The Cathedral Church of Oxford: A description of its fabric and a brief history of the Episcopal seeDearmer, Percy
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The Cathedral Church of Oxford: A description of its fabric and a brief history of the Episcopal see
Dearmer, Percy
Christ Church Cathedral (Oxford, England)
"Next to this is the effigy in relief of an abbess, in a long loose white
gown or robe, a black mantle over, connected in front of the breast by
a chain, with a tippet of the same colour. The head has been destroyed,
but remains of the plaited wimple which covered the neck in front are
visible, as also of the white veil on each shoulder. The pastoral staff
appears on the left side, but the crook is gone.
"Two daughters of Lady Montacute were in succession Abbess of Barking,
in Essex, and so, next to the last figure is another abbess similarly
dressed, with the exception that the left sleeve of the gown, which is
large and wide, is seen, as well as the close sleeve of the inner robe.
Sculptured figures of abbesses, especially of this period, are extremely
rare.
"The next figure is that of a female, in a green high-bodied gown or
robe, with small pocket-holes in front and sleeves reaching only to the
elbows. The fifth figure is also that of a female, in a white robe or
gown, with close sleeves, close fitting to the waist, where it is belted
round by a narrow girdle, and thence falls in loose folds to the feet;
over this is a black mantle. There are also indications of a plaited
wimple about the neck, but the head of this, as of the other effigies,
has been destroyed.
"On the south side, the easternmost figure, of which the mere torso
remains, is that of a male in a doublet, jagged at the skirts,
and buttoned down in front from, the neck to the skirts, with close
sleeves buttoned from the elbows to the wrists,--_manicae botonatae_,
with a bawdrick, round the hips, and buckled on the right side. From the
bawdrick on the left side the gipciere is suspended. This much mutilated
effigy presents a good specimen of the early doublet.
"Next to it is the figure of a male, in a long red coat or gown, the
_toga talaris_, with a cloak over, buttoned in front downwards from the
neck as far as the third button, from whence it is open to the skirts.
This dress, in the phrase of the fourteenth century, would be described
as _cota et cloca_. In the right hand is held a purse.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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