Author
Unknown
Publication Date
600
Publication Place
Egypt (made) Central Asia (made) Akhmim (made) -
Subject
Archaeology Textiles Africa Death
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
Length: 200mm, Width: 54mm
Library
Victoria and Albert Museum
Library Asset ID
300-1891
Record ID
300-1891
Library Location
Middle East Section
Date
600
Notes
A length of woven silk/samite. The warp is a dark cream and the weft is green and white (approx. 17x28 tpc). The centre of the piece is filled with geometric/pixelated versions of a man with a raised hand (?), animals, a tree and a floral icon. It is edged on both sides with a geometric border. Similar to 299-1891. Samite (twill woven silk) was thought to originate from Persia under Sassanian rule (AD224-651). It was commonly decorated with pairs of animals and birds and set in pearled lotus roundels. It is often found in Western burials, within church possessions and along the Silk Road. Byzantine weaving workshops took on the samite technique to make it an essential weave of the period. It was a luxury textile of the Middle Ages brought to Europe when the Crusades opened up direct contact with the East. It was forbidden to the middle classes of France under the sumptuary rules c. 1470.
Malzemeler ve teknikler
Woven silk Silk (Textile) Weaving Dyeing
Parçalar
Textile Fragment, Backing
Fiziksel açıklama
A length of woven silk/samite. The warp is a dark cream and the weft is green and white (approx. 28x17 tpc). The centre of the piece is filled with geometric/pixelated versions of a man with a raised hand (?), animals, a tree and a floral icon. It is edged on both sides with a geometric border. Similar to 299-1891.
Üslup
Coptic
