Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability

CAS Anthropology Collections Database


Catalog Number

CAS 0389-2413   CAS 0389-2413; Coptic textile fragment
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. 300-400 CE
Collection Name Rietz Collection of Textiles
Materials Linen; Wool
Description “Pair of tunic clavi sewn together to form a wide band. The clavi are dull purple bands with scalloped edges. Their decoration consists of a small, undulating ladder band down the centers with filler-motifs of circles in two sizes. The larger circles contain various ornaments: circles with dot-clusters, rings of dots, four-petaled rosettes, hooked crosses, and a motif suggesting a laurel wreath. The ground is linen rep, 28 x 20 [warp : weft per square cm]; the clavi are woven in tapestry warps, 9 x 68 [warp : weft per square cm]. The design of the bands is carried out principally in an erratic weft-float technique. All yarn is S-twist. Fourth century. Related example: Paris, Louvre X4392 (Du Bourguet 1964). Remarks: The piece is composed of two bands sewn together, possibly in antiquity. One band retains a strip of rep along one edge and a portion of the selvedge. The tunic to which the clavi belonged must have been a sober and dignified garment made in the best Roman tradition. 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 # 5, pp. 15, 82, 86-87.]
Dimensions (cm) Width = 35.0, Length = 13.0