1975.41.19.A: Square with Playing Putti
Textile Arts
This object does not yet have a description.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1975.41.19.A
- Title
- Square with Playing Putti
- Classification
- Textile Arts
- Work Type
- tapestry
- Date
- 7th-8th century
- Places
- Creation Place: Africa, Egypt
- Period
- Byzantine period
- Culture
- Coptic
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/288753
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Wool, tapestry woven
- Technique
- Tapestry
- Dimensions
- 30 x 29.5 cm (11 13/16 x 11 5/8 in.)
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of The Hagop Kevorkian Foundation in memory of Hagop Kevorkian
- Accession Year
- 1975
- Object Number
- 1975.41.19.A
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
-
This tapestry-woven wool square is geometrically subdivided into sections filled with a variety of motifs. Four female busts in medallions in the corners represent beneficent personifications (the Seasons?); each woman holds what is probably a debased sprig of foliage in each hand, as personifications of natural concepts and abundance often do. The central medallion with a red background holds playing putti and possibly nereids. Four yellow birds stand outside this medallion within a dark blue square. Around this square, a yellow field is divided into compartments by a dark blue line. Playing putti and green birds with red wings representations fill spandrels. All the motifs are highly abstract and difficult to read but refer to traditional motifs. A purple border with yellow flowers surrounds the square. Areas of the red ground remain around the square.
Interlock technique used extensively to close vertical slits.
Tapestry over 1 warp; warp: S red wool (10 warps per 1 cm)
weft: S wool, various colors (28 per 1 cm)
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