TWO 'OPUS ANGLICANUM' ORPHREY PANELS

TWO 'OPUS ANGLICANUM' ORPHREY PANELS

15TH / 16TH CENTURY

of lancet form, worked with silk and gilt threads in a variety of stitches including split, satin and silk twist, with applique and couched work on a gilt diapered ground, St Peter above a short panel of castellations and another male saint holding a bottle and a cross (2)

29.5 x 18cm (max)

Catalogue Note

Orphrey panels such as these were traditionally applied to ecclesiastical vestments, such as chasubles or copes, or to altar frontal cloths. They were made using silk and precious metal threads often commissioned by the patron of the churches in which they would be seen and are usually either English or Italian. The term 'Opus Anglicanum' was first adopted in the 13th century to classify works of this nature and the quality produced in the medieval and early late medieval period.