Tuesday 4 November 2014

Opus Anglicanum

Opus Anglicanum or English work is fine needlework of Medieval England done for ecclesiastical or secular use on clothing, hangings or other textiles, often using gold and silver threads on rich velvet or linen grounds.
 
So now you know!
 
 
The rich and powerful mediaeval church owned vast amounts of this
stuff which was often donated by wealthy parishoners in the
hope of currying favour in this world and the next.  Amen.
 
 
However, here at St Ed's - King, Martyr and thoroughly all round good
egg - we have no such treasures in our coffers contenting ourselves
with the ancient font, rood screen and Graffito!
 
But that's not to say we don't have anything embroidered.
Oh my goodness no - far from it!
 
This one's rather jolly.
 
There's a certain uniformity about them, see one and you
feel that you've seen them all.
 
We have kneelers, kneelers and more kneelers all lovingly wrought
by the good ladies of the Parish.  (The bad ladies were out
having a much better time elsewhere).
 
I would just say that lions became extinct in Acle
during the 13th century.
 
And the sparkling little jewel in our crown is a tapestry
depicting the church in all it's glory and because it sparkles
so much it was damn near impossible to photograph
in it's entirety but I have done my best to capture the
spirit of the piece.  Another time I will pick a less sunny day
with perhaps better results.
 
 
 
All together now as we sign Hymn No 375
(nobody dare shout "House")
"As with gladness men of old ....." but that's probably a story
for another day and might explain where the bad ladies were
when everyone else was stitching bloody kneelers.
 


1 comment:

  1. the top one is germanic, the unicorn I suspect is c17th, and the kneelers are modern, none of the needleworks you've shown are opus anglicanum

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