Catalog Number
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Catalog Number |
CAS 0389-2377 | |
| Category | Textiles | |
| Object Name | Coptic textile fragment | |
| Culture | Coptic Egyptian | |
| Global Region | North Africa | |
| Country | Egypt | |
| State/Prov./Dist. | ||
| County | ||
| Other Geographic Data | unknown | |
| Maker's Name | Unknown | |
| Date of Manufacture | ca. 300-350 CE | |
| Collection Name | Rietz Collection of Textiles | |
| Materials | Linen; Wool | |
| Description | “Tapestry insert cut from a linen textile. The design is a dark, purple-tinged brown, eight-pointed star composed of two separate, never-ending knots, interlaced together. The bands of the interlace are double; one half is plain, the other filled with a spiral-wave design. The square and triangular spaces not covered by the bands are filled with trefoils; the octagon in the middle is filled with an allover (sic) design of lozenges. What little remains of the ground is cream-colored and the patterning is tan. The insert is made from wool and linen wefts woven on grouped linen warp, 6 x 58 [warp : weft per square cm], with weft-float patterning in two sizes of linen yarn. Originally part of a large (?) (sic) linen textile, now all that remains is this tapestry insert. It was woven in segments, horizontal and vertical bars and triangles. The outlines of these forms correspond to the lines of the interlace and its filler motifs. Slits were whip-stitched closed with linen yarn, an application that is at once practical and decorative. The wool yarn may have been purple originally. Color changes indicate that at least two different dye lots of yarn were used. These changes also testify to the section-by-section method of weaving described. All yarn is S-twist. First half of the fourth century. Related examples: Paris, Louvre AC 150 (Du Bourguet 1964, no. A 11) and Washington D.C. (sic), Textile Museum 71.104 (Trilling 1982, no. 82). Remarks: A patch pasted on the back in recent times could be a scrap of the original linen that surrounded the insert. The intact textile may have been an altar cloth. The southern lunette of the sanctuary of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy contains a mosaic depicting the sacrifices of Abel and Melchizedek (Grabar 1966:156). The cloth on their alter is ornamented with an eight-pointed star very similar in form to [this] specimen. Complex interlace patterns are almost universally believed to have protective powers, guarding against the evil eye. The tendency when looking at such a pattern is to trace the path of the interlace visually, thus keeping the eye moving. (It was a fixed stare that was considered dangerous.) Some ancient beliefs held that even sacred things needed protection from the evil eye. The textiles in this group [DL Carroll # 1-16 (CAS 0389-2375, -2376, -2377, -2394, -2397, -2398, -2402, -2403, -2406, -2407, -2413, -2421, -2425, -2426, -2583, -2586)] are the earliest in the collection and belong to the period dominated by Rome. A number of them represent types of garments that could have indicated social rank or would have been appropriate wear for persons with high positions in the extensive bureaucracy of the period.†[From Looms and Textiles of the Copts by Diane Lee Carroll (San Francisco, CA: Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences, No. 11, 1988); Catalog # 4, pp. 82, 86-87.] | |
| Dimensions (cm) | Width = 28.0, Length = 30.0 | |