1324.
Embroidered Cushion for the missal at the altar; ground, crimson silk; design, our Infant Lord in the arms of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with St. Joseph and four angels worshipping, on the upper side, in various-coloured silk; on the under side, a reticulation filled in with a pair of birds and a flowering plant alternately. German, late 13th century. 19 inches by 13 inches.
Such cushions, and of so remote a period, are great liturgical curiosities, and, fortunately, the present one is in very good preservation, and quite a work of art. Throned within a Gothic building, rather than beneath a canopy, sits the mother of the Divine Babe, who is outstretching His little hands towards the lily-branch which the approaching St. Joseph is holding in one hand, while in the other he carries a basket of doves. Outside, and on the green sward, are kneeling four angels robed as deacons, three of whom bear lily flowers, a fourth the liturgical fan; the whole is encircled by a garland of lilies. The under-side is worked with white doves in pairs, and a green tree blooming with red flowers; and though much of the needlework is gone, this cushion is a good example for such an appliance. Dr. Bock has figured it in his “Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters,” 1 Band, 2 Lieferung, p. xiii.