Label until April 2011:
FUNERAL PALL OF THE FAYREY FAMILY
Velvet of cut pile and cloth of gold; the sides: silver-gilt, silver and silk enbroidery on linen applied to velvet, brick, satin and split stitches with laid and couched work
Silk velvet: ITALIAN (Florentine?); late 15th century
Embroidery: ENGLISH; early 16th century
Lent by the Rector and Churchwardens of the Priory Church of St. Peter, Dunstable
At the head and foot: St. John the Baptist between John Fayrey and his wife Mary, with inscriptions of their names and merchant's marks. At the side: St. John the Baptist between Henry Fayrey and his wife Agnes, with inscriptions of their names, twenty seven members of the Fayrey family and four shields with heraldry as follows: the Merchant of the Staple, the Company of Mercers, the Fayrey arms, and the Butler arms.
The pall is said to have been given to the Fraternity of St. John the Baptist at Dunstable by Henry Fayrey who died in 1516. []