Piece of Silk and Gold Embroidery. German, 8½ inches by 3 inches.
It is said that an imperial tunic, now kept in the Maximilian Museum at Munich, once belonged to the Emperor Henry II., and was spoken of as such in a list of the treasures of Bamberg Cathedral in the 12th century. From the border of this tunic the piece before us is reported to have been cut off.
That in the 12th century Bamberg Cathedral had the imperial (probably the coronation) tunic of its builder and great benefactor, and as such reckoned it among its precious things, was but natural; it, however, by no means follows that this is the garment now at Munich and brought from Bamberg six hundred years after its reputed owner’s death, and put into the museum in his palace by the Elector Maximilian, A.D. 1607. Keeping in mind that the Emperor Henry II. was crowned at the very beginning of the 11th century, about the year 1002, and seeing in the piece before us the style of the end of the 12th century—with thus a period of almost two hundred years between the two epochs—we cannot recognize this specimen to have ever formed a portion of the real tunic of the above-named German emperor. Besides its style, its materials forbid us to accept it as such. Its design is set forth in cording of a coarse thread roughly put together; the spaces between are filled in with shreds of red silken gold tissue, and of gold stuff sewed on to very coarse canvas. That, in this condition, it had been much used, and needed mending through long wear, is evident from other pieces of a gold and velvet texture of the 14th century being let in here and there over the frayed portions, thus showing a second example of what is called “applied.” Like Germany, England, too, has made its mistakes on such matters, for we are told that “as the kings of England are invested with the crown of St. Edward, their queens are crowned with that of St. Edgitha, which is named in honour of the Confessor’s consort.”—Taylor’s “Glory of Regality,” p. 63. In the inventory, drawn up in the year 1649, “of that part of the Regalia which are now removed from Westminster to the Tower Jewel House,” we find entered “Queen Edith’s crowne, King Alfred’s crowne,” &c.—Taylor’s “Glory of Regality,” p. 313. The likelihood is that, in the 17th century, these supposed Anglo-Saxon crowns were not 200 years old.
8233.
Piece of White Silk, with rich pattern of circles enclosing leopards and griffins, and a diaper of scrolls and birds. Oriental, 13th century. 1 foot 11 inches by 9 inches.
Like the piece immediately preceding, this too comes to us with an account that it once formed a part of the white silk imperial tunic belonging to the same holy Emperor Henry II., and was cut off from that garment now preserved in the Maximilian Museum in the royal palace at Munich. That it could have been wrought so early as the beginning of the 11th century, that is, about the year 1002, we are hindered from believing by the style of the ornamentation of this very rich stuff. As a specimen of the Arabic loom in the 13th century it is most valuable, and looks as if its designer had in his mind Persian traditions controlled by Arabic ideas while he drew its pattern. A remembrance of the celebrated Persian Hom, or sacred tree, which separates both the griffins, the leopards, and the birds—seemingly peacocks in one place, long-tailed parrots in another—was clearly before him. The griffins are addorsed regardant and sketched with spirit; so too are the leopards, which are collared, and like the “papyonns,” or present East Indian “cheetahs,” of which mention is made at No. 8288. Altogether this pattern, which is thrown off with so much freedom, is among the most pleasing and effective in the collection, and the thickness of its silken texture renders it remarkable.
8234.
Piece of Purple Silk, double-dyed, the pattern formed of squares filled in with a Greek cross amid conventional ornaments. Sicilian, 12th century. 7½ inches by 9 inches.