Harvard Art Museums > 1975.41.17: Tapestry Tape Textile Arts Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Tapestry Tape , 1975.41.17,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Nov 15, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/288765. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1975.41.17 Title Tapestry Tape Classification Textile Arts Work Type tapestry Date 6th-7th century Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient) Period Byzantine period Culture Coptic Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/288765 Physical Descriptions Medium Textile fibers Technique Tapestry Dimensions 43 x 9 cm (16 15/16 x 3 9/16 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 1975.41.17 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description Tapestry-woven band with red and buff diaper pattern created in red wool and undyed linen. Commentary Floral diaper patterns like the one featured on this band were common on 5-7th century mosaic pavements of the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as on contemporary silks. This textile likely represents an imitation of the designs of silk textiles in less costly materials. Bi-color silks spawned imitations in linen and wool. See Anna Gonosova's discussion of this pattern in the Early Byzantine world, "The Formation and Sources of Early Byzantine Floral Semis and Floral Diaper Patterns Reexamined," in Dumbarton Oaks Papers vol. 41 (1987): 227-237. A similar wool textile in the Staatliches Museum für Ägyptischer Kunst, Munich (inv. no. AS 3268) was excavated from a child’s burial at Matmar. A similarly-patterned silk is in the Detroit Institute of Arts (47.75). Described by Hero Granger-Taylor as a seventh century silk, and "essentially a Byzantine version of Sasanian trellis design" ("Coptic Textiles in the Detroit Institute of Arts," Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 79 (2005): 53-54). 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