Further examples of chasuble embroidery at St Augustine's Church, Kilburn, London NW6, this time on a purple or violet chasuble.[Click on the images to enlarge them.]
No wonder the members of the Ecclesiological Society of St Paul's were so impressed when they visited the church in 1884. Liturgical colours were of profound interest to them. In his long paper on them, printed in the Transactions of the society, Dr J. Wickham Legg looked at their history from every angle, trying to determine what were the appropriate colours now for the church seasons: "How shall we decide the question, now so often put to us, what sequence of colours should be used?" (131). He concludes by recommending the "Exeter sequence" (132): here, purple seems to have been the appropriate colour for "solemn exequies" (118) and Lent (130; this part is in Latin). The beautiful embrioidery here, of the crucifixion, itself suggests such occasions. The angel shown here carries the text, "vere languores nostros ipse tulit" — meaning, "Surely he hath borne our griefs" (Isaiah 53, 4).
This may be the one referred to by "H.H.J." when writing, in 1894, "Violet, the colour of sky at night, is used in Advent and Lent and other penitential seasons. We may notice: a. The violet chasuble, on which is represented the Crucifixion. Among wreaths of passion-flower are angels bearing scrolls with passages (in Latin) from Isaiah liii, “ Surely He hath borne our griefs. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. With His stripes we are healed” (28).
Photographs by John Salmon, withthanks to St Augustine's Church; text by Jacqueline Banerjee. You may use the images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit John Salmon and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.
Related Material
Bibliography
"St Augustine's, Kilburn." The Building News and Engineering Journal Vol. 46: 663. Google Books. Free Ebook. Web. 27 April 2021.
J., H. H. S. Augustine's Church, Kilburn. A Short Account of Its Structure, Vestments, and Other Works of Art. London: Morton & Burt, 1894. Hathii Trust. From a copy in the library of Princeton University. Web. 28 April 2021.
Legg, Dr. J. Wickham. "Notes on the History of the Liturgical Colours." Transactions of St Paul's Ecclesiological Society. 1885. 95-134. Google Books. Free Ebook.
Created 27 April 2021