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Textile fragment

Title	Textile fragment
Publication Date:	600
Publication Place	Egypt (made) Istanbul (made) -
Subject	Archaeology Textiles Africa
Type	Other
Language	Undetermined
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	No
Library:	Victoria and Albert Museum
Library Asset ID	2191B-1900
Record ID	2191B-1900
Library Location	Middle East Section
Date	600
Notes	Compound silk weave, samite fragment. Possibly Egyptian/Byzantine, ca. AD600- 900. Height of 83mm with width of 133mm at base. The base is a border edge. The fabric is of light and dark brown (coffee coloured) silk and is discoloured, with holes. The decoration consists of a long spade shaped leaf (50mm x 25mm) repeated in the darker thread. Thread dia. approx. 0.25mm. 2191A-1900 is less discoloured but appears to be originally from the same piece of fabric. 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
Fiziksel açıklama	Compound silk weave, samite, fragment. The base is a border edge. The fabric is of light and dark brown (coffee coloured) silk and is discoloured, with holes. The decoration consists of a long spade shaped leaf (50mm x 25mm) repeated in the darker thread. Thread dia. approx. 0.25mm. 2191A-1900 is less discoloured but appears to be originally from the same piece of fabric.

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Victoria and Albert Museum

Textile fragment

Publication Date 600

Publication Place Egypt (made) Istanbul (made) -

Subject Archaeology Textiles Africa

Type Other

Language Undetermined

Digital Yes

Manuscript No

Library Victoria and Albert Museum

Library Asset ID 2191B-1900

Record ID 2191B-1900

Library Location Middle East Section

Date 600

Notes Compound silk weave, samite fragment. Possibly Egyptian/Byzantine, ca. AD600- 900. Height of 83mm with width of 133mm at base. The base is a border edge. The fabric is of light and dark brown (coffee coloured) silk and is discoloured, with holes. The decoration consists of a long spade shaped leaf (50mm x 25mm) repeated in the darker thread. Thread dia. approx. 0.25mm. 2191A-1900 is less discoloured but appears to be originally from the same piece of fabric. 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

Fiziksel açıklama Compound silk weave, samite, fragment. The base is a border edge. The fabric is of light and dark brown (coffee coloured) silk and is discoloured, with holes. The decoration consists of a long spade shaped leaf (50mm x 25mm) repeated in the darker thread. Thread dia. approx. 0.25mm. 2191A-1900 is less discoloured but appears to be originally from the same piece of fabric.