PSALMS

£25,000 · Offered by Sokol Books

A ‘very quaint’ and extremely unusual embroidered book of Psalms, bound in white satin covers and colourfully embroidered with two textually accurate scenes from Genesis. Such three-dimensional pictorial bindings representing active figures, rarely appear on the market today. On the upper cover, Jacob wrestles with an angel (32:22-31); the two figures are in profile, locked in battle, their arms fixed on waists and shoulders, a tree stands behind Jacob and silver cloud above the brawling pair. The patriarch is clad in an elaborate blue, green and pink tunic with puffed sleeves and ankle-high boots, executed in a satin stich. His brown hair is coiffed in fashionable 17th C style. His opponent dons a golden tunic with green sleeves, his head crowned with a flowing mass of French knots which fall down his back. The angel’s wings and belt are executed in raised silver stumpwork, its resplendence highlighting his status as a heavenly creature. The lower board is somewhat more complex in its composition. It depicts Jacob’s Ladder, whereby the patriarch has a vision of a heavenly ladder during his flight from his brother Esau (Gen. 28:10-19). Jacob lies asleep on a patch of grass, woven in a cross stitch, his head resting on a white stone, with a gourd and staff by his side. He wears a knee length pink tunic and blue leggings and is flanked by a tree, executed in three different stitches, with a blue and green parrot, perched on a silver branch. Above is the silver ladder, leading i

• Binding: Hardcover

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