BAUDEKINS

A record of the death of Anne, Queen of Richard 11 ., states thatthe “ Herec ” was covered with cloth of gold, which was afterwardssold for £ 66 .

Some indication of the use and cost of this sumptuous fabricduring the reign of Henry VIII. maybe gathered from the followingitem of the expenses of Princess Mary, in 1540: “ Payed toPeycocke, of London, for xix yerds iii. qrt. of clothe of golde atxxxviij. s the yerde xxxvij' 1 x s. vj d .” And for “ a yerde and d‘qrt. of clothe of siluer xl s .”

Mention is also made in the York fabric rolls of the time ofEdward VI., “ of two copes of sanguine purple clothe of goulde, anda redd vestment with lyons of goulde.”

The gold and silver used in early Asiatic fabrics was in the formof strips of metal. In Sicilian, Cyprian, Italian, and Germanfabrics, the thin metal, either by itself, or upon thin skin, waswrapped round a silken or linen thread, while the Saracens in Spainused a strip of gilded parchment.

Fine gold wire was in use at an early date, for embroidery, butnot for the woven fabric.

Baudekins (from Bagdad), a fine silken tinted shot cloth ofgold, somewhat similar to “ ciclatoun,” was extensively used ascloths of estate, which were spread overhead or behind the thronesof kings.

The following passage indicates the amount of cloth necessaryfor such a purpose, and its value, during the reign of Henry VII.:—

“Item to Antony Corsse for a cloth of estate conteyning 47£yerds, £11 the yerd, £522, 10s.”

These baudekins were also frequently used at this period forfuneral palls, and known as cloths of pall.

Another material used extensively during the reign of EdwardVI. was coloured velvet. In the York fabric rolls mention is madeof “ white velvet copes, together with a cope of greene velvet withflowers. Some Blew copes and Redd copes, and two tunicks ofRedd Sarcinett”

Fustian .—Originally produced at Fust&t (Cairo), in Egypt, is afabric having a linen warp and a thick twilled cotton weft, which iscut on one side showing a low pile. In the 13th century St. Paul’sCathedral had a “ white chasuble of fustian.” Frequent mention ismade during the 12th and 13 th centuries of the fustian chasublesof the Cistercian abbots.

Diaper .—Originally a silken patterned fabric, usually white.In the early church inventories of Exeter (1161) there is mentioned,“ a cope of white diaper with half moons ”; and at St. Paul’s

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