I was far too tired to post the finished antependium pictures when I got home from Nottingham yesterday, and I had work today, so apologies for the delay. Special apologies to Caz, who texted me over the weekend to let me know that her mean brother wouldn’t send her the pictures and made her wait for the blog post.

This is the high resolution version from the aforementioned meanie Gareth’s camera, so if you click on it it ought to get quite big. He did make me a new set of trestles though, because the old ones weren’t as tall as the antependium. One of the priests on site thought this was about the right height for an altar though.

And here’s the dodgy mobile phone camera picture of the thing in situ (it was pretty grey all weekend). I usually dress the Royal tent with a display of secular silver, but went for a private chapel this weekend to show off my new pretty(it’s largely the same silver, as a lot of what we now see as religious silver was originally secular silver that was saved from being melted down and refashioned by being dedicated to some saint or church or wotnot) I forgot the blue and white tablecloth, so the eageleyed amongst you may notice that the cloth either side of the antependium doesn’t match – it’s because I draped two napkins instead.

To a certain extent I do realise that the antependium was largely overlooked this weekend because there’s just so much going in inside the King’s tent – ornate hangings, applique and embroidered banners, surcotes, the crown etc as well as the silver – but I don’t have a problem with this. When attempting to depict medeival royalty minimalism is bollocks – more is definately more. Quite frankly I think this tent needs more embroidery, more painted wood, and lots more silver.

NEED – more embroidery – one small project for the coming year is a noah’s ark hanging which I think will look nice behind the altar. I also want a cushion on top of the strongbox.

fancy scabbard for the kings sword

More light(Grumble grumble – am going to have to try and get my head round the chandaliers I abandoned a few years ago, must buckle down)

I also want a reliquary, silver, and preferably a body part. I’ve seen a finger reliquary that looks as if it’s making a rude gesture, I intend to call it the holy finger of saint snotticus, patron saint of nose pickers (this is what happens when you leave an athiest in charge of making your private chapel)

It was when the nice nuns from next door came in to pray that I realised I also need a small carpet (everything at Nottinham gets scattered with leaves, we pick them out the tents the next spring) with a couple of kneeling cushions on it.

Although this is not a big project, I think it needs some research. I seem to recall that the cushions I’ve seen various figures in medieval art kneeling down on are not at all like the modern, square sided church kneelers found today, but have tassels at the corners. This could be problematic as they will really need a wooden back to protect the embroidery from damp ground underfoot, so I think I need to research low footstools.

Hopefully JOhn will have some pictures of the whole tent with guards, as I seem to have forgotten

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Posted in embroidery, finished, laid and couched work, re enactment, Reykjahlid Antependium, silversmithing

Tags: antependium, c13th, couching, embroidery, finished, icelandic, laid and couched, medieval, medieval embroidery, natural dye, norman, reconstruction, reykjahlid, split stitch, wool