This cope is part of a High Mass set which includes: a chasuble, stole, maniple, burse and a veil. It was made by Watts & Co. for Downside Abbey.

Silver (Japanese) metal threads have been used and couched in double rows using grey thread and surface couching. The tips of the petals have been raised using a thin string as padding. This three-dimensional effect infuses life into the design.

Roses and crowns are emblems of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The fifteen petal rose  echoes the five joyous mysteries, the five sorrowful mysteries and the five glorious mysteries of the rosary.*

This dalmatic and stole, together with the rose silk chasuble displayed alongside were designed by J.L.Davenport for Watts & Co. of Westminster, and believed to have been made before WWI.

The Latin script on the dalmatic reads: Gaudette cum Laetitia (rejoice with gladness), and Letare Jerusalem (Rejoice of Jerusalem).

The design of the set was based on a dalmatic worn by St. Lawrence, Deacon of San Lorenzo and Martyr, in a fresco by the Italian artist Fra Angelico (c. 1447-9). The fresco is housed in the Niccoline Chapel in the Vatican, a copy of it can be found at Downside Abbey.*

*From an information board

The orphrey and hood were made by the Benedictine Nuns of the Convent Of Our Lady Blessed Assumption, Brussels, for the silver jubilee of its foundress, Lady Mary Percy. The ophrey and hood have been added to a 19th century cope. The embroidered hood depicts a scene worked in silver and gold metal threads, using a couching technique know as Or Nue (shaded gold). Or Nue is a fiddly technique and this example shows great skill. You can see how the mutual threads in the main body of the embroidery have been worked horizontally, whereas the embroidered arches have been worked vertically.*

*From an information board

This book of hours is printed on vellum, and features illuminated miniatures and woodcut illustrations. It was produced by the Hardouin family of Paris. who were one of the best know producers of printed books of hours. ST. Nicholas is depicted here (top left) in the vestments of a bishop, including a cope, mitre and crozier. St. Claudius, Bishop of Besancon (bottom left) is also seen in his vestments, however he is wearing a chasuble instead of a cope. St. Anthony, the Abbot (right) is depicted in his black monk’s habit holding prayer beads.*

*From an information board next to the book

On our visit to the Bishop’s Palace I particularly enjoyed the temporary exhibition entitled ‘The Ornate & The Beautiful‘. The exhibition displays the extraordinary craftsmanship of the textile industry from the 14th century to the present day and includes some of the most beautiful and rare vestments and ecclesiastical textiles from around the country. The exhibition includes items that have not been on public display since 1930.

Over the next few days I will share some of the items displayed in the exhibition.

The photo in today’s post shows a book dated 1860; Die Kleinodien des Heiligen Romischen Reichs Deutscher Nation by Franz Johann Joseph Bock:

This enormous volume contains 58 chromolithographic plates, which illustrate regalia of the Holy Roman Empire; primarily kept at the Schatzkammer at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Highlights of the volume include the Crown of Charlemagne, the Imperial Gloves and the Sword of St Maurice, all vividly depicted in colour and gold.

The author was a medieval art and fabric historian, who, upon discovering vestments made of fine and beautiful fabrics during his research, would cut them into fragments and sell them to museums, earning himself the nickname ‘Scissor Bock’. *

*From an information board next to the book