Designs, Period.
Section IIA: Borders (Various)

A. Icelandic altar frontal (Inv. 2371): border with lowercase letters "(a)ve maria" (60 high, letters 31 high, edging border 11 high with 54 repeat)

This is from an altar frontal from the late medieval/pre-Reformation period. The border is in long-armed cross and regular cross stitch in wool on linen tabby. The total piece is 87.5 by 128.5 cm, and this section is 11.5 cm wide. The center of the cloth is a Celtic-type interweave pattern and there are four side borders with letters. National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík.
(photographed in Guðjónsson)

Plate 8.

The first 7 patterns are from the same piece as that in Plate 7. The first four patterns are "spacer bars" that separate phrases in the border lettering.

A. Icelandic altar frontal (Inv. 2371): spacer bar (31 high, 3 wide)

B. Icelandic altar frontal (Inv. 2371): spacer bar (31 high, 3 wide)

C. Icelandic altar frontal (Inv. 2371): spacer bar (31 high, 4 wide)

D. Icelandic altar frontal (Inv. 2371): spacer bar (31 high, 6 wide)

E. Icelandic altar frontal (Inv. 2371): potted plant (11 high); variant on Plate 7 edging pattern

F. Icelandic altar frontal (Inv. 2371): birds (11 high); variant on Plate 7 edging pattern

G. Icelandic altar frontal (Inv. 2371): twist border (11 high with 12 repeat)
This edging was used on two of the four lettered borders of the altar frontal. The other two borders used the birds & plants design, as in Plate 7.

H. Icelandic 1617 altar frontal (Inv. 10940): motif with birds (55 by 55)
This is from an altar frontal originally dated 1617 from Háls Church in northern Iceland. The pattern is in long-armed cross-stitch in wool on linen tabby and the total piece is 100 cm by 90 cm. National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík.

(all photographed in Guðjónsson)

A. Icelandic c. 1500 altar frontal (Inv. 10885): geometric border (13 high with 12 repeat; color change every 4 repeats)

This is from an altar frontal from Kálfafell church in southeastern Iceland, c. 1500. As with B and C below, the design starts in one color and after several repeats it continues in a different color; the color breaks do not always occur at the same place each time. The colors used are a russet red, a dark blue, a soft green, and a mustard yellow. The designs are in pattern darning and straight darning in wool on linen tabby, and the total piece size is 99 cm by 97.5 cm. National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík.

B. Icelandic c. 1500 altar frontal (Inv. 10885): linked border (29 wide with 22 repeat; color change every 4 repeats)

C. Icelandic c. 1500 altar frontal (Inv. 10885): twist border (19 wide with 12 repeat; color change every 6 repeats)

D. Icelandic 1617 altar frontal (Inv. 10940): flower border (13 high/wide with 7 repeat)
This borders the entire altar frontal and this section shows the bottom left corner of the piece. The border is never "bent" around the corners, always ended and restarted in the new direction. (from the same piece as design H on Plate 8)

E. Icelandic c. 1500 altar frontal (Inv. 10885): bird (39 high by 32 wide)
Original is in pattern-darning: the squares in the graph indicate the number of threads to cover.

(all photographed in Guðjónsson)

A. Anglo-Saxon 8^th century: hearts border (14 high with 16 repeat)

B. Norman 12^th century: vine border (13 high with 34 repeat)

C. Norman 12^th century: leafed zigzag border (15 high with 22 repeat)

D. English c. 1340: trefoil vine border (11 high with 32 repeat)

(all are original designs after patterns in Norris)