Textile Fragment thumbnail 1
Textile Fragment thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

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

Categories
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.
Dimensions
  • Height: 405mm
  • Width: 320mm
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
  • Transliteration
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 createdDecember 10, 2007
Record URL
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