Insert from a Coptic Garment
At first glance this textile’s colorful palette, central mirrored design, and floriated medallion frame seem to recall Byzantine imperial silks. Yet this fragment is made entirely in wool, woven in a "tapestry weave", in which repeating patterns must be added into the textile’s structure, and are not the result of the loom itself. The medallion frames a scene of two facing lions around a vase, from which emerges a composite floral form reminiscent of Sasanian winged motifs. Both the iconography and method of manufacture place this piece in the transitional period of the earliest Islamic centuries.
Artwork Details
- Title:Insert from a Coptic Garment
- Date:7th–8th century
- Geography:Attributed to Egypt
- Medium:Linen, wool; plain weave, tapestry weave
- Dimensions:Textile: H. 12 3/16 in. (31 cm)
W. 12 3/16 in. (31 cm)
Mount: H. 17 1/8 in. (43.5 cm)
W. 15 7/8 in. (40.3 cm)
D. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm) - Classification:Textiles-Woven
- Credit Line:Fletcher Fund, 1971
- Object Number:1971.235.6
- Curatorial Department: Islamic Art
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late 10th century
7th century
660–870 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)
dated 328 AH/939–40 CE
last quarter 10th century
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