| Description |
“Square tunic ornament. The ground is tan, the ornament dull purple and cream. The design is based upon a square. This has a reversed arcade border and smaller square in its center with a cruciform-knot filler motif. The remainder of the basic square is filled with four gammulae, two of them decorated with filler motifs of disks and fish-form blobs, two with a pattern composed of cruciform rosettes. The technique is tapestry on grouped linen warps with wool and linen weft, 11 x 48 [warp : weft per square cm]. Some of the ornament is done in weft floats. All yarn is S-twist. Fifth century. Remarks: The knot motif used on this piece may be a form of cross. The design organization is the same as that of the squares on Number 9 [CAS 0389-2375], but the filler motifs are much coarser. The textiles in this group [DL Carroll # 17-26 (CAS 0389-2379, -2381, -2383, -2387, -2395, -2408A,B, -2418, -2428, -2431, -2587)] are reportedly from Shaikh Abada, or El Sheik Abara - the Arabic name for the site is transliterated variously. The ancient city was named Antinoöpolis after a beautiful Greek youth who drowned near there. It was founded in his memory by the emperor Hadrian around A.D. 13. A major weaving center in antiquity, some of its products have a classical flavor that may derive from Hadrian’s interest in early Greek art. The archaic style of Greece was revived during his reign. Later, in the Christian period, Antinoöpolis became the site of a famous monastery founded by Saint Samuel. While it is impossible to place total reliance on antique dealers’ attributions, the textiles in this group have similarities that make a common source believable. It is assumed that Rietz purchased them as a group, perhaps from a dealer in the vicinity.†[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 # 17, pp. 102, 105.] |
