Early California Vestments and Liturgical Textiles, 1701-1900

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Summary

Title:
Early California Vestments and Liturgical Textiles
Dates:
1701-1900
Creators:
del Valle, Josefa and del Valle, Ygnacio
Abstract:
This collection consists of vestments and liturgical textiles used by clergy in California Catholic churches during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Extent:
46.67 Linear Feet (13 oversized garment boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Box number, Early California Vestment and Liturgical Textiles, COLL081, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of various liturgical vestments and textiles, many of them used in a private family chapel. The items include chasubles, stoles, maniples, burses, corporals, copes, an alb, and chalice veils.

Biographical / historical:

The Early California Vestments and Liturgical Textiles collection consists of early liturgical clothing in use in California Catholic churches and missions during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Most of the pieces are from the Ygnacio del Valle Family Collection and were used in the chapel located on Rancho Camulos, the Del Valle home, in Ventura County. Josefa del Valle de Forster donated these textiles to Loyola University in the 1940s. The Del Valles were a Californio family whose history includes an 1839 grant from the Mexican government of a 48,000-acre ranch known as Rancho San Francisco. The family home at Camulos achieved fame in the late nineteenth century as the "home" of the fictional heroine of Helen Hunt Jackson's novel Ramona.

The vestments were said to be given to Josefa by Father Rubio who brought them from the Plaza Church of Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles, for the monthly mass which he offered at the family chapel. Father Rubio became rector from 1855 to 1859 of the first seminary in California, which opened in 1844 near old Mission Santa Ynez. Notes also indicate that vestments were a gift from Bishop Mora. Additional gifts includes the white floral cope from Mr. And Mrs. Emil K. Rossiter, as well as the black velvet cope, gifted by Father Thomas English, neither of which originated from the Del Valle Collection.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Josefa del Valle; accession number: 1995.23. Gift of Father Thomas English (black velvet cope); accession numbers: 2019.10. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Rossiter (white floral cope); accession number: 2019.11.
Arrangement:

Items are listed in alphabetical order with exception of vestments sets that are listed first.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Marisa Ramirez
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-06-25 15:44:37 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Marymount University.

Terms of access:

Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or executors.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Box number, Early California Vestment and Liturgical Textiles, COLL081, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.

Location of this collection:
1 LMU Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659, US
Contact:
(310) 338-5710
Special.Collections@lmu.edu
Website