The collection of the Textile Research Centre in Leiden holds a sample (76 x 13 cm) of cotton cloth with a printed design of stylised birds and flowers. It has the spaces between the individual floral and bird designs filled with a vermicelli design of thick cords that are couched to the ground material. The sample dates to the 1930's and probably derives from France.
The collection of the Textile Research Centre in Leiden holds a sample (41 x 20 cm) of cotton cloth with a printed design of stylised birds and flowers. What is remarkable is that the spaces between the individual floral and bird designs are filled with a vermicelli design of thick, beige cords that were couched to the ground material. The sample dates to the 1930's and probably derives from France.
The Fishmongers' Pall is a lavishly embroidered funeral pall created by nuns between 1512 and 1538, for the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, which still owns the cloth (Fishmongers' Hall). The four side panels of the pall are all fully covered with embroidery. The top is made of the richest Italian cloth of gold, while the sides are made of linen. The pall measures 232 x 56 cm.
The Jesse cope, now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, consists of a number of embroidered fragments sewn together into a cope. The fragments are decorated in the tradition of opus anglicanum. They date to the early fourteenth century.
The Toledo cope, worked in England in the early fourteenth century in the tradition of Opus Anglicanum, is housed in the Catedral Primada de Santa Maria in Toledo. It is embroidered with foliage and birds, and features the Virgin Mary and saints. The scenes are framed by gothic arches.
The Daroca cope (also known as the Madrid cope) is a famous example of medieval opus anglicanum, which is housed in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid, Spain. The cope shows scenes from the Creation of the World and Fall of Adam and Eve. It is an exceptional example of opus anglicanum, since scenes from the Old Testament are rarely depicted in medieval embroidery from England.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds in its collection a fragment (c. 29 x 22.5 cm) of what has been suggested to be a pair of pontifical stockings/boots, worked in opus anglicanum. They were retrieved from a tomb in Worcester cathedral in 1861, believed to be that of Bishop Walter de Cantelupe (who died in AD 1266).
The upper part of two boots or stockings to be worn by a bishop, and worked in Opus Anglicanum with gold and silver thread embroidery, are preserved in the Archbishop’s Palace Museum, at the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway. They probably date to the late twelfth century. Nidaros is the medieval name of Trondheim.
The sumptuous set of Hólar vestments, now housed in the National Museum of Iceland, are an example of the famous opus anglicanum, which during the medieval period formed an important English export product. The luxuriously embroidered garments, including an amice apparel), a stole (two fragments) and a maniple (two fragments), orginally belonged to the Cathedral church at Hólar.
The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, houses a medieval cope, traditionally called the Butler-Bowdon cope, which dates to the first half of the fourteenth century. The cope is a prime example of opus anglicanum. It measures 165.5 by 34.5 cm.
More...
The exhibition 'Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery' opened on 1 October 2016 in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The exhibition focuses on one of the most famous medieval (export) products of England, namely the opus anglicanum. The exhibition of these beautifully embroidered garments is supported by the embroidery firm of Hand & Lock.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses an embroidered picture that represents 'Fame at the tomb of Shakespeare', or in full: 'Fame scattering flowers at the tomb of Shakespeare'. It was made in England and dates to the late eighteenth century.
St Peter's Church in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England, is one of the major wool churches in the Cotswolds. It houses an altar cloth that has been linked to the first wife of Henry VIII, namely Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), who is thought to have stitched the cloth while she resided at nearby Sudeley Castle.
Faemne aet hyre bordan geriseth is a passage from the tenth century Exeter Book (line 63). Many of the texts contained in the book, written in Old English, are much older.