French Embroidered Violet Silk Brocade Religious Chasuble

A resplendent vestment, it is made of fine "Lyon" brocade silk and a very rich shade of violet. "There are five vestment colors which are customarily permitted by the Christian Church in regard to Sacred Vesture and Altar Paraments". These colors are White, Red, Green, Purple/Violet and Black.

"The Purple or Violet chasuble is used from the 1st Sunday of Advent and from Septuagesima to Easter, on Vigils that are Fast days, and on Ember days, except the Vigil of Pentecost and the Ember days during the Octave of Pentecost. Purple/Violet is also used for Votive Masses of the Passion and of Penitential character, at the blessing of candles and of holy water".

The straight bands of the central cross on the back (the portion which is seen by the congregation) measures 7 1/4" wide (including 1" "galon" braid). The flowers ,leaves and central Christogram are all worked using machine embroidery (machine embroidery was invented in 1846). Machine embroidery enables a very thick and tightly finished appearance and the different stitches give a raised appearance to elements of the design. Of note in this design are the veins in the leaves, the center and stamen of the lilies. The center of the cross has an eight point star which holds the Christogram at the center, "JHS" (derived from the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus, Iota-Eta-Sigma (ΙΗΣΟΥΣ).The entire cross is bordered with wide galon braid, which is also of silk, in a shade of brilliant gold with purple flower centers.

The front of the chasuble has an identical straight central band which is filled by machine embroidered lilies and thistle. (of note is machine embroidery reinforcement to the purple thread field behind the flowers at the center (it is worked in a spiral design which fills in the portion of the chasuble which was worn with use: the center front is alway the most worn).

The brocade has a beautiful repeating pattern of rosettes which frame lilies and leaves on the interior. There is a central crown of thorns inside each rosette as well as a Maltese cross. The background silk is in deep violet, the rosette pattern is in a darker/blue violet. On the front panel, there is machine reinforcement (straight stitch sewn horizontally) to the top left and right quadrants below the shoulder seams. One other area of straight sewn horizontal reinforcement is found at the mid center left near the galon braid .

It measures 27 1/2" x 24" (front) 43" x 25" back. It is in sound condition, with machine reinforcement as mentioned above and on the front panel.

The chasuble is backed by purple cotton (extremely faded by the sunlight from being stored).

It is a fine ecclesiastic textile to use as a backdrop within a personal devotional space or religious collection display.