1931.35.1: Square with Two Human Figures
Textile Arts
This object does not yet have a description.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1931.35.1
- Title
- Square with Two Human Figures
- Classification
- Textile Arts
- Work Type
- textile
- Date
- 5th-6th century
- Places
- Creation Place: Africa, Egypt
- Period
- Byzantine period
- Culture
- Byzantine
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/214579
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Purple and buff colored wool
- Technique
- Woven, tapestry weave
- Dimensions
- 13.34 x 40.64 cm (5 1/4 x 16 in.)
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Charles Bain Hoyt
- Accession Year
- 1931
- Object Number
- 1931.35.1
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
- Tapestry-woven square in brownish purple, yellowish (undyed?), and cream-colored wool wefts. At its center, is a purple square containing two stout yellow dancers each holding unidentified objects in both hands, perhaps the long scarves typical of dancers. A field of busy, abstract, unreadable motifs surrounds this inner square; details of this field’s design were created with supplementary wefts of cream wool. The borders at top and bottom of the square differ slightly from those at the right and left. Details of the borders are done in ‘flying shuttle’ technique of supplementary weft wrapping in a light colored thread. Supplementary weft wrapping, though in a thicker or plied thread, also creates the cream colored lines that run parallel to the warp direction. The warp runs perpendicular to the design of the dancers.
Exhibition History
Verification Level
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu