Fragments

These narrow fragments depict animal and floral motifs in tapestry weave in beige, light pink, red, light yellow, yellow, light green, green, blue-green, dark blue, and yellow-tan. The left fragment partially preserves two birds standing above three plants, with some remains of a framing border to the left. The right fragment includes a partially surviving quadruped with a curly tail, and some of its notched border at right.

Although these pieces have been mounted together, there is no reason to think they were part of the same fabric: the differences in the quality of the weaving, the stylistic variations in the depictions of the animals, and the different framing borders all indicate that they come from two entirely separate fabrics. The piece at left features blocky, awkwardly rendered motifs; its orientation and proportions suggest it came from the clavus of a tunic. In contrast, the right fragment features a more refined sense of shading: the tail and body of the creature, for example, are rendered with a special sensitivity to color. While it is difficult to determine what type of fabric this fragment came from, the notched border is common on garments: it may thus have come from the clavus or sleeveband of a tunic.

—Elizabeth Dospěl Williams, May 2019