2-721-239 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Detail of the Syon Cope, 1310-1320. (1881). Etching of embroidered figures on an ecclesiastical cape made in England in the early 14th century. This cope, a cape-like vestment, was originally part of a chasuble, worn by priests to celebrate Mass. The Syon Cope takes its name from the Bridgettine convent of Syon in Middlesex. Interlaced quatrefoil shaped compartments with religious scenes are worked in silver-gilt and silver thread. The cope is an important example of opus anglicanum, the Latin term for the high quality English embroidery known to have been bought by princes and popes. From "The South Kensington Museum", a book of engraved illustrations, with descriptions, of the works of art in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (formerly known as the South Kensington Museum). [Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, London, 1881]