Textile Fragment
4th Century - 7th Century (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This is a fragment from a much larger textile, of a type known to have been used for cushion and mattress covers. Here, the thickness points to a mattress cover. The weave, known in antiquity by the Greek term, polymita, literally '[woven with] many heddles', was the first with mechanically repeating designs to have been developed in the western world and may have had its origins in Alexandria. It had been known since the first century and this example, with three field designs and three border designs, each in two contrasting colours, provides a small repertoire of typical patterns: the various bands would have been arranged symmetrically down the length of the cover.
Object details
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Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Weft-faced compound plain weave |
Brief description | Fragment of a mattress, wool, weft-faced compound plain weave (polymita), Akhmim, Egypt, 4th Century - 7th Century |
Physical description | Fragment from a mattress cover, woven in blue and red wool on a buff-coloured wool ground. The piece is in weft-faced compound weave. The design shows a range of typical patterns: diaper patterns of rosettes within octagons, quatrefoils within lozenges, and fret-ornament in blue; and curved leafy stems, zig-zag lines and geometrical ornament, in red. These patterns are arranged in horizontal bands, with plain stripes between. |
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Marks and inscriptions |
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Gallery label | WOOLLENS, 4th-7th century.
Weft-faced compound tabby. Warp proportion: 2 main, 1 binding. Weft of 2 colours, i pick of each in turn. Wool \ spun. All the pieces were found in Egypt, the largest at Akhmim, the 2 smallest at Antinoe and the others at unrecorded sites. |
Object history | Purchased from Henry Wallis Displayed in the exhibition Constantine The Great: York's Roman Emperor, Yorkshire Museum, 31 March - 29 October 2006 |
Association | |
Summary | This is a fragment from a much larger textile, of a type known to have been used for cushion and mattress covers. Here, the thickness points to a mattress cover. The weave, known in antiquity by the Greek term, polymita, literally '[woven with] many heddles', was the first with mechanically repeating designs to have been developed in the western world and may have had its origins in Alexandria. It had been known since the first century and this example, with three field designs and three border designs, each in two contrasting colours, provides a small repertoire of typical patterns: the various bands would have been arranged symmetrically down the length of the cover. |
Bibliographic reference | E. Hartley, J. Hawkes, M. Henig with F. Mee, Constantine The Great: York's Roman Emperor (York, 2006): 190 No. 171 |
Collection | |
Accession number | 449-1887 |
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Record created | December 10, 2007 |
Record URL |
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