Publication Date
400
Publication Place
Akhmim (made) Byzantine (made) Egypt (made) -
Subject
Saints Creatures
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
Linen panel height: 180mm, Linen panel width: 130mm
Library
Victoria and Albert Museum
Library Asset ID
T.34-1917
Record ID
T.34-1917
Library Location
Middle East Section
Date
400
Notes
Weft-faced compound twill, samite. Possibly Egyptian or Byzantine, ca. AD400-600. In numerous fragments so that the imagery cannot been easily identified. Appears to be floral borders creating suqare panels with motifs within the panels. Possibly St Michael. Light and dark brown. Once attached to a linen panel. 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 and linen Silk (Textile) Linen Weaving Dyeing
Fiziksel açıklama
Weft-faced compound twill samite. In numerous fragments so that the imagery cannot been easily identified. Appears to be floral borders creating suqare panels with motifs within the panels. Possibly St Michael. Light and dark brown. Once attached to a linen panel.
Üslup
Late Antique
