| Description |
“Oval dress ornament. The ornament is an orbiculum with a linear pattern of diagonally-placed (sic) meander bands, delineated in tan on a red-purple ground. The motif was woven in the tapestry technique, in fine wool yarn on paired linen warps, 8 x 50 [warp : weft per square cm]. The surface patterning was created from weft floats of undyed linen thread. The ground motif was woven in sections that conform to the main lines of the surface patterning. All yarn is S-twist. Late third or early fourth century. Related examples: Paris, Louvre (Du Bourguet 1964, no. A 23). Remarks: Tunics in Early Christian and Byzantine art were often decorated with matching sets of round, square, or oval motifs, one motif over each shoulder and two others placed in the region of the knees. It is possible that they were intended to guard the vital arm and knee joints from real or imagined dangers. The delicate, restrained linear decoration is typical of the period. 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 # 3, pp. 82, 84-85.] |
