| Description |
“Square emblem cut from a pallium (?) (sic). The square has a red-purple ground with a pattern worked in white. The design consists of a border of stylized grape leaves surrounding a center block composed of four similar grape leaves. At the top and bottom of the square is a cable pattern that degenerates at the sides, becoming a sketchy design suggesting chicken scratches. The little that remains of the ground was woven in linen rep, 22 x 9 [warp : weft per square cm]. The background of the emblem was woven in tapestry, wool weft on grouped linen warps, 16 x 13 [warp : weft per square cm]. The details of the design were worked in a combination of embroidery and weft floats. The tapestry background of the emblem was woven in evenly placed straight shots; the weft-float surface pattern was worked over it as the background weaving progressed. All yarn is S-twist. Late third or early fourth century. Remarks: The pallium, as it is shown worn by ordinary men in Early Christian art, is commonly decorated with square purple emblems. Such emblems may have signified social position or office. The simple design of this specimen might have been intended to appeal to a follower of one of the more austere schools of philosophy. 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 # 1, pp. 82-84.] |
