By the thirteenth century, the continuous need for richly embroidered clerical vestments supported an important and lucrative industry. The orphrey, or ornamental band, applied to this partial chasuble (a liturgical vestment worn by the priest officiating at the Eucharist) is an example of opus anglicanum (English work), a form of embroidery that flourished in England in the mid-thirteenth century and continued on into the fourteenth century. This highly accomplished needlework, usually created by professional masters in London workshops, was held in high esteem throughout Europe. The six figures portrayed on the orphrey represent Christian saints. The last figure at the hem of the garment has been truncated as have several others, and a seventh figural scene has been split and used to ornament the neckline of the chasuble, thus indicating that this orphrey was not original to the chasuble back, but was cut down to fit an existing vestment whose original ornament was removed. Characteristic of opus anglicanum, this embroidery is worked on a heavy linen ground using silk and metallic-wrapped threads. Details are executed in fine split stitches, which are worked in a circular manner on the faces of the figures in order to give the illusion of dimension. The backgrounds are covered in metallic threads attached to the surface by underside couching, i.e. stitches that secure loops of the metallic and silk embroidery threads that have been pulled through to the reverse side of the ground fabric. This technique results in a greater flexibility of design, less stiffness in the final article, and greater ability to withstand wear, since the threads holding the design were not subject to abrasion. By the end of the fourteenth century or early fifteenth century, when this orphrey was probably made, opus anglicanum was in decline, largely succumbing to the decimation caused by the Black Death and the lack of resources resulting from domestic unrest in England and the constant conflict in Europe attending the Hundred Years War.