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Ornament for tunic
Ornament for Tunic (Tabulae)
Ornament for tunic
Egyptian (Coptic)
Early Byzantine
6th century A.D.
Object Place: Mediterranean (Eastern)
Medium/Technique
Tapestry-woven silk and linen yarns
Dimensions
9.8 x 9.8 cm (3 7/8 x 3 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
1931 Purchase Fund
Accession Number35.87
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsCostumes
DescriptionA fragment of textile with a horseman in a roundel within a square. On the outer border, ducks chase fish amidst six red pomegranates. This square textile decorated a tunic.
The warp is from fine natural colored linen, doubled (occasionally three or more strands) 18-20 to cm. The weft is from colored silk, with a little plain linen having tripled weft, turned in at top and bottom. The ground is composed of soft neutral green. The horseman is woven with cream colored and brown silk as well as some red silk. The fineness of the weaving, materials and quality suggest that the tunic this ornament decorated was costly.
The warp is from fine natural colored linen, doubled (occasionally three or more strands) 18-20 to cm. The weft is from colored silk, with a little plain linen having tripled weft, turned in at top and bottom. The ground is composed of soft neutral green. The horseman is woven with cream colored and brown silk as well as some red silk. The fineness of the weaving, materials and quality suggest that the tunic this ornament decorated was costly.
ProvenanceStädtisches Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf. By 1934, Dr. H. Burg, Haarlem, the Netherlands; 1935, sold by Dr. H. Burg to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 7, 1935)