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Pattern Sheet with Diaper Design

5th–6th century

Not on view

Silks were woven in many designs. One widely popular type was a diaper pattern that used a latticelike organizational scheme with narrow intersecting diagonal bands to create rhomboid or square fields filled with various motifs.
The diaper pattern on this papyrus fragment, a pattern sheet for the woven decoration of a tunic, is similar to contemporary Persian silks. The dissemination of papyrus templates such as this and the textiles based on them perhaps contributed to the spread of Persian motifs in other media, such as mosaics.

Pattern Sheet with Diaper Design, Black ink and light yellow, dark yellow, pink, blue, and white paint on light brown papyrus — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Pattern Sheet with Diaper Design

Date: 5th–6th century

Geography: Made in Egypt

Medium: Black ink and light yellow, dark yellow, pink, blue, and white paint on light brown papyrus

Dimensions: 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. (7 x 7 cm)

Classification: Papyrus

Credit Line: The Austrian National Library, Department of Papyri, Vienna (P. Vindob. G 1.310)

Object Number: isl564

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Medieval Art and The Cloisters at The Met

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