Fragment of a Tunic Sleeveband

Accession number	BZ.1953.2.112
Attribution and Date	Egypt, 5th–10th c.
Measurements	H. (warp) 7.9 cm × W. (weft) 27.2 cm (3 1/8 × 10 11/16 in.)
Technique and Material	Tapestry weave in polychrome wool and undyed linen
Acquisition history	Crocker Collection, San Francisco, Mrs. William Henry Crocker (Ethel Willard Sperry Crocker, 1861–1934); Loaned to the San Francisco Museum of Art until 1953; Gift of Mrs. Andre de Limur (Ethel Mary Crocker de Limur, 1891–1964), Washington, DC, in 1953; Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.

This rectangular fragment features registers with floral motifs and quadrupeds in tapestry weave in beige and red. A few yellow threads appear on the short sides of the piece. Remnants of the surrounding beige ground in plain weave are visible along the bottom right of the fragment. The panel’s frame at top and bottom consists of an abstracted braid pattern. The weaving is actually composed of two disconnected fragments, which have been assembled to suggest a symmetrical design in the shape of a tunic sleeveband.

A fragment of a similar band remains attached to its sleeve in a fabric in New York.New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 90.5.175, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/443661. The two-toned red and beige of the piece and the symmetry of its ornamentation may be meant to emulate silk patterns, which featured similar aesthetics and symmetrical design orientation (see BZ.1953.2.6 for discussion).

—Elizabeth Dospěl Williams, May 2019

Notes

Accession number	BZ.1953.2.112
Attribution and Date	Egypt, 5th–10th c.
Measurements	H. (warp) 7.9 cm × W. (weft) 27.2 cm (3 1/8 × 10 11/16 in.)
Technique and Material	Tapestry weave in polychrome wool and undyed linen
Acquisition history	Crocker Collection, San Francisco, Mrs. William Henry Crocker (Ethel Willard Sperry Crocker, 1861–1934); Loaned to the San Francisco Museum of Art until 1953; Gift of Mrs. Andre de Limur (Ethel Mary Crocker de Limur, 1891–1964), Washington, DC, in 1953; Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.

D. Thompson, “Catalogue of Textiles in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection” (unpublished catalogue, Washington, DC, 1976), no. 102.

Accession number	BZ.1953.2.112
Attribution and Date	Egypt, 5th–10th c.
Measurements	H. (warp) 7.9 cm × W. (weft) 27.2 cm (3 1/8 × 10 11/16 in.)
Technique and Material	Tapestry weave in polychrome wool and undyed linen
Acquisition history	Crocker Collection, San Francisco, Mrs. William Henry Crocker (Ethel Willard Sperry Crocker, 1861–1934); Loaned to the San Francisco Museum of Art until 1953; Gift of Mrs. Andre de Limur (Ethel Mary Crocker de Limur, 1891–1964), Washington, DC, in 1953; Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.