Sleeve Fragment with a Band with Fish and Blossoms
Not on view
This sleeve fragment illustrates many of the characteristics associated with early Islamic textiles found in Egypt. Symmetrically arranged between two plain, dark bands, delicately colored fish, leaves, and buds form a lozenge pattern around a central rosette set within a gemmed roundel and a repeating pattern of stylized trees. The structured sprinkling of flora (generally buds and leaves) and fauna is referred to as a "scattered" motif. Like the weft-patterned, applied border, here with chevrons, the scattered motif became popular toward the end of the sixth and seventh centuries.
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