Shepherds Purse: manuscript - Da Costa Hours

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The source is the Da Costa Hours, a book of hours produced in Bruges ca. 1520 (following Collins & Davis -- the calendar cites it as 1515), and currently located in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York (MS 399 fol. 5v). A very similar genre scene can be found in Egerton MS 1147. (Images are from Collins & Davis.)

Three shepherds are setting out from home with the sheep. One in the distance appears to have a white pouch-belt. One is mostly hidden in the doorway. The other wears a white pouch-belt that seems to gather into a band-strap at the ends, and has a flap slightly less than half the height with three button-like marks on it. There are also several dairymaids in the picture none of which wear pouches.

References

Collins, Marie & Davis, V. 1992. A Medieval Book of Seasons. Harper Collins, New York. p.54

Medieval Women calendar, 1993 November