Book of Psalms - Embroidered Book Cover

Dating from 1615, this diminutive Book of Psalms measures just 11.2 × 5.5cm (4⅜ × 2⅛ inches) and retains an exceptionally intricate embroidered binding worked in silk and metal threads. The original embroidery is worked on an extremely fine 42-count plain-weave linen, its surface densely ornamented with scrolling stems, stylised flowers and foliage.

Embroidered bindings were highly prized objects in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England, particularly for devotional texts such as Bibles, prayer books and psalters. Surviving examples demonstrate the use of costly silks and precious metal threads, sometimes further embellished with pearls, sequins or spangles. Their fragility means that comparatively few survive in good condition today.

The decoration of this binding extends across the front, spine and back of the book. Flowers and leaves are arranged amongst sinuous scrolling stems, originally worked with brightly-coloured silks and contrasting metallic threads. Although more than four centuries of age have softened the colours considerably, traces of blue, green, pink and gold remain visible and give an indication of the much brighter appearance the binding would originally have presented.

The surviving embroidery also reveals considerable technical sophistication. The design incorporates extremely fine counted work alongside elaborate braided and interlaced stitches and areas of metal-thread embroidery. A single surviving spangle on the original binding provides important evidence that the surface was once further enlivened by reflective embellishment.

The book belongs to a wider tradition in which the binding became an extension of the significance of the text within it. The expense of silk and metallic threads, together with the considerable labour required to execute such detailed embroidery on this scale, transformed a small devotional volume into a highly personal and precious object. Similar seventeenth-century embroidered bindings survive in major collections including the British Library, where small Books of Psalms and other devotional works demonstrate the close relationship between private devotion, needlework and the decorated book.

The identity of the embroiderer of the 1615 Book of Psalms is unknown. While some embroidered bindings were produced professionally, others are understood to have been worked by skilled women for their own books. Whoever created this example possessed considerable technical ability, producing on an extraordinarily small scale an object in which needlework, bookbinding and personal devotion are intimately combined.