Elizabethan needlework in fine condition is extremely rare but readers will have the opportunity to see some at close hand, at Witney Antiques’ latest exhibition. This admirable shop in Corn Street, Witney, somehow always manages to produce museum-quality exhibitions.

For too long textiles were the Cinderella of the museum and antiques world but the popularity of the superb textiles now on show at the Ashmolean tell a different story in 2010. A problem has always been their fragility. This firm undertakes textile restoration. If you are attracted to the vibrant colours and lush texture of embroidery, you can still buy fine examples — and nowhere finer than at Witney Antiques. I asked Joy Jarrett what we can expect, “Exhibits include an embroidered gentleman’s cap from the ancestral home of Sir Thomas Cave who defended Stanford House and Church, at the time of the Battle of Naseby.

“We have a bodice panel, with images of small animals, insects and flowers, typical of the Elizabethan period. Raised works from the highly collected period of the mid-17th century include a mirror decorated with Royal figures; Charles II wearing a cloak composed of hundreds of minute feathers. The ‘Wilby House Casket’, also on show, is one of the finest and most colourful to have come on to the market in recent years. And, of exceptional rarity, is a beadwork layette basket inscribed “Mary Baker Her Basket 1670”, the only known named and dated example. There will also be a group of attractive tent stitch embroideries and rare band samplers.” The embroideries in this exhibition illustrate why British work, costly to produce and greatly valued, was so highly regarded in Europe and considered as among the very best. There is a full colour catalogue available by post (£12).

96-100 Corn Street, Witney, OX28 6BU. Until November 18, 10am-6pm. (www.witneyantiques.com).