No doubt this stuff was meant for hangings in a palace or dwelling-house; and among the flowers may be seen the bignonia or trumpet-flower, and the pomegranate opening and about to shed its seed. 1366. Linen Diaper; design, square made out of four leaves. Flemish, late 16th century. 20 inches by 9 inches. The pattern, though so simple, is very pleasing, and the stuff itself speaks of Yprès as being the place of its origin. 1367. Silk Taffeta; ground, purple; design, amid boughs, a pair of birds, with an artichoke between them, all in orange-yellow. Sicilian, 14th century. 9¾ inches square. This light thin stuff, quiet in its tones and simple in its pattern, must have been wrought for lining robes of rich stuffs. 1368. Silk Damask; ground, white satin; design, amid flowers, among which the chrysanthemum is very conspicuous, a group, consisting of a man inside a low fence looking upwards upon a blue lion and a golden tiger, seemingly at play, side by side, one of which is about to be struck by a long spear held by a man standing above, within a walled building. Just over him stands another man with a short mace in one hand, in the other a small bottle, out of which comes a large bough of the pomegranate tree in leaf, flower, and fruit. Chinese, 16th century. 2 feet 6¾ inches by 10¾ inches. For the soft warm tints of its several coloured flos-silks, the pureness of the gold thread upon the human faces, the animals and the flowers, the correctness of the drawing, and the well-arranged freedom of the whole pattern, there are few pieces that come up to this in the whole collection. In all likelihood it was brought from China, perhaps made up as a liturgical chasuble, by some Portuguese missionary priest, in the latter portion of the 16th or beginning of the 17th century. 1369. Dalmatic; ground, blue silk; design, narrow bands charged with circles enclosing a word in imitated Arabic, and conventional flowers separating two hounds couchant, gardant, each within his own circle, all in gold, and a large conventional floriation, at the foot of which are two cheetahs collared, courant, face to face, all in white silk, slightly specked with crimson, and between this group two eagles, in white silk, flying down upon two small hounds, sejant, gardant, both in gold. The orphreys, broad and narrow, are embroidered with heraldic shields set upon a golden ground. Sicilian, 14th century. 3 feet 5½ inches by (across the sleeves) 4 feet 2¾ inches. Some ruthless hand has cut away from the back a large square piece of this vestment; and, to adopt it to modern fashion, its sleeves have been slit up at the under side. The armorial bearings are, on one shield, a chief _or_, _gules_, three stars, two, and one _argent_; on the other, _purpure_, two arrows in saltire _or_. The cheetahs are well marked by the round spots upon them; and when new, this stuff, with its pattern so boldly figured, must have been pleasing. 1370.