Though equally employed for secular as well as sacred purposes, such velvets, in their latter use, are often found in the remains of copes, chasubles, &c. and altar-frontals.
8323.
Portion of a Chasuble, in figured velvet; the ground, purple, with a pomegranate pattern in yellow, green, and white, with a broad yellow scroll. Genoese, middle of 16th century. 2 feet 3¼ inches by 1 foot 9 inches.
Genoa had earned for itself a notoriety, about this period, for its velvets, wrought in several colours, and the present piece seems no bad specimen of the style. By the warp of cotton and the thin low pile of its silken woof we learn that Genoese velvets varied much in the richness of their materials, and, in consequence, in their cost. This piece was once in a chasuble, as we may see by the bend, to fit the neck, in the upper part.
8324.
Piece of Silk and Linen Tissue; pattern, white crosses on ground of crimson, barred with purple, yellow, and green. German, 16th century. 4 inches square.
This specimen of German trimming, like the one [No. 8320], seems to have been made at Cologne, and for the same ecclesiastical uses.