A blue/purple velvet, embroidered silk and metal-thread cope, with Cherubim on wheel, thistles and foliate motifs, England, after 15th century Medieval designs, with some 15th century elements, and later

Textiles in Medieval and Renaissance periods a marker of wealth and status in society, the courts and in the church. As such as conspicuous display of luxury, it experienced various changes and influences in the form of taxes, exemptions, sumptuary laws, increased trade and ban of trade, and in the Reformation of the church a reduction in the richness and expense of garments to be used, in any at all. In England with the ban on Catholicism, many vestments were used in private and secret. The English were renowned for their wool and especially for their exquisite and evocative 14th century embroidery (Opus Anglicanum - English work, distinctive for the underside couching technique), but they imported silks, velvets, cloths of gold and silver, and gold threads. By the 15th century the Italian silk industry had made technical advances which led to a variety of figured silks being imported and used for vestments, instead of plain velvets (especially red), and this meant less demand for the English embroidery work. There were even bans on importing European embroidery which was becoming highly desirable as it was showing ingenuity and advances in techniques and therefore the effects produced, including nue work. Despite competition from Flanders and Italy in the late 15th century, France and England continued to find a market for their embroidery, with patronage from the court and church. However the designs of the English work were now not as richly embroidered and decorated as they had once been. By the end of the 15th century fewer expensive Italian silk brocades were used in England and an alternative production of islolated motif were made and more readily available to clients. As a result there is a group of English vestments, of the late 15th century, which have a distinctive style which incorporates a group of similar and almost identical embroidered motifs which were scattered across the woven plain textile (usually velvet). The approach became more standardised. These linen embroidered motifs include Cherubim (four-winged angels), Seraphim (six-winged angels), sometimes on wheels and sometimes with banners with text, the use of a variety of stylised foliate motifs including a type of thistles, and fleurs-de-lys, double-headed eagles, and family initials or elements of heraldry (as rebuses or badges). They often had orphrey panels more reminiscent of the Opus Anglicanum, although of differing qualities of finish, and embroidered hoods. London was still the centre of the embroidery Guilds. These new motifs are considered to have been produced by a variety of producers, made piecemeal and assembled by different vestment makers. This included the applied figures of the Assumption of the Virgin, Annunciation, Virgin and Child, or Crucifixion, used on the cope or orphrey, or hood. This group was considered the last manifestation of English church embroidery before the Reformation. The English church split from the Roman Catholic church during the reign of the Tudors, and vestments were not seen in English churches for the next four hundred years. With two exceptions being for a brief period under the Catholic Queen Mary Tudor and an interlude during the reign of Charles I, when Archbishop Laud unsuccessfully attempted to revive the ceremonial in the church. From the extant examples of which several are cited below, the quality varies and highlights that not all were produced to the same standards or for the same cost. They also reveal that there was an element of reuse of these treasured and valuable textiles. Some having originally been from textiles (a pall) used to cover a coffin, and they often had heraldic devices. 

There is a beautifully worked English cope, which although of the earlier style of overall embroidered work, it is interesting to compare the inclusion of some angels (two wings) on a wheel across the panel. The orphrey panel is entirely heraldic. It is of earlier date than the rest of the cope (thought to have been a chasuble and considered to have once been a stole, maniple and alb panels. It was not unusual for heraldry to be used in these smaller textile items. The Cope here cited is known as The Syon Cope (worked between 1300-1320), which derived the name from the richest nunnery in country, the Bridgettine convent of Syon (Middlesex), which is now located in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Mus.no. 83-1864). The use of heraldry shows it was used in copes and therefore the use of the stylised crown motif in the orphrey of the present cope may allude to the piece having family connections, allegiances or having been given as a diplomatic gift. Some of the elements on the present cope are older than others, including cherubim, and the cope as a whole vestment has probably been reconstructed at a later date as the velvet is not period. 

Blue

The blue velvet of this cope is a colour associated with the Cult of the Virgin Mary. In the 12th century Mary's role changed and instead of being associated with mourning, she was seen as the mother of Christ and therefore to be cherised and venerated. Her associated colour became the new palette of blue, and being the colour of the sky and celestial, it represented purity and spirituality. The colour was also a high status and fashionable colour, using woad and lapis lazuli and involving complex trade networks and dying techniques. In the 14th century when black was becoming more prominent, blue always remained a favourite colour with the general populace in Europe. The spiritual association of the blue remained for the Virgin Mary.

Blue velvet vestments with very similar elements to those in the present cope are:

A Chasuble, late 15th or early 16th century, (122 by 68cm), plain blue velvet, with Seraphim (six winged), on a wheel, together with a similar five pronged foliate motif, other fleur-de-lys motifs, with embroidered trails around the motifs and sprinkled spangles. The cross shaped orphrey on the back is nue work with Christ crucified and two angels catching the blood, Keir Collection (Acquired in Vienna, from a Hungarian private collection); several pieces in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, including, A Chasuble, circa 1500-1525, with elaborate thistle motifs (Inv.696-1902), A fragment, 1470-1500, probably from a pall, depicting figures with names, therefore being able to date the textile, and including foliate motifs (Inv.no.T.194-1911), A Cope fragment, circa 1500-1525, with three Seraphim, various foliate motifs and fleur-de-lys and figure of Assumption of the Virgin, with partial orphrey (Inv.617.1898), and A Chasuble, early 16th century, with Seraphim, roses, double-headed eagles, and Latin cross orphrey with Crucifixion and angels, with saints. The banner held by the Seraphim has the inscription Da Gloriam Deo (Give Glory to God), which is the inscription probably used in the banners of the cherubim on the present cope (Inv.no.240.1908).

Some other comparable Medieval/Renaissance English Copes and vestments with combinations of these distinctive motifs and of different colours include:-

One of the most elaborate surviving examples of English embroidery of this group and period is, A Cope, before 1493 (?), red velvet, seven Seraphim on wheels (three with banners, with the inscription Im Gloriam Dei (In God's Glory), various foliate motifs, double-headed eagles, fleurs-de-lys, and an eagle (St John the Baptist) on a barrel (tun), which was the personal badge (rebus) of Cardinal John Morton (c.1420-1500). The Cardinal was a high ranking clergyman, politician, and notable patron of art and architecture. Property of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, on loan to Arundel Castle;

Two similar copes bear his rebus, and are in St Mary's College, Oscott, and The Fogdo Cope, circa 1490, plain red velvet, with three central Seraphim (six winged), on wheels, with similar thistles, five pronged foliate motif, with fleurs-de-lys, and elaborate armorial, embroidered orphrey and hood, Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm (Mus. no. 223128.15);

A Cope, late 15th or early 16th century, (100 by 147cm; altered shape with straight sides), plain red velvet (faded), powdered with three central Seraphim (six winged), not on wheels, three designs of foliate motifs, including a similar thistle motif, fleur-de-lys motifs, with embroidered trails around the motifs and sprinkled spangles and an applied figure of The Assumption of the Virgin, which is the usual figure found on the copes. Lacking an orphrey and a hood, Keir Collection (Acquired in Italy);

A Cope, 16th century, red velvet, with seventeen Seraphim, of various sizes, seven on wheels, with applied figure of the Assumption of the Virgin, lacking orphrey and hood, Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Acc.No.53.63.1: Provenance: Leopold Ikle, St. Gall, Switzerland);

A Cope, circa 1500, dark purple velvet, with three Seraphim on wheels and with banners, with foliate motis, fleurs-de-lys and roses, with orphrey and vestigial hood, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Inv.1376-1901), and in the same collection a Photograph by Charles Thurston Thompson, Specimens selected from the Special Exhibition of works of Arts on Loan at the South Kensington Museum in 1862, depicting A Cope, 15th century, rich purple velvet, with foliate motifs, double headed eagles and the figure of The Assumption of the Virgin, with orphrey (Inv.40368).

There were four formal liturgical colours introduced in 1200 and they were White, Black, Red and Green. There are examples of vestments of all these colours in this sale. The first three colours had allocated events on which they should be worn. Between Lent and Advent, and festivals there was a significant period without an allocated formal colour. Pope Innocent III chose green and it symbolised hope and the expectation of Christ's resurrection. It represented the optimism and life that each day brings. These colours remained unchanged until the Council of Trent in the 16th century, when Pope Pius V introduced the colour violet for use liturgical use at Lent and Advent, and this introduction remains practice today. Purple had always been a high status colour associated with royalty and rulers and it was partly due to the complexities and molluscs (murex bandaris) used for dyeing. When the molluscs became harder to get hold of red took over but needed a mordant, which fortunately for Rome, Italy had a source of in the form alum. It was Pope Pius V that re introduced purple as a status colour with positive association and as an important liturgical colour. 

Similar to the above cited purple cope see, A Cope, 1475-1525, plain brown (probably originally red) velvet, with three central Seraphim (six winged), on wheels, similar thistles and six of the five pronged foliate motifs, two double headed eagles, six fleurs-de-lys, with applied figure of The Assumption of the Virgin, Art Institute of Chicago (Inv. 1971.312a);

A Cope, (rectangular format) late 15th century, plain brown velvet (possibly originally red), with three Cherubim (four winged), holding banner, on wheel, with Assumption of Virgin, mixed sizes of the fleurs-de-lys, thistles and five pronged foliate motif, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (Inv.1964-305).

A Dalmatic, circa 1490, red velvet, with two Cherubim on wheels, with banners, and the five pronged foliate motif, thistles and fleurs-de-lys, Ecouen, Musee National de la Renaissance (Mus.no. E.Cl.1821);

A Dalmatic, circa 1490, red velvet with versions of the foliate motifs, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Mus. no. T.49-1924);

A Chasuble, circa 1510-1533, embroidery English, early 16th century, the style of vestment dates to after 1600, possibly originally from a pall, black velvet, with angels with trumpets and banners with inscription Surgite Mortui and Venite at Iudicum (Rise you dead, come to judgement), and Seraphim with banners, with inscriptions Iustorum Anime and In Manu Sei Sunt (The souls of the just are in the hand of God), from the Book of Wisdom, II, I), applied with the initial RJ on the back, for Robert Thornton Abbot of Jervaulx, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Inv. 697-1902). 

A Chasuble, first quarter 16th century (composite construction), plain green velvet, with similar motif of a cherubim (four winged) holding a banner and standing on a wheel, together with motifs of a double headed eagle, vase of flowers, fleur-de-lys motif, Bernheimer Collection (Inv. 27586). 

Other examples are: A Chasuble, circa 1475-1500, red and blue velvet (so associated to Christ and the Virgin Mary). City of Glasgow Museums (Inv.29.7), A Chasuble fragment, late 15th century, red velvet, two Seraphim on wheels, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Acc.No.1982.432), and other chasubles and dalmatics of brown and red velvets, are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Inv.616-1898, 695-1902, 697-1902, 241.1908 and 4045-1856.

Selected Bibliography

Clare Browne, Glyn Davies, M. A. Michael, English Medieval Embroidery - Opus Anglicanum, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016, published to accompany the exhibition: Opus

Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery, at the Victoria and Albert Musuem, London, 1 October 2016 - 5 February 2017, Chp. 2, Embroidered Textiles in the service of the Church, Nigel Morgan, pp.25-39, fig. 32; Chp. 6, Ecclesiastical Embroidery in England from 1350 to the Reformation, Kate Heard, pp.77-89, figs. 85, 86 & 87, Catalogue entries, No. 77, Cope (Cardinal John Moreton), pp.263-265; No. 78, Herbal and bestiary (model book), pp.266-267; and No. 79, Chasuble, pp.267-269. 

John Doherty, Jane Hayward, John K Howat, Timothy B Husband, Drobrila-Donya Schimansky, and Bonnie Young, "Ecclesiastical Vestments of the Middle Ages: An Exhibition", The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v.29, no.7 (March, 1971), pp.285-345, fig.3.

Saskia Durian-Ress, Textilien Sammlung Bernheimer, Paramente 15.-19.Jahrhundert, Hirmer Verlag, Munchen, 1991, p.338, no.153, reference to a similar cherubim, with banner, standing on a wheel, on a velvet fragment from the Leopold Ikle Collection.

Pauline Johnstone, High Fashion in the Church, The place of church vestments in the history of Art from the ninth to the nineteenth century, Mandy Publishing, Leeds, 2002.

Susan Kay-Williams, The Story of Colour in Textiles, Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd, London, 2013.

Donald King, Embroidery and Textiles, The Age of Chivalry, Exhibition Catalogue, Royal Academy of Art, 6 November 1987 - 6 March 1988, published in association with Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1987, pp.157-161.

Monique King and Donald King, European Textiles in the Kier Collection, 400BC to 1800AD, Fabre and Fabre, London and Boston, 1990, p.157-161, Chp.5. Medieval and Renaissance Embroidery 900-1550, pp.88-111, Nos. 68 & 69, pp.102-104.

Lesley Ellis Miller, Ana Cabrera Lafuente, with Clare Johnstone, Silk - Fibre, Fabric and Fashion, Thames&Hudson, London, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2021, 

Lisa Monnas, Merchants, Princes and Painters, Silk Fabrics in Italian and Northern Paintings 1300-1550, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2008.

Lisa Monnas, Renaissance Velvets, V&A Publishing, London, 2012, pp.24-26, pl.18.

Michel Pastoureau, Blue - The History of a Colour, Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 2001, The birth of liturgical colours, pp.35-40; Chp. 3, A Moral Colour, 15th - 17th century, pp.85-121.

Kay Staniland, Medieval Craftsmen - Embroiderers, British Museum Press, London, 2002, Chp. 6, The later embroideries, pp.49-58, p.51, pl.55, cope panel, brown velvet (National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh).

Lanto Synge, Art of Embroidery, History of Style and Technique, The Royal School of Needlework, Antique Collectors’ Club, Woodbridge, 1988, Chp. 2, The Medieval period, pp.40-63.

Christa C. Mayer Thurman, Textiles in the Art Institute of Chicago, 1992, The Splendours of Vestments, pp.42-54.