Textile Fragment
ca. AD500-700 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
2181A-1900:A strip of samite woven in yellow and pink silk. A thick border (26mm wide; floral icons) encircles a mounted huntsman with a bow, who is attacking a tiger (which appears to have an arrow in its side) at the horses feet. The warrior wears a cloak and the horse has a decorative harness. Above the main roundel is another showing the tiger. A floral circle sits at the join of the two roundels. Only one huntsman can be seen although the roundel has another which has been cut away. The piece is faded, with small holes. There are stitch holes on either side and along the centre of the piece. Similar to to 817-1903, 292-1889 and 2185(+A+B)-1900.
Samite (twill woven silk) was thought to originate from Persia under Sassanian rule (AD224-651). It was commonly decorated with pairs of animals and birds and set in pearled lotus roundels. It is often found in Western burials, within church possessions and along the Silk Road. Byzantine weaving workshops took on the samite technique to make it an essential weave of the period. It was a luxury textile of the Middle Ages brought to Europe when the Crusades opened up direct contact with the East. It was forbidden to the middle classes of France under the sumptuary rules c. 1470.
Samite (twill woven silk) was thought to originate from Persia under Sassanian rule (AD224-651). It was commonly decorated with pairs of animals and birds and set in pearled lotus roundels. It is often found in Western burials, within church possessions and along the Silk Road. Byzantine weaving workshops took on the samite technique to make it an essential weave of the period. It was a luxury textile of the Middle Ages brought to Europe when the Crusades opened up direct contact with the East. It was forbidden to the middle classes of France under the sumptuary rules c. 1470.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Fragments of samite. Egyptian, ca. AD500-700. |
| Style | |
| Gallery label | SILKS, 7th-9th century. 1/2 weft-faced compund twill. Warp / silk, proportion 1 main to 1 binding. Weft silk of 2 colours, 2 picks of each in turn. The pieces with amazons including 4 given by Mr. Robert Taylor are from unrecorded sites in Egypt; other examples of this pattern are known which include a Christian cross or an invocation of Allah. |
| Credit line | Given by Robert Taylor Esq. in 1900 |
| Summary | 2181A-1900:A strip of samite woven in yellow and pink silk. A thick border (26mm wide; floral icons) encircles a mounted huntsman with a bow, who is attacking a tiger (which appears to have an arrow in its side) at the horses feet. The warrior wears a cloak and the horse has a decorative harness. Above the main roundel is another showing the tiger. A floral circle sits at the join of the two roundels. Only one huntsman can be seen although the roundel has another which has been cut away. The piece is faded, with small holes. There are stitch holes on either side and along the centre of the piece. Similar to to 817-1903, 292-1889 and 2185(+A+B)-1900. Samite (twill woven silk) was thought to originate from Persia under Sassanian rule (AD224-651). It was commonly decorated with pairs of animals and birds and set in pearled lotus roundels. It is often found in Western burials, within church possessions and along the Silk Road. Byzantine weaving workshops took on the samite technique to make it an essential weave of the period. It was a luxury textile of the Middle Ages brought to Europe when the Crusades opened up direct contact with the East. It was forbidden to the middle classes of France under the sumptuary rules c. 1470. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 2181-1900 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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