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 |
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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 created | March 22, 2004 |
Record URL |
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