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They entred sundry roomes, furnished in shew with ancient graue personages, all in long garments of sundry colours, golde, tissue, baldekin, and violet, as our vestments and copes haue bene in England, sutable with caps, iewels, and chaines.
"Dame," answered the mercer, "that is a Cyprus baldekin; it is eight pound the piece of three ells." Lady Foljambe resigned the costly beauty with a sigh. "And this?" she asked, indicating a piece of soft blue. Lady Foljambe's gesture intimated that this was too much for her purse. "Hast any gold cloths of tissue, not over three pound the piece?"
"What price is that by the yard?" inquired Lady Foljambe, touching a piece of superb Cyprus baldekin, striped white, and crimson. Baldekin was an exceedingly rich silk, originally made at Constantinople: it was now manufactured in England also, but the "oversea" article was the more valuable, the baldekin of Cyprus holding first rank. Baldachino is derived from this word.
"Now let us see thy samitelles," said her Ladyship. Samitelle, as its name implies, was doubtless a commoner quality of the rich and precious samite, which ranked in costliness and beauty with baldekin and cloth of gold, and above satin and velvet. Samite was a silk material, of which no more is known than that it was very expensive, and had a glossy sheen, like satin.
Cloth of gold, diaper, baldekin, velvet, tissue, samite, satin, tartaryn, samitelle, sarcenet, taffata, sindon, cendall, say all of them varieties of silken stuffs ribbons of silk, satin, velvet, silver, and gold, were heaped together in brilliant and bewildering confusion of beautiful colours. Lady Foljambe, Mrs Margaret, Marabel, and Agatha, were all looking on.
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