The design is inwoven in the linen cloth. The central decorative band is bordered by two identical strips with yellow and green twisted strings. Set on the red ground of the medallions are griffons, mythical animals with the body of a lion, but the feet, beak and wings of birds of prey. The green-coloured spaces between the medallions are traversed by yellow and brown ribbons.
Origin:
Egypt
Date:
10th - 12th century
Material:
Linen and silk
Dimensions:
Warp: 11.5 cm; weft: 25.5 cm
Comparisons:
MAD, Paris, inv. 26746: animal band on blue cloth.
State Hermitage Museum, inv. 18354.
Coll. J-F Bouvier, inv. M 24: medaillon with a similar four-legged animal, although identified as a winged bull of Achaemenid influence. Our textile could also have come from the workshops of Bahnasa in Upper Egypt.
Provenance:
Collection Coptic textiles Fill-Trevisiol: donation
Location:
Musée royal de Mariemont
Linen and silk tapestry
I. Ground weave
Warp:
natural-coloured linen S: 19/cm
Weft:
natural-coloured linen S: 18/cm
Weave:
tabby
II. Tapestry areas
Warp:
natural-coloured linen S: 19/cm
Weft:
green, yellow, red and brown silk: 55/cm
Special techniques:
slit tapestry, eccentric weft