{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1812630"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1812630/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1812630","accessionNumber":"E.424-2026","objectType":"Design","titles":[{"title":"Design for a cope for Bromley Parish Church of Ss Peter and Paul","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Susan Riley was an artist who worked mainly in ecclesiastical embroidery, but she also worked on secular projects and was a painter. She was taught by the renowned British embroiderer Beryl Dean MBE (1911-2001) at the Hammersmith College of Art and, after her graduation in the 1950’s, she later returned there to teach. Beryl Dean was a pioneer of modernist design in ecclesiastical embroidery and Riley was inspired and influenced by her teaching. Riley produced figurative and closely detailed designs reminiscent of pen drawing with influences from early medieval religious art including Opus Anglicanum (English Work) and Byzantine mosaics. She designed several notable ecclesiastical projects, some of which were for Beryl Dean’s embroidery class. One of the most impressive of these works was the Hammersmith Cope, which was designed by Riley and worked by Dean and other students. This cope took a decade to create and was gifted to St Paul’s Cathedral in 1968.\n\nIn 2000 Riley was commissioned by Bromley Parish Church of Saints Peter and Paul to design a new reredos and altar frontal. This was Riley’s largest and one of her most impactful works, taking two years to complete, it is still displayed in the church today. The design for the Reredos was inspired by the Book of Revelations from the Apocalypse of the Blessed Apostle John: ‘the time is close at hand’ thus John writes to the Seven Churches in Asia, ‘Grace and peace be yours from Him who is and ever was and is still to come, and from the Seven Spirits that stand before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, first born of the risen dead who rules over all earthly kings…’. The seven semi-abstract twisted figures of the reredos represent the seven spirits, or angels, envisaged by Saint John. The design for the frontal was inspired by the Biblical story of the Miraculous Catch of Fish from the Gospel of Sain John. The finished design shows semi-abstracted fish caught in a fishing net.\r\nRiley’s aim with the design was to introduce colour into an otherwise gloomy sanctuary in the church. She was inspired by the vitality of Opus Anglicanum and before producing the designs she spent a lot of time in the V&A studying the exquisite examples we have in the collection. The colours and embroidery on these works directly influenced the design she produced for Bromley Parish Church.\n\r\nThe reredos was the largest work Riley designed. Over the two-year period of production, she produced millions of stitches and used miles of sewing thread. The angels were worked in freehand machine embroidery on gold satin lame with applied textile layers of wild silk, Indian silk and silk organzas in many colours, then applied to a plum covered velvet background interlined with heavy cotton. Each angelic column took a minimum of 130 hours of intensive work.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Designs for a cope.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Susan Riley","id":"A18088"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"AAT25190"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"tracing paper","id":"AAT14161"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing","id":"AAT54196"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Pencil on tracing paper","categories":[{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"},{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES48960"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLC","id":"THES49171"},"free":"","case":"CAT","shelf":"6","box":"E"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"design","id":"AAT102051"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2005","earliest":"2005-01-01","latest":"2005-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the family of Susan Riley","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"368","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"264","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Design for a cope for Bromley Parish Church of Ss Peter and Paul, by Susan Riley, pencil on tracing paper, London, 2005","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Design","id":"THES48872"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"cope","id":"AAT210429"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.424-2026"],"accessionNumberNum":"424","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2026,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-24","recordCreationDate":"2025-12-03","availableToBook":false}}