Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Thursday 8 July 2021

Historic embroideries at Pusey House


A friend very kindly forwarded to me an online article about an exhibition of embroidered Victorian altar linens and other related items that has been put together at Pusey House in Oxford from its archive and collection. These are fine examples of the ecclesiastical style of the mid- to later nineteenth century, and indicate, as was clearly intended, serious devotion and skill. 

The items are particularly associated with Dr Pusey himself and Mother Marian Hughes, the first professed Anglican religious since the dissolution of the monasteries. Her vocation was nurtured by Dr Pusey, who had a strong interest in establishing such Sisterhoods. When Mother Marian died in Oxford in 1912 she was perhaps the last living link to the early days of the Oxford Movement.

The identification of these pieces is a reminder that there are still treasures - relics even - to be found in a collection as rich as that at Pusey House

The article, with some fine illustrations, can be seen at Stitching Together Past and Present: Nuntastic Textiles and Victorian Medievalism


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