Many Bibles and prayer books had highly elaborate decorated bindings, reflecting the veneration in which their texts were held. Book cushions like this one were used to support a volume during use and to protect these covers, which sometimes incorporated jewels or other raised details. The book would lie on the softly padded silk lining, the spine fitting into a flat recess in the centre of the cushion which provided support.
This book cushion is the larger of a pair decorated with the heraldic arms of Sandys of Ombersley, Worcestershire, and of Esthwaite and Graythwaite Hall, Lancashire. The arms are in lozenge form, which indicates that they were borne by a woman. They may be those of Elizabeth, the sister of William, 4th Baron Sandys of The Vyne. She was Baroness in her own right from 1629 until the barony passed to her grandson some time between 1644 and 1653. The book cushion may have been used at the Sandys family chapel at The Vyne or at the chapel of the Holy Ghost in Basingstoke, Hampshire, which had been established by the 1st Lord Sandys of The Vyne around 1624.