Recently I came across the following chasuble which came up for auction in 2014 (and sold for the shockingly low price of £2,250 GBP) which is thought to date from the end of the 1400's or early 1500's. The main body of the chasuble is made from a purple Italian velvet. This particular shade of purple may be commonplace today, but very few such coloured vestments have managed to come down to us from this period, which is, in fact, what drew me to it.
It is speculated that the embroidery, which is made from polychrome silk and metallic threads, may well have been made within the workshops of pre-Reformation London. 
These embroideries include a central crucifixion scene showing two angels to each side holding chalices to capture the Blood of Christ. Above Christ we find an image of the dove, representing the Holy Spirit.
As we work our way downward on the back orphrey, we see two figures, both of which appear to be dressed nobly and in relatively contemporary, period dress. Neither of these figures have a halo, thereby suggesting they were intended to represent other notable personages or patrons rather than saints.
On the front of the chasuble, there is one other such figure, also of royal appearance, as well as images of St. James and St. John.
One can see here that this last embroidery has been trimmed at the bottom, thereby suggesting that either this orphrey has been repurposed from an earlier vestment or, more likely I think, it is original to the vestment but was simply trimmed back along with the purple body of the chasuble at one and the same time. It certainly goes without saying that the shape of this chasuble would not have been the original.
It is really quite a striking and rare piece of liturgical vesture in general, never mind the additional rarity brought about by the fact that it may well have come from the workshops of pre-Reformation, Catholic England.
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