Design for Ecce Agnus Dei Embroidered Altar Frontal by Philip Webb, 1868

Design for altar frontal embroidery at Llandaff Cathedral of banner with inscription 'ecce agnus dei' over meadow flower. In the late 1860s Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co was commissioned to provide stained glass and other furnishings and decoration at Llandaff Cathedral. These included an altar frontal, designed by Philip Webb; the lamb and flag are its central elements. The altar frontal was embroidered to Webb’s design by Bessie Burden, who was the younger sister of William Morris’s wife Jane. Both Jane and Bessie were highly skilled needlewomen and embroidered many commissions for Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.. See 'English church embroidery 1833-1953: The Watts book of embroidery' by Mary Schoeser et al (London: Watts & Co.,1998).