Textile ArtsCoptic8th-10th century

Textile Fragment with Tapestry Band

8th-10th century

Description

Fragment of plain linen cloth with tapestry woven band. The band is red with thin yellow and dark blue borders. A yellow vine runs the length of the red band, containing within itself ovoid organic shapes composed of two colors: either yellow and green, red and blue, or yellow and white. Weft wrapping in yellow thread creates the outlines of the vine. On the reverse of this fabric, some weft threads float between areas of the same color. Four thin self-bands run several rows above the bottom frayed edge: the lower two are pink and the upper two are red. Frayed edge at bottom. Cut edge at top. Wefts are missing in the leftmost area of the tapestry band, exposing the undyed warps. The linen warps are paired in the area of tapestry. The transitions between the tapestry band and the plain-woven ground are made using rows of basket weave. In each area of transition, several rows have undyed linen wefts and four have dark blue wool wefts (these form the dark blue borders).

Classification

Textile Arts

Technique

Woven, mixed technique

Medium

Linen and wool

Culture

Coptic

Period

Islamic period

Century

8th-10th century