| Description |
“Tunic sleeve band fragment. The decorated area is occupied by dark, brownish purple figures and motifs on a dull yellow ground. The band has crenellated ends and reverse-arcade side borders. At each end is the figure of a man, nude except for a diagonal belt and long scarf, with one hand raised as if in a salute. Between the men are two lions, facing in opposite directions. The fragment is woven in a normal tapestry technique, 9 x 30-40 [warp : weft per square cm], entirely in wool. All yarn is S-twist. Fifth century. Remarks: This is a sophisticated version of a very common Coptic textile motif that combines nude warriors (identified as such by sword-belts) and lions. The nudity of the warriors signifies that their battle is one of the spirit, a fight with the bestial side of their natures, symbolized here by the lions. The unnatural orientation of the lions in relation to the warriors is typical of the large class of Coptic textiles to which this example belongs. This design feature is also found on some drawloom textiles of the fifth century (Trilling 1982, no. 108). On these textiles, the position of the animals could have been dictated by certain technical limitations of the drawloom. The tapestry pieces with lions or other quadrupeds placed in a vertical position may derive from designs intended for drawloom weaving or from actual textiles woven on this loom. 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 # 16, pp. 82, 102-103.] |
