Woven fragments
- Place of origin:
Almeria, Spain (probably, made)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
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Islamic Spain had a thriving silk weaving industry, but only a comparatively small number of pieces of the early medieval period survive. Designs of real and mythical animals and birds confined within circles and other geometric shapes, derive from earlier prototypes from the Near East and other silk weaving centres further East. The design is fairly complex with wingless griffins and peacocks within lozenges and a Kufic (a particular type of Islamic script) inscription above. This example is very finely woven and shows the degree of accomplishment which weaving had reached. Luxury textiles were highly prized, very expensive and often used as diplomatic and royal gifts. Apart from their intrinsic and artistic value, textiles were very portable compared to other, heavier or breakable, artefacts.
Physical description
Brocade, woven in red and olive green silks and gold thread on a cream-coloured ground, with a design of wingless griffins and peacocks within lozenges and kufic characters.
Place of Origin
Almeria, Spain (probably, made)
Date
ca. 1100-1150 (made)
Artist/maker
unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Woven silk
Marks and inscriptions
Woven inscription on base The Merciful
Woven inscription 'perfect blessing (?) and victory'
Dimensions
Height: 14.5 cm unframed, Width: 14 cm unframed, Width: 14 cm
Object history note
Purchased in November 1894 from Fritz Baer for £10.
Date of receipt from Stores: 30th October 1894.
Authority for purchase: Mr. C. P. Clarke.
Neg. 25474.
Historical context note
These two small inscribed fragments of the same textile are important and rare survivors from Islamic Spain. The piece shows both a sophisticated level of weaving and an interesting design, typical of the taste for exotic mythological and real creatures which prevailed.
Samples of coloured threads from this object have been taken and are being analysed as part of a collaboration between the V&A and the Spanish Research project "Caracterización de als 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).
Descriptive line
Fragments of lampas weave in silk and gold thread, Al-Andalus (Spain), 12th century.
Exhibition History
L'Etrange et le Merveilleux en terre d'Islam (Musée du Louvre, Paris 01/01/2001-31/12/2023)
Labels and date
FRAGMENT OF A CLOTH
Lampas weave in silk and gold thread
SPAIN (Andalusia); betweenm 1100 and 1200 AD [Used until 11/2003]
Materials
Silk; Metallic thread
Techniques
Woven
Subjects depicted
Peacocks; Griffins
Categories
Islam; Textiles
Collection code
MES
