Many long cushion covers, specifically made to size to go on hard wooden benches, survive from the 16th and 17th centuries. This example is said to have been made for the Chapel of the Holy Ghost in Basingstoke, Hampshire: the Sandys family’s private place of worship.
The survival of so many embroideries worked in wool or silk on linen canvas reflects the popularity of such work in the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was used extensively for furnishings. It is likely that many pieces of this type also survived because, unlike richer embroideries with metal thread, those made of less valuable materials were not dismantled.
It was probably made after the marriage of Henry Sandys to Elizabeth, daughter of William, 2nd Lord Windsor. The coat of arms is quartered, which is to say divided, to show the previous generations of both partners in the marriage. It became fashionable in the Tudor period to quarter one’s arms and show every instance of a coat of arms granted, inherited or brought to the family through marriage. These arms, with only two generations shown apiece, are relatively modest by the standards of the day.