نویسنده
Unknown
تاریخ انتشار
450
محل انتشار
Egypt (made) -
موضوع
Animals Birds Flowers Heads
نوع
دیگر
زبان
نامشخص
دیجیتال
بله
نسخه خطی
خیر
ابعاد فیزیکی
Arm to arm width: 104.5cm, Height: 62cm
کتابخانه
Victoria and Albert Museum
شناسه دارایی کتابخانه
T.7-1947
شماره ثبت
T.7-1947
محل کتابخانه
Middle East Section
تاریخ
450
یادداشتها
The custom of burying the dead fully clothed and wrapped in multiple layers of fabrics began in Coptic Christian communities in Egypt in the 3rd century AD. This natural-coloured wool tunic with tapestry woven ornaments was for a young child. Its decoration suggests it was a more formal tunic than some others found in graves, as it has a very full complement of ornaments: neck-bands, shoulder-bands, sleeve-bands, shoulder and skirt-squares and hem-bands with upturned ends. The side seams are left open at the top for the child's arms, but it is also equipped with narrow sleeves which could have been used as leading strings. However, the tunic is in a very good condition so it is possible that the little child never wore it in life.
Tarihsel bağlam
The construction of the tunic was similar for men, women and children: it was made in one piece, which was folded over the shoulders and sewn together along the sides. Sometimes the seam directly under the armpits was open - or both the sleeve seams and the side seams were open. A belt, woven, braided, knitted or tablet woven, was worn to hold the folds of the garment in place. In the 4th century the technique was improved by weaving the garment in a single section with a slit for the neckline. The garment was woven lengthwise on a loom. Weaving started at the end of one of the sleeves and continued through the body section and then the second sleeve (as in this tunic). This technique required numerous warp threads on a very wide loom. The woven scenes were worked at same time as the base fabric. With the transfer of the Roman empire to Byzantium in 395 AD the sleeves gradually seem to have become narrower and the patterns richer. Woollen (rather than linen) tunics seem to have gradually become more common. Apart from the change in the sleeve fitting, the trunk volume increased. The tight sleeves held the masses of cloth in place. In this example, the sleeves are incredibly narrow, and could have been used as leading strings (a way of holding on to a child, a little like reins), but would also have kept the wide tunic in place. The tunic is in very good condition given that it came from a tomb. Furthermore, many other preserved children's tunics show signs of wear and tear of life, and several have been repeatedly patched (maybe recycled from child to child). Indeed, this tunic may never have been worn in life. It is a formal tunic with a very full complement of ornaments - neck-bands, shoulder-bands, sleeve-bands, shoulder and skirt-squares, and hem-bands with upturned ends. The patterns of these bands and panels, with human heads, birds and animals in various colours on a blue ground, are imitated from the repeating patterns of a class of much favoured blue silk textiles, woven on the drawloom. The original broad tuck at the waist of this example seems to have been let out just before burial (the body fluids cover the let down tuck uninterrupted), as the stitch marks are still evident and there are even remains of sewing thread, suggesting a quick unpicking. The waist tuck on children's clothes might fulfil a possible need for letting out to allow for growth, but in this case, it is likely the purpose was to cover the lower body of the dead child (the length of the tunic, with tuck in place, might suggest a boy - see similar tunic in Gothenburg: Erikson, Marianne, Textiles in Egypt 200-1500 AD in Swedish Museum Collections (Göteborg: Röhsska Museet,1997), pp. 84-91). The custom of burying the dead fully clothed and wrapped in multiple layers of fabrics began in the 3rd century. Although found in graves, only a small number of tunics were actually made as funerary clothing and shrouds. Much of the clothing on corpses was not new, but there are also examples of not completely finished garments. The high mortality rate among children is reflected by the large quantities of children's clothing recovered from burials.
Malzemeler ve teknikler
Plain woven wool with tapestry woven coloured wools and undyed linen thread Linen Wool Wool Plain Weave Tapestry Weave
Fiziksel açıklama
Child's overtunic, woven in cruciform shape on the loom, of natural-coloured (now yellow) wool with woven ornaments in coloured wools and undyed linen thread. The wools are all S spun (possibly of local manufacture). The design is the same back and front although the back is now damaged by body fluids. The tunic has cuff bands, two square panels on the shoulders, a neck-border with pendant medallions, two squares at the bottom and a border round the hem with pendant medallions. The ornaments have a blue ground and are edged with red. They are woven with heads, animals, birds, flowers, circles and other symbols. There are three stripes of red and blue weft-twining on either side of the neck; they end in coloured pom-poms, and there are two more stripes of weft-twining at the armpits (these were utilised as guidelines when weaving and also reinforced the turns). The tunic has been woven from proper left side, with starting edge, to right, where warp ends have been twisted into a cord. The woven decorations are also woven left to right, and when made into a tunic, all face sideways. The blanket stitches in natural coloured wool along the neck- and hem borders, are not only decorative, but also strengthen the longer transition between tapestry weave and plain weave. The tunic is left open at the armpits. Originally the tunic had a waist tuck. Marks of stitches and the remains of sewing thread show a tuck of about 14 cm. The tuck must have been let out prior to burial as the waste discharged from the body covers the whole textile.
