Friday 4 June 2010

Today's special offer - Buy one get one free!!

I thought I would go back and try again with the photos and Bingo! it worked so you are getting two posts for the price of one today. You'll no doubt have guessed that these images are details of the cope I mentioned earlier - it is decorated in goldwork and coloured embroidery on velvet. The motifs appear to have been made as slips and applied to the velvet, with other stitching worked directly onto the background.

Originally the cope had been a dark blue but it is now very faded. It is also badly damaged in places but we are very fortunate to be able to see it at all. It was saved from destruction at the time of the Dissolution and hidden beneath the altar in a neighbouring parish church where it remained for about 300 years until it was discovered in the mid-19th century.


These motifs appear all over the cope and the embroidery is very fine - it must have been truly magnificent when it was first made.



4 comments:

Seaside Stitchers said...

A beautiful cope Heather and who could resist a 'buy one, get one free' offer.
The images are great - thanks for sharing them with us.

Seaside Stitchers said...

Me again - I have just realised that my comment has come up as Seaside Stitchers instead of Textileart-showcase. I do both blogs and am signed into the seasiders blog - but I meant it to come from me!!! Too late to be blogging anyway!

Aussie Jo said...

Gorgeous!!

BT said...

Wow, what a wonderful cope and how super that it was saved from destruction. Lovely photos too.