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Woven Silk

7th/8th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Strip of silk, woven with a pattern of circles placed close together, each having in the middle, a four-petalled rose, an inner border of small quatrefoils and an outer border of curved stems. In the intervening spaces are rosettes. The pattern is in red, green, yellow and white on a red ground.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Dye samples of this textile were analysed as part of the project “Caracterización de las producciones textiles de la Antigüedad Tardía y Edad Media temprana: tejidos coptos, sasánidas, bizantinos e hispanomusulmanes en las colecciones públicas españolas” (“Characterization of Late Antique and Early Medieval textile production: Coptic, Sasanian, Byzantine and Spanish Muslim textiles in Spanish national collections”) (HAR2008-04161) directed by Dr Laura Rodríguez Peinado, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Dpt. de Historia del Arte I (Medieval). Analysis was conducted by Enrique Parra at the Alfonso X El Sabio University, Madrid. The dyes were analysed through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), extracting threads with a thickness varying between 5 and 1mm by means of 100 µL of methanol/hydrochloric acid/water 1:2:1. The results for this textile were as follows: Green - Indigo & Madder Yellow - Not detected Straw coloured - Not detected Reddish - Not detected
Brief description
700s, Tunisian; Erment, compound weave
Physical description
Strip of silk, woven with a pattern of circles placed close together, each having in the middle, a four-petalled rose, an inner border of small quatrefoils and an outer border of curved stems. In the intervening spaces are rosettes. The pattern is in red, green, yellow and white on a red ground.
Dimensions
  • Length: 2.25in
  • Width: 17.5in
  • Of frame mount width: 1115mm
  • Of frame mount height: 570mm
  • Of frame mount depth: 80mm
Object history
Purchased from the Reverend Greville John Chester
Association
Summary
Strip of silk, woven with a pattern of circles placed close together, each having in the middle, a four-petalled rose, an inner border of small quatrefoils and an outer border of curved stems. In the intervening spaces are rosettes. The pattern is in red, green, yellow and white on a red ground.
Bibliographic references
  • pp.238-9 Evans, Helen C. and Ratliffe, Brandie, Byzantium and Islam. Age of Transition, (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), 2012. ISBN. 97871588394583
  • Miller, Lesley Ellis, and Ana Cabrera Lafuente, with Claire Allen-Johnstone, eds. Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2021. ISBN 978-0-500-48065-6. This object features in the publication Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion (2021)
Collection
Accession number
1385-1888

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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