| Description |
“Garment ornament. The ornament is rendered in brown on a beige ground. It is square with a reverse scallop border around the edge. In the center is a small square with a lion motif. The space between the outer and inner square is filled with an elaborate lozenge pattern. The weaving was done in a normal tapestry technique with wool and linen wefts on paired linen warps, 9 x 52 [warp : weft per square cm]. Weft floats were used to indicate details. All yarn is S-twist. Early fifth century. Remarks: The piece was reused in antiquity, a common practice that illustrates the value placed on textile decoration. Lions have many symbolic meanings, some good, some evil. The Greek hero Herakles [Hercules] wore the pelt of the nearly invulnerable Nemean lion, a trophy he gained from the first of his 12 labors. The animal had a hide so tough it could only be killed by strangling; weapons could not penetrate it. The pelt of this lion became a symbol of the hero, who himself was sometimes given the surname ‘soter,’ which means savior. The depiction of a lion could thus refer to invulnerability, salvation, or both. Since the lion was also the symbol of Saint Mark, Evangelist and first patriarch of the church in Egypt, the motif of a lion could be worn by either a pagan or a Christian with perfect confidence in its efficacy. 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 # 14, pp. 82, 100-101.] |
