Catalog Number
|
Catalog Number |
CAS 0389-2402 | |
| 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. 300-335 CE | |
| Collection Name | Rietz Collection of Textiles | |
| Materials | Linen; Wool | |
| Description | “Section cut from a tunic sleeve. The tan ground, originally white, bears two bands decorated with dark purple, double-scroll motifs alternating with small roundels. Each roundel is ornamented with a small rosette. The ground is linen rep, 24 x 15 [warp : weft per square cm], the inserts wool tapestry, 10 x 26 [warp : weft per square cm], with weft-floated ornament. Both right and left selvedges are preserved. The weaving of the ornamental motifs appears to have started at the left, and each motif was completed before the next one was started. Above the decorated bands is a shadow band composed of four shots of bundled wefts. The method of inserting weft floats can be clearly seen on the reverse side. All yarn is S-twist. Early fourth century. Remarks: White tunics with plain or simply ornamented, double purple sleeve bands occur frequently in Early Christian art. Usually the tunics also carried matching bands descending vertically from the shoulders on both the front and the back. Like the [textile CAS 0389-2397], the modest design might have been considered suitable for a person of philosophical bent. 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 # 2, pp. 1, 82, 84-85; color plate, p. 67.] | |
| Dimensions (cm) | Width = 20.0, Length = 33.0 | |