Author
Unknown
Publication Date
500
Publication Place
Egypt (made) -
Subject
Textiles Africa Archaeology Death
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Victoria and Albert Museum
Library Asset ID
2200-1900
Record ID
2200-1900
Library Location
Middle East Section
Date
500
Notes
2200-1900 + 2200A-1900: Two fragments probably from a tunic. Egytpian, ca. AD500-800. Samite woven in colours (white, blue, red and brown) on a red background. Both pieces have a strip of a border on the right side. It is of colourful floral icons, guilloche on the outer side and rectangles and circles on the inner side. The larger piece has a circular medallion (vine and leaves border, 13mm wide) with an eagle, with our stretched wings, inside. Below this are two lines and then a mounted horseman with a cloak. He appears to be spearing an animal beneath the horse. The remains of another strip of floral border can be seen to the left of the horseman. The smaller piece has only the horseman (head missing) spearing a lion. 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
Parçalar
Textile Fragment, Textile Fragment
