Orphrey

An orphrey, also spelt orfrey or orfray, is a form of often highly detailed embroidery, in which typically simple materials are made into complex patterns. In 1182 and 1183 Henry II of England spent lavishly on orphreys.[1] The word comes from Old French orfreis, from Late Latin auriphrygium, from Latin aurum "gold" and Phrygius "Phrygian."

Orphrey bands are often worn on clerical vestments, a tradition that began in the 12th century Roman Catholic Church. The finest examples of orphrey can take hundreds of hours of work and sell for thousands of dollars.

References

  1. ↑ The Mercery of London, Anne F. Sutton, p. 9

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, February 10, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.