Textile Fabrics / A Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of Church-vestments, Dresses, Silk Stuffs, Needlework and Tapestries, forming that Section of the Museum

by Daniel Rock

1338.

An Apparel to an Alb; ground, strong linen; design, within twining boughs bearing flowers and leaves, a dove and a lamb, all in various-coloured silks and outlined in narrow strips of leather. Spanish, early 15th century. 13 inches square.

That the last liturgic use of this piece was as an apparel to an alb there can be little doubt, though, in all likelihood, it may have been cut off a larger piece of needlework wrought for the front border of an altar-cloth. The outline in leather is rather singular; though now black, it was once gilt, like those strips we see cut into very narrow shreds, and worked up, instead of gold thread, into silken stuffs from the looms of Almeria or Granada, specimens of which are in this collection. As an art-production of the needle, this is but a poor one.