Apparels are highly decorative appliques sewn onto minor liturgical vestments such as the alb and the amice. In this blog post, you can find a description and clear pictures of the use of an amice. They are called orphrey when they are attached to copes, chasubles, and dalmatics.

Two related embroidered fragments from the collection of Canon Franz Bock are now held in England and Switzerland. The two large fragments of a band of red samite embroidered with animals in roundels and alternated with stylistic flowers are now held at the Victoria & Albert Museum (8237-1863) and the Abegg Stiftung (216) (Wetter, 2012). It was made c. AD 1150-1200, but its place of manufacture is uncertain and stated as “England?”. The underside couching is executed with a single gold thread made of strips of gold foil wrapped around a core of naturally coloured silk. The composition of the gold foil: c. 80% gold, c. 16% silver and c. 4% copper. Careful study of the Halberstadt Cathedral Treasury has shown that both pieces were cut off from a dalmatic (Inv. Nr. DS258) (Pregla & Preiss, 2025).

Another amice apparel made c. AD 1190-1220 and split in two is held at the Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst (T 767) and the Victoria & Albert Museum (8226-1863). Although made in England, the piece might have come from Halberstadt Cathedral. In the centre of the piece is Christ in Majesty with the symbols of the Evangelists in the quatrefoil surrounding him. The three arches to the left contain St. Philip, St. Simon and St. Peter—each Apostle identified by embroidered lettering surrounding him. The three arches to the right contain St. Paul and two Apostles that cannot be identified. The rounded arches and the stiffness of the figures make this a typical example of Romanesque art. To create different textures, the silver-gilt threads are sometimes underside couched in pairs and sometimes underside couched as a single thread on linen fabric.

From Bishop Walter de Cantilupe’s tomb at Worcester also came fragments of an amice apparel (Victoria & Albert Museum 1380A-1901 and the British Museum 1891,0713.5). Medallions contain striding lions with the areas between the medallions being filled with acanthus leaves. The apparel was made between c. AD 1230-1260 in England. The underside couching seems to be worked with pairs of silver-gilt thread on self-patterned[1] silk.

[1] Term used to describe a pattern or texture achieved by a modification of the regular binding system. This is a wide general category and many varieties of self-patterning have specialized names such as twill diaper or damask diaper.