Details

LOT 0419

Post Medieval Opus Anglicanum Embroidery

ENGLAND, 18TH CENTURY A.D.

15 1/4 in. (2.75 kg, 38.7 cm).

Preserved as the binding for a 'book of common prayers, and administration of the sacraments', in an embroidered stumpwork binding, the front cover showing Saint Anne, Mary and the Child, the back cover with a large floral design; the folio text with some handwritten amendations, title page printed in red and black. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Emil Offenbacher and Cornelius J. Hauck, with his ex libris beneath an elaborate hand-coloured early armorial bookplate.
Ex Cultured Oyster Books, 2007.
Ex central London gallery.

Accompanied by a previous catalogue page, listed as no.10.

Literature

See Leonard, S., Durrant, H., ‘Stumpwork, Past & Present’ in Embroidery through the ages, Costume & Textile Association, 20th Anniversary Issue, November 2009, pp.10-12, for discussion on stumpwork.

Footnotes

Stumpwork is sometimes called 'raised work' and is an embroidery style in which the stitched figures are raised from the surface creating a three-dimensional effect. Historically, this type of embroidery, here probably made for an ecclesiastical vestment, was employed to decorated a variety of secular household artefacts and reached its greatest popularity by the second half of the 17th century A.D. Embroidered folio bindings are fairly uncommon.