The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Lord Chancellor's Burse (Purse) with Royal Cypher and Coat of Arms of George III

Lord Chancellor's Burse (Purse) with Royal Cypher and Coat of Arms of George III

1760–1801
Red silk velvet, silk embroidery, goldwork, pearls, black beads, sequins, pendant tassels
Overall: 78 x 50 x 5 cm (30 11/16 x 19 11/16 x 1 15/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1366
Location: not on view

Description

A richly decorated burse (purse) to hold the monarch's Great Seal of the Realm has a traditional role in the opening of parliament. The safekeeping of the seal was the responsibility of the Keeper of the Great Seal, an office later incorporated into the role of Lord Chancellor. Because the Great Seal was attached to all major documents of state, it was the ultimate symbol of royal authority. The use of a special burse to hold the seal can be traced back to the end of the 13th century. By the end of the 16th century, the burse had evolved into the highly decorated, professional work of embroidery seen in this object. It includes the lion and unicorn surrounding the royal crest and is made from crimson velvet. Burses were replaced annually; it being a "perk" of office that the Lord Chancellor and Keeper of the Great Seal was allowed to keep the fragments of the old seal and accompanying burse. Portraits of Lord Chancellors, from the Tudor period onward, depict them with their burse. Cleveland’s collection includes one such portrait by American artist Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) of Irish Lord Chancellor John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare (1748–1802) who was Lord Chancellor from 1789 to 1802. Baron FitzGibbon’s portrait (1919.910) is on view in gallery 204.
  • F. M. [Morris, Frances]. "Embroideries and Lace." Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.). The Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 1923. Vol. XVIII, no. 4. p. 87-89
    Hughes, Therle. English Domestic Needlework, 1660-1860. New York: Macmillan, 1961. Black and white plate 10 (referred to as figure 10 in the text)
    Digby, George Wingfield. Elizabethan Embroidery. London: Faber and Faber, 1963. p. 72, pl. 40
    Preisner, Olga K. "The Art of the Needle". Exhibition catalog for exhibition of the same name at The Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA. October 23-December 21, 1980 cat. no. 42
    Haertig, Evelyn. Antique Combs & Purses. Carmel, Calif: Gallery Graphics Press, 1983. pl. 2, fig. 4, p. 154
    Swain, Margaret H. Scottish Embroidery: Medieval to Modern. London: Batsford, 1986. p. 46, fig. 27
    Arthur, Liz. 1995. "Seventeenth-Century Embroideries in the Burrell Collection." The Magazine Antiques June 1995. pp. 854-863
    Synge, Lanto. Art of Embroidery: History of Style and Technique. Woodbridge. England: Antique Collectors' Club, 2001. p. 104, pl. 89
    Morrall, Andrew, Melinda Watt, and Cristina Balloffet Carr. English Embroidery from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1580-1700: 'twixt Art and Nature. New York: Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, 2008. p. 138-141, cat. no. 15
    Arthur, Liz. Embroidery, 1600-1700, at the Burrell Collection. London: John Murray, 1995. plate 5 , p. 20
  • {{cite web|title=Lord Chancellor's Burse (Purse) with Royal Cypher and Coat of Arms of George III|url=false|author=|year=1760–1801|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1366