bearing cloth

A newborn baby would be wrapped in a bearing cloth such as this in order to be taken to church for their christening by their Godmother; traditionally this would have been done as soon as possible after birth, due to the high infant mortality rates of the time. This is a rare object - the only other surviving cloth of comparable type to this one is housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. That cloth was a christening gift from King James II and VII (1633 - 1701) to one of his godchildren - and it is suspected that this cloth also has a royal connection.