The cathedral library also contains some
later fragments of embroidered silk vestments.
These were found in the year 1861 in the
stone coffin of Walter de Cantelupe, the
bishop who succeeded William de Blois,
and presided over the see from 1236 to
1266. The embroidery is in gold thread and
coloured silks.
The principal fragment represents a
number of kings, each with crown and
sceptre, seated amid scrolled foliage. The
arrangement suggests a tree of Jesse, a
popular subject with embroiderers. It appa-
rently belongs to the time of the bishop in
whose coffin it was found. Another fragment
of the same vestment (Plate 4), which appears
to have gone astray soon after its discovery,
has been lately acquired by the Victoria and
Albert Museum (No. 1380, 1901).*
It is interesting to compare these frag-
ments with a complete chasuble, perhaps a few
years later in date, in the museum
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