Sleeve Fragment with a Band Decorated with an Animal
Not on view
Dyed sheep wool was used to bring color to this piece. To achieve the high-quality tapestry weave in which the dense warp is covered completely by the predominantly wool weft, a small-diameter wool weft made of fine-quality fibers was used. Microscopic analyses reveal the absence of visible medullas and that the tips of the fibers' scales are detached from the filaments’ bodies, both characteristic of fine-quality fibers.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Compount microscope, 20x. Photography by Florica Zaharia
reverse
reverse
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Sleeve Fragment with a Band Decorated with an Animal
Date:9th–10th century
Geography:Attributed to Egypt
Medium:Tapestry weave in red wool (dyed with madder) and undyed linen on plain-weave ground of undyed linen; details in flying shuttle in undyed linen; weft loop pile with undyed linen
Dimensions:Max. H. 12 in. (30.5 cm) Max. W. 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm)
Classification:Textiles
Credit Line:Gift of George F. Baker, 1890
Accession Number:90.5.829
Two Textiles Fragments Decorated with Animals: MMA 2002.239.14 and 90.5.829
Both textiles represent the widespread use of animal motifs during the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods in Egypt, either in isolation, as here, or combined with other animals, human figures, or vegetal ornamentation. MMA. 2002.239.14. is decorated with a band that was once part of a larger strip that formed part of a tunic. The band, in monochrome tapestry, has three rectangular compartments. The central one contains the profile of a black hare crouching on a bed of leaves against a dotted background. Flanking this section are two identical compartments with three rows of stylized leaves, typical decorative elements on Late Antique clothing.[2] Characteristic ornamental motifs on the bands include animals, such as lions or gazelles, and human figures often associated with mythology. The hare or rabbit also occurs frequently; an example of the motif comparable to the one shown here, in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, appears on a band that also features Aphrodite.[3] The Metropolitan Museum’s hare is depicted in a similar position, with the ear left blank.
The fragment of a sleeve, no. 90.5.829, is decorated with a red band featuring a linear composition made up of a central medallion flanked by two rectangular panels. In the medallion is a quadruped, while each side panel carries two rows of a composite, two-part motif: a heart-shaped and an open-ended side, each enclosing a stylized flower.[4] The animal, which looks backward with one leg raised, is a familiar one in the Early Islamic period and comparable with motifs on woodwork.[5]
Mina Moraitou in [Evans and Ratliff 2012]
Footnotes:
2. See Frances Pritchard. Clothing Culture: Dress in Egypt in the First Millennium AD: Clothing from Egypt in the Collection of the Whitworth Art Gallery, the University of Manchester. Exh. cat. Manchester, 2006, pp. 60ff.
3. Au fil du Nil: Couleurs de l'Egypte chrétienne. Exh. cat. Paris, 2001, cat. no. 86.
4. For comparable material, see Peter Noever, ed. Verletsliche Beute: Spätantike und frühislamische Textilien aus Ägypten - Fragile Remnants: Egyptian Textiles of Late Antiquity and Early Islam. Exh. cat. Osfildern-Ruit, 2005, p. 114, cat. no. 58; and Pritchard 2006 (note 2), figs. 4–32, 4.33.
5. For examples see Elise Anglade. Catalogue des boiseries de la section islamique, Musée du Louvre. Paris, 1988, no. 32, 38.
Emil Brugsch-Bey(until 1890; sold to Baker); George F. Baker, New York (1890; gifted to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Textiles of Late Antiquity," December 14, 1995–April 7, 1996, no. 59.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition," March 14–July 8, 2012, no. 115B.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Secret Life of Textiles: Animal Fibers," August 15, 2016–February 20, 2017.
Stauffer, Annmarie. Textiles of Late Antiquity. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995. no. 59, p. 48.
Evans, Helen C., and Brandie Ratliff, ed. Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012. No. 115B, pp. 172–73, ill. p. 173 (color).
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of Islamic art is one of the most comprehensive in the world and ranges in date from the seventh to the twenty-first century. Its more than 15,000 objects reflect the great diversity and range of the cultural traditions from Spain to Indonesia.
