Woven Silk Fragment thumbnail 1
Woven Silk Fragment thumbnail 2
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Woven Silk Fragment

1100-1200 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Kermes, cochineal and madder all create ranges of red dyes. In the medieval period, kermes was found mainly in Iberia, madder in the Mediterranean basin and Armenian cochineal mainly came from Armenia. Scientific analysis of this piece of silk revealed that it has been dyed dark red with a bath of cochineal and then of kermes and black/brown with ellagic acid from tannins such as oak galls. The use of cochineal reveals that trade between Central Asia and the western Mediterranean already existed in this early period.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
woven silk and silver gilt thread
Brief description
Tapestry weave silk with silver gilt threads, dyed with cochineal and kermes, 12th century, possibly Sicilian or Western Mediterranean.
Physical description
Tapestry weave in silk and silver gilt thread. Pattern consists of golden panels between intertwisting red bands, with trees and blossoms. Dyed dark red with a bath of cochineal and then of kermes and black/brown with ellagic acid from tannins such as oak galls.
Dimensions
  • Length: 13cm
  • Width: 27.8cm
  • Wooden frame height: 24cm
  • Wooden frame width: 38.5cm
  • Wooden frame depth: 3.7cm
26 x 36 cms when pressure mounted
Style
Credit line
The analysis was carried out in collaboration with British Museum laboratories, Dr Joan Dyer and Dr Diego Tamborini.
Production
Attribution note: Another example of this fragment can be found in the Musée national du Moyen Age (musée Cluny) in Paris.
Summary
Kermes, cochineal and madder all create ranges of red dyes. In the medieval period, kermes was found mainly in Iberia, madder in the Mediterranean basin and Armenian cochineal mainly came from Armenia. Scientific analysis of this piece of silk revealed that it has been dyed dark red with a bath of cochineal and then of kermes and black/brown with ellagic acid from tannins such as oak galls. The use of cochineal reveals that trade between Central Asia and the western Mediterranean already existed in this early period.
Bibliographic reference
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
8229-1863

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Record createdMarch 22, 2004
Record URL
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