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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

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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