Cleveland Museum of Art

Alb

Date

Embroidered Linen: 1600s; Bobbin Lace (Point d’Angleterre) Flounce: 1700s

Medium

Plain weave linen embroidered in gold and silver; linen bobbin lace (Point d’Angleterre a Reseau)

Culture

Spain: embroidered linen; Flanders: bobbin lace (Point d’Angleterre) flounce

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This beautiful vestment, called an alb, was worn under other liturgical garments by the clergy who served at the altar. Embroidered with gilt-metal thread flora on a linen ground, it is trimmed with a flounce and cuffs of lace, the most fashionable and expensive material at the time. Its purple silk lining indicates that it belonged to an archbishop. The exquisitely worked bobbin lace consists of two large composite floral designs flanked by popular curved forms on an elaborate bar ground that repeats ten times around the flounce.

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