Roundel with Multicolored Ivy Leaves
7th-8th century
Description
Tapestry woven roundel of colored wool wefts set into plain woven linen cloth. The roundel is not a perfect circle, with flattened top and bottom. The central field of the medallion is red with four heart-shaped flowers with white leaves. The heart shaped flowers are outlined in dark blue and each consist of several different colors: white, yellow, orange, or pink. Between the flowers are white tendrils with yellow and green leaves. Yellow dots containing smaller green dots are placed regularly around the flowers and tendrils. The innermost medallion holds an eight-petalled flower ringed by gold, red, and white. Each petal of the inner flower has a white dot with a smaller red or green dot within it. The medallion has an outer border of interlocking color segments similar to butterfly wings on a dark blue field. The order of the colors in these segments follows a symmetrical arrangement on both horizontal and vertical axes. At top and bottom, the light blue, green and white segments do not interlock.
Dimensions
16.5 x 16 cm (6 1/2 x 6 5/16 in.)
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