The colour illustration (Plate A) represents
a most charming example of the
needlework of the Elizabethan period : a
side of a tunic belonging to Mrs. Buxton of
acklingham, Suffolk. There are three pieces
of the sleeves also existing, but the other
parts are now lost. The ground is linen,
the embroidery being in silks and silver-gilt
thread. The pattern throughout is a simple
repeat of roses, each on a straight stalk, with
a leaf on either side. This work displays
none of the exuberance so often seen in Elizabethan
embroidery, but it is very pleasing
nevertheless. For simple grace, it would be
hard to choose between this and the exquisite
embroidered binding of a Bible of the year
1583 in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.*
The book, which is believed to have belonged
to Queen Elizabeth, is bound in crimson
velvet, embroidered with a pattern of inter-
lacing rose-stems in gold, silver, and colours.
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