WESTMINSTER ABBEY ART TREASURE HOUSE

Shannon News, 1 October 1929, Page 1

WESTMINSTER ABBEY ART TREASURE HOUSE

Historical Bequests

GENEROSITY OF DONORS BRINGS YEARLY INCREASE

Westminster Abbey is a veritable museum uf" works of art. This is a a aspect of the wonderful old building uiiiel) does not always receive adequate recognition. None the less, it ought never to be forgotten, states the Uev. .Joeelyn Perkins in the London observer. Treasures of woodwork, like the canopied stalls in Henry VII. 's Chapel; treasures of ironwork, like the grille attached to the toml> of Queen illeanor of Castile; treasures of sculp ' tare, like the numerous Eoyal effigies; these are only a few out of a lengthy list far too numerous to recapitulate here.

Willi these, however, and such as these, we are not here 'immediately concerned. There are in addition a ■great quantity of works of art, both ancient and modern, more especially connected with the constant offering of praise and worship. These treasures, thanks to the generosity of re cent and present-day donors, steadily increase year by year. At the present rate of progress it is conceivable that our descendants 50 years hence will find themselves con iron ted with a great mass of beautiful things, almost comparable in quautiy. if not in quality, with the contents of the' wonderful and tragic in von ton drawn up at the time of the dissolution of the medieval monastery.

None of the existing treasures, with one exception, can be assigned to a period anterior to the Restoration. Tin seventeenth-century specimens are of immense value and historical interest. wMIg it may fairly be claimed that the various modern works of art, in almost every case, are fully Avorthy of - their august surroundings. I " The Abyssinian Cross. The hitter gift was due to the gen o'rosity of Sarah Hughes, housekecpei of one of the assistant masters a; Westminster School. Her name is te be f.een pounced upon one of the meda! lions on the base. The present century ■,oo, has witnessed several gifts oi great value and interest, such as tin

i'amous Abyssinian Cross, a votive of fering by the late Eas Makunan foi j:Iio recovery of King Edward -VII. from serious illness; the costly pro sessional cross given by'the Hon. Rod nail Wana maker on Christinas Eve.

il-22. A "rent altar' cross of silver-gilt .weighing upwards of OOOoz., the gift o Lord Eosobcry in memory of the nun ■Sage of the present Marquis and Mar .jhioiiess of Crewe; and four splendid ilver-gilt alms dishes, the offering o' he citizens of Westminster in mem or;. '>f t]lc late .Dean Ryle, together wit' ,ther speeimesis of tlie art of the mcta. raftsman too numerous for words. The coronation copes, some of then, .undo of velvety others of. gold tissm 2 in all, arc deservedly famous, whit in recent years their number has bee uore than doubled by the addition o modern companions, more than one o •-•lnch Is of great magnificence. Three splendid -banners, too, hav .x en presented since the war by. tlli.urch Lads' Brigade. the. Gin:riendly Society, and the Mother* *-ii)n respectively. The wort; of nr-.k ; the.-i *v:-s r.wiijd out at the Roy ''■.'viol of Needlework. It would b .ii'iicult to li.id tlieir eq:ial for ski :d beauty of embroidery.

E'izabethan Communion Cup.

Tlie Abbey possesses, in the firs -.lac.', a ii::e collection of plate, tin:osf ancient specimen of which is an itcrcsting Elizabethan communion cup d cover bearing the date 1.17.1. I' irobablv hailed from Oxford in the vrst place, and afler''experiencing a .urions history, during part of which lime it lay embedded in the mutt of the lsis, or the Cherwell, ,it eventually leached the hands of the Dean and Chaptei of Westminster as a touching -.ad beautiful War Memorial.

During the -40 years or so which sue ■'.ceded the accession-of Charles 11. to the throne ■ of England, the Abbey authorities took special plains to enncn their church wi*h various fine, pieces of silver-gilt plate. Within-a year i'rom the Restoration of that Sovereign they had provided two communion cups and covers, tuid two flagons. These fine specimens of the art of the period arc devoid of any decoration, depending for their effect entirely upon their graceful proportions. Ten years later, John Sudbury, a fonner prebendary, by this time become Dean of Durham, proceeded to enrich the Collegiate Church of Westminster with a beautiful token of his affection, consisting of two communion

cups and covers, elaborately chased

and embossed with acanthus leaves and other decorations.

The following ■■ decade witnessed a still more important development. A gteat aims dish, nearly 3ft. in diameter, and richly decorated; a-smaller one, plain but displaying great beauty ,)f proportion; and last, but by no means least, two magnificent silvergilt candlesticks —were all added to the Abbey treasures at this-period. Coronation Frontal and. Dorsal. The hearse cloth, presented by the Actors' Church Union, is another notible treasure, made of white silk and blazing with masses of hcraldy in acordanjce with the precedent set by p.edieval examples. It forms a welcome contrast to those sombre trappings of woe so dear to the heart of the- eighteenth and nineteenth century undertaker.

Westminster Abbey possesses at the irosont time no fewer than six a'tars, he accumulated hangings and frontals if which total--a. considerable number. Jany are of great interest. Among l.em should be specially noted the rental and dorsal offered in accord■nice with the directions of the rubric, iy our present- King and Queen at heir Coronation.

ft is difficult within the compass of trie article to give at all ipi atk[iiate account of the various instruiLCnta of worship possessed by Westminster Abbey. So numerous are they hat a description of them is in danger )f degenerating into a mere inventory; ndeed, flio various items set forth bove do not constitute an exhaustive ccount by any manner of means. Thero will be no difficulty at all in .[ling the new Sacristy, which has yen the subject of so much discussion f late. The miserable accommodation '1: present provided for th" housing ot i± the.-e be.-iutiful works of art. h:.s ■een a weakness for many years past. he additional accommodation propo;d is certainly r.ot too great. It may ven come to be outgrown, at some da to n a future by no nie.ins remote;