Author
Unknown (maker)
Publication Place
Egypt (made) Akhmim (found) -
Subject
Textiles Africa
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
Height: 405mm, Width: 320mm
Library
Victoria and Albert Museum
Library Asset ID
449-1887
Record ID
449-1887
Library Location
Middle East Section
Notes
This is a fragment from a much larger textile, of a type known to have been used for cushion and mattress covers. Here, the thickness points to a mattress cover. The weave, known in antiquity by the Greek term, polymita, literally '[woven with] many heddles', was the first with mechanically repeating designs to have been developed in the western world and may have had its origins in Alexandria. It had been known since the first century and this example, with three field designs and three border designs, each in two contrasting colours, provides a small repertoire of typical patterns: the various bands would have been arranged symmetrically down the length of the cover.
Sample Text
Transliteration,
İlişki
Henry Wallis
Malzemeler ve teknikler
Weft-faced compound plain weave Wool Plain Weave
Fiziksel açıklama
Fragment from a mattress cover, woven in blue and red wool on a buff-coloured wool ground. The piece is in weft-faced compound weave. The design shows a range of typical patterns: diaper patterns of rosettes within octagons, quatrefoils within lozenges, and fret-ornament in blue; and curved leafy stems, zig-zag lines and geometrical ornament, in red. These patterns are arranged in horizontal bands, with plain stripes between.
Üslup
Egyptian Late Antique
