| Description |
“Two fragments of a tunic from Assyūt [CAS 0389-2400, 0389-2404]. One fragment is from the sleeve of the tunic and is ornamented with a polychrome design organized in bands on a beige ground. The lower two bands are decorated with a pink-and-green lozenge pattern with Greek crosses as filler motifs. These have yellow and green borders of spiral-wave design (sic). The upper band [CAS 0389-2400] contains two rows of dark blue and light green flying genii wearing derbylike (sic) hats and carrying large bowls in their outstretched arms. The other fragment [CAS 0389-2404] is from the yoke. This fragment contains three figured bands separated by rows of geometric motifs resembling spearheads and hooks in shades of yellow, green, and pink. The upper two figured bands contain pink and dark blue running hounds, each in a cartouche. The lower bands contain green creatures with long snouts, crocodiles (?) (sic). The technique of both pieces is tapestry, wool and linen [S-twist] weft on two-ply Z-twist linen warps. The thread count of the sleeve piece is 5 x 54 [warp : weft per square cm], of the yoke piece, 6 x 50 [warp : weft per square cm]. Portions of both side selvedges are preserved on the sleeve fragment. Seventh century. Remarks: Assyūt, the presumed provenance of this piece, may not have been its place of manufacture. The figure style of the textile places it in a class of textiles produced in a weaving center believed to have been located farther south, in Upper Egypt. [Regarding textiles in this group, DL Carroll # 27-40 (CAS 0389-2378, -2380, -2385, -2386, -2388, -2400, -2404, -2412, -2429, -2430, -2433, -2451, -2452, -2539, -2584, -2585):] By the sixth century two basic types of textile ornaments were used to decorate garments. One, which was in use before the fourth century, was essentially monochrome. Designs in the monochrome class were both non-representational and figurative - the latter included a wide range of subject matter: plant, animal, human, and mythological. The second type is polychrome. Polychrome textiles had been made earlier, but not for use as garments. Extant examples are thought to have been decorative hangings, woven pictures as it were, that are commonly called tapestries. The use of what are essentially miniature tapestries for embellishing clothing is believed to have begun in the sixth century and to have lasted well into the Muslim 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 # 35B, pp. 116, 128-129; color plate, p. 71.] |
