Engels borduurwerk in de Nederlanden: Bijdrage tot de oplossing van een omstreden probleem

One or two Late Medieval copes decorated with English embroidery are at present preserved in the Netherlands (figs. 1, 2). Art historians have not always been of the same opinion as regards the provenance of these pieces, some authors arguing that they were perhaps made in Flanders after English models. Renewed research into the available records, as well as the style and iconography of the vestments in question, has led to the conclusion that the copes are indeed English work. Records show that such vestments were imported into the Netherlands from England from the mid-16th century onwards.