Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 9.djvu/212

 15i SEPULCHKxVL MONUMENTS IX OXFORD CATHEDRAL. sculptured stone and impressed with a stamp. The feet of the effigy appear from beneath the skirts of the gown in black shoes and rest against a dog. This effigy has been sculptured and painted with great care. The statuettes on each side of the tomb are most inter- esting, from the varieties of coeval costume they tend to illustrate. The first and easternmost of these, on the north side of the tomb, is the most puzzling and difficult of all to describe, as regards the costume, and the more so from the mutilated state in which it now appears. It is that of a male, who is habited in a red cloak, the borders of which are jagged. This is buttoned in front to the w^aist by lozenge- shaped morses and may have been the garment called the Courtepye, and discloses a short white tunic or vest, plaited in vertical folds, with a bawdrick round the body at the hips. This figure, as regards desci'iptive costume, is perhaps the most speculative of all. Next to this is the effigy in relief of an abbess, in a long loose white gown or robe, a black mantle over, connected in front of the breast by a chain, with a tippet of the same colour. The head has been destro^^ed, but remains of the jDlaited wimple which covered the neck in front are visible, as also of the white veil on each shoulder. The pastoral staff appears on the left side, but the crook is gone. Next to this is the effigy of another, in most respects the same as the last, but with this exception, that the left sleeve of the gown, which is large and wide, is seen, as well as the close sleeve of the inner robe. Two of the daughters of the Lady Montacute were in succession abbesses of Barking, in Essex, and are here thus represented. Sculptured effigies of abbesses, especially of this period, are rare, and I know but of one recumbent sepulchral effigy of this class, existing in Polesworth Church, Warwickshire. This is a fact which renders these the more interestino;. The next figure is that of a female, in a green, high-bodied gown or robe, with small pocket-holes in front and sleeves reaching only to the elbows. The fifth figure is also that of a female, in a white robe or gown, with close sleeves, close fitting to the waist, where it is belted round by a narrow girdle, and thence falls in loose folds to the feet : over this is a black mantle. There are also indications of a plaited wimple about the neck, but the head of this, as of the other effigies, has been destroyed.