| Description |
“Square tunic ornament. The reddish brown ornamentation has a tan ground. The design is organized as a circle contained in a square, the corners filled with simple plant motifs. In the center is a wide-eyed running warrior carrying a shield. The foundation is linen tabby, 15 x 15 [warp : weft per square cm]; the decoration is wool and linen tapestry on grouped linen warps, 10 x 52 [warp : weft per square cm]. The square ornament was cut from another garment, the edges turned under and whip-stitched to the tabby foundation. All yarn is S-twist. Sixth century. Remarks: This piece may have been cut from a larger textile ornament with a number of figures contained in a rinceau. The drawing is too sketchy to be certain, but the warrior appears to be nude, hence, a warrior of the spirit rather than of the flesh. His antagonist may have occupied an adjacent compartment in the rinceau. [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 # 27, pp. 116-117.] |
