontificalis1 a valuable book1 #ce ,lincoln cathedral1 vestments1 #bc ,looms1 upright and horizontal1 #fd ,lucca1 her silks1 #eh cloths of gold1 #eh specimens at ,south ,kensington1 #ei 8,marble0 silk1 #gf ,milan1 her textiles1 #fc ,moresco-,spanish textiles1 #ec ,mortuary palls1 #dc ,mummy cloths1 #e unmixed linen1 #f ,muslin1 long used in the east1 #gd ,muslin1 origin of name1 #gd ,neckham1 first describes the silkworm1 #ac 8,network0 on linen1 #ic ,nuns1 anciently1 exhorted not to weave coloured robes1 #aa ,english1 employed in weaving1 #fd 8,opus0 plumarium1 #ha pectineum1 #ha ,anglicum1 #hb consutum1 #hh good example at ,south ,kensington1 #hi ,organzine1 explained1 #bf ,palls1 of rich stuffs1 #da cloth of1 #db ,paul's 7,st47 cathedral1 vestments1 #be1 #ci1 #de1 #ej1 #fj1 #fe1 #ge ,paper1 employed by ,japanese for clothing1 #a 8,passing0 for embroidery1 #ic ,persian textiles1 #di 8,phrygian0 work1 #gi ,plaited woollen stuff among the ,britons1 #b ,polystauron1 why so called1 #cf ,pyx cloths1 at ,south ,kensington1 #ajg curious example1 #ajh ,queen ,matilda takes the ,abingdon vestments1 #hc ,quilts for children1 #ajh ,rayns 7,rennes7 cloths1 #fh ,rhenish cut-work1 #hh ,samit1 #aj1 #ai explained1 #bd ,sandal1 explained1 #bg of bishops1 #aji ,saracenic textiles1 #df1 #eh1 #ii ,sarcenet1 explained1 #bh ,satin1 not unknown in middle ages1 #bi early names1 #bi ,sicilian textiles1 #ed three styles1 #ed ,silk1 #h unknown in ancient ,egypt1 #h in ,south ,italy1 #aath century1 #aj ,silk1 its use at first condemned for garments at ,rome1 #h ,silver1 woven into webs1 #ba ,skins1 employed for clothing1 #a ,snood1 of the ,anglo-saxons1 #ab ,spangles1 how anciently used1 #ib ,spindle tree1 #b ,spinning1 ancient daily work of women1 #b ,stauracin1 origin of name1 #cf ,stragulat1 explained1 #ci ,street hangings1 #dc ,subsericum1 explained1 #be ,syndon1 explained1 #bh ,syon ,cope1 peculiar work1 #hc its historical value1 #aje ,syrian textiles1 #eb ,taffeta1 explained1 #bh ,tapestry1 #ie ,egyptian and ,jewish1 #ie ,english at ,coventry and in ,cornwall1 #if two kinds of frame1 #ig of the ,spanish armada1 #ajj imitated1 #aja ,tars1 cloth of1 probably cashmere1 #ca #gf ,textile1 meaning of the term1 #a the value of collections1 #ajd1 c4 ,tiraz1 of an ,arab palace1 #de ,tissue1 #bj ,translucent silk1 used in ,,mss41 #h ,thread1 gold1 varieties of quality1 #bc ,tram1 explained1 #bf ,u1 the letter1 used in ,italian silks1 #ef ,velvet1 its history obscure1 #ca vestments1 first mentioned in ,england1 #ca origin of the name1 #ca varieties of weaving1 #cb a peculiar ornament1 #fc of ,flanders1 #fg ,venetian textiles1 #fj characteristics1 #fb linens1 #fb ,warwick1 earl1 his banners of satin1 #bi and dresses1 #ib ,westminster copes1 preserved at ,stonyhurst1 #fc ,wire1 gold and silver1 for weaving1 #bb machine for drawing first used1 #bc ,worcester1 famous for cloths1 #fe ,worms1 7silkworms7 first brought to ,europe1 #i ,worsted1 in ,norfolk1 a new method of carding wool there1 #fe ,york cathedral vestments1 #fg1 #gb ,princess ,elizabeth of1 her velvet gown1 #gb ,yprs1 not origin of name of diaper1 #cc linens1 #fh ,,south ,,kensington ,,museum ,,art ,,handbooks4 ,,edited ,,by ,,william ,,maskell4 #a4 ,,textile ,,fabrics4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,,daniel ,,rock1 ,d4,d4 ,with numerous ,woodcuts4 #b4 ,,ivories1 ,,ancient ,,and ,,medi,,val4 ,by ,,william ,,maskell4 ,with numerous ,woodcuts4 #c4 ,,ancient ,,and ,,modern ,,furniture ,,and ,,woodwork4 ,by ,,john ,,hungerford ,,pollen4 ,with numerous ,woodcuts4 #d4 ,,maiolica4 ,by ,c4 ,,drury ,e4 ,,fortnum1 ,f4,s4,a4 ,with numerous ,woodcuts4 #e4 ,,musical ,,instruments4 ,by ,,carl ,,engel4 ,with numerous ,woodcuts4 ,,printed ,,by ,,taylor ,,and ,,co41 ,,little ,,queen ,,street1 ,,lincoln',s ,,inn ,,fields4 ,transcriber's ,notes ,punctuation1 hyphenation1 and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,simple typographical errors were corrected2 unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious1 and otherwise left unbalanced4 ,the index was not fully checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references4 ,in the ,list of ,woodcuts1 the reference to the illustration on page #id was added by the ,transcriber4 ,page #ai3 80 represents an 8r0 with a tilde 802 80 represents an 8s0 with a tilde 804 ,pages #ai and #if3 ,letters preceded by 80 are superscripts4 ,pages #cf1 #cg1 #ch3 the illustrations on these pages are multi-part symbols4 ,in the original book1 they were printed in-line with the surrounding text1 but in this e,book1 they are shown on lines of their own4 ,page #aaj3 8,isotta da ,ramini1 in her portrait by ,pietro della ,francesca0 was printed that way1 as was 8,cappaccio04