Hanging

Object name

Hanging

Date made

Late 19th century-early 20th century

Place made

United Kingdom

Description

Embroidered hanging of a cherub's face with pink feathered wings, dating to the late 19th or early 20th centuries.

Content description

A hanging of a cherub's face, halo, and feathered wings. The wings, comprised of pink and purple feathers, take the place of the angel's body. The hanging is worked in silk and metal threads and paint on a linen ground.

The cherub's wings are outlined in couched passing thread and filled with long and short stitch in clear blocks of pinks and purples. The rachis of each of the wings' feathers is worked in chain stitches in purple threads. Occasional shading is made of straight stitches. The face is painted on the canvas and then filled in with tiny seeding stitches, with the eyes filled in with long and short stitches, and nose, chin, and lips outlined in stem stitch. The halo is in passing thread couched in a brick pattern and outlined with gold twist. The passing threads have been painted over in blue and green tones. Within the halo, the word 'SANCTUS' is rendered in flat cutwork and stem and straight stitches in black silk thread.

This is one of four nearly identical hangings. See related object COL.2013.64a, which depicts a similar angel with a more traditional body. It is highly possible that the same hand(s) rendered both these angel heads and the Purple Angel trio. Though is not known where and even if these banners were hung, it is clear that they were made by designers, painters, and embroiderers influenced by the aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts movement.