Harvard Art Museums > 1985.109: Red Band with Rider, Nereid, and Plants 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"Red Band with Rider, Nereid, and Plants , 1985.109,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 20, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/100037. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1985.109 Title Red Band with Rider, Nereid, and Plants Classification Textile Arts Work Type textile Date 7th-8th century Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Egypt (Ancient) Period Byzantine period Culture Byzantine Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/100037 Physical Descriptions Medium Wool Technique Woven, tapestry weave Dimensions 21.6 x 57.2 cm (8 1/2 x 22 1/2in.) Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Nanette B. Rodney Accession Year 1985 Object Number 1985.109 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 This large red band is decorated with multicolored human figures, animals, and fanciful plants inside square compartments. In the lower portion of the band, three such squares are grouped together one above the next and the group surrounded by a light colored band. The middle of these three compartments is red and features a male rider atop a pink prancing horse. The horse’s raised front leg is blue and stands out from the rest of the animal. Above and below this rider are teal colored squares filled with stylized, stalky plants with spade-shaped leaves. Above these plants grounding out of the groundline are two yellow free-floating shapes, possibly also meant as plant forms. Above this group of three squares is a single square containing a vine medallion; tendrils with leaves sprout from this vine and fill the empty corners of the square holding the medallion. Within this medallion is a nude female nereid riding upon a sea monster. She throws her hands up in a posture often seen among Dionysiac dancers and meant to indicate revelry. At the top of the band, the pattern of several squares grouped together appears again. The first square has the same design of foliage as does the lowest square at the bottom of the band. Above it is a red square with a partial motif of an orange animal. Another square of foliage probably once existed above this. On either side of the band, some fabric survives that hints at the appearance of the rest of the textile from which this fragment has been cut. A brown wave scroll border outlined in white is visible on both sides of the red band. Plain undyed fabric exists outside the wave border. Commentary Plants, horseback riding, and nereids are common motifs on textiles from Byzantine Egypt and the immediate post-Arab conquest period; these were evocative of fun, prosperity, and a good life and part of a long tradition of Roman and Byzantine decorative imagery. 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
