Fragment of a Tunic Clavus
| Accession number | BZ.1953.2.29 |
|---|---|
| Attribution and Date |
Egypt,
7th–10th c.
|
| Measurements |
H. (weft) 37.0 cm × W. (warp) 3.8 cm (14 9/16 × 1 1/2 in.) |
| Technique and Material |
Tapestry weave in polychrome wool |
| 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 narrow fragment is rendered in tapestry weave in beige, red, yellow-tan, blue, purple-grey, and tan. Some details are rendered in supplementary weft decoration in beige. A half-medallion at bottom is woven in purple-grey, and preserves a reinforced selvage. The design features abstracted plant and flower motifs interspersed with dots. The central field is framed by a wave-crest border.
The narrow shape of this fragment and the reinforcement at the bottom edge suggest it was once part of the clavus of a tunic. The schematic quality of the motifs, their rhythmic arrangement, and the color scheme of this piece all contribute to the design’s folk-like quality. Several fragments of a band with the same design are part of the frame of a pastiche in Riggisberg.Riggisberg, Abegg-Stiftung, inv. 1089: S. Schrenk, Textilien des Mittelmeerraumes aus spätantiker bis frühislamischer Zeit (Riggisberg, 2004), 436–38, no. 212.
Notes
| Accession number | BZ.1953.2.29 |
|---|---|
| Attribution and Date |
Egypt,
7th–10th c.
|
| Measurements |
H. (weft) 37.0 cm × W. (warp) 3.8 cm (14 9/16 × 1 1/2 in.) |
| Technique and Material |
Tapestry weave in polychrome wool |
| 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D. Thompson, “Catalogue of Textiles in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection” (unpublished catalogue, Washington, DC, 1976), no. 114.
| Accession number | BZ.1953.2.29 |
|---|---|
| Attribution and Date |
Egypt,
7th–10th c.
|
| Measurements |
H. (weft) 37.0 cm × W. (warp) 3.8 cm (14 9/16 × 1 1/2 in.) |
| Technique and Material |
Tapestry weave in polychrome wool |
| 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. |