Harvard Art Museums > 1977.216.2209: Textile Fragment: Animals and Figures Around Vegetation 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"Textile Fragment: Animals and Figures Around Vegetation , 1977.216.2209,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, May 06, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/290924. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1977.216.2209 Title Textile Fragment: Animals and Figures Around Vegetation Other Titles Former Title: MUMMY WRAPPING JUNE 9, 1975 K P ERHART SENT TO REG ISTRARS FOR STORAGE UNDER BETTER CONDITION STORED IN BASEMENT TEXTILE AREA, CASE 13. ONLY UNFRAMED. Classification Textile Arts Work Type textile Date 7th-8th century Places Creation Place: Africa, Egypt Period Byzantine period Culture Byzantine Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/290924 Physical Descriptions Medium Wool and linen Technique Woven, tapestry weave Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, Bequest of John H. Treat Esq. Accession Year 1977 Object Number 1977.216.2209 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 A portion of a red tapestry woven square (tabula). The design is characterized by mirror symmetry. Animals and birds flank a large abstract, jeweled candelabra plant emerging from an urn. The plant’s eight geometric fronds are made up of interlocking color segments and terminate in small green leaves. These fronds are outlined in white, possibly in soumack stitch. Small tendrils branch off the main leaves of the plant, adding greater complexity to the design. Between the fronds, a stalk with jeweled bars rises up from the plant’s base. Above these is a pair of animals, possibly rabbits. Green geese wearing white ribbons sit among the plant’s upper foliage. Another pair of mammals sits in the mid-level foliage. Two riders are visible at the base of the plant. Behind their heads are green ducks. A brown border containing a gold vine scroll survives on two edges of the square. Many areas of lost wefts in the plants and figures. The square is sewn onto a plain linen backing fabric. Commentary The composition is nearly exactly the same as that of the more complete square in the Museum der Kulturen Basel (no. III 2778) [1]; though they differ in border decoration, they were certainly based on the same pattern and might come from the same workshop. This more complete square allows us to have a better idea of the bottom of this textile would have been like. Looking at the MKB square, it becomes clear that the male figures with cloaks caught in the wind ride upon maned lions and hold forth baskets of fruit. These may be representations of Dionysus. [1] Published in Maya Muller, “Mythological Scenes, Their Roman and Pharaonic Roots, and the Role of Symmetry on Byzantine Textiles.” In Drawing the Threads Together: Textiles and Footwear of the 1st millennium AD from Egypt, 194-207. Edited by Antoine De Moor Cäcilia Fluck Petra Linscheid. Tielt: Lannoo, 2013. Border is similar to that of Harvard's 1923.9 and to that seen on Met 2002.239.18 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
