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LOT 0543
Egyptian Coptic Textile Fragment Group
CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
2 3/8 - 6 1/8 in. (20 grams total including package, 6.1-15.6 cm).
Comprising a fragment of a clavus in white and purple linen and wool, S torsion, borders embroidered with pilasters, the central scene representing eagles alternating with geometric elements; a small fragment of another clavus, ornamented with running lions and fishes, borders with geometric patterns; a third fragment of a clavus, ornamented with vegetal patterns. [5, No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired 1970s-1996.
Property of a North American collector.
London collection, 2016.
Cf. Del Francia Barocas, L., Museo dell'Alto Medioevo, Roma, I materiali Copti, pp.162-163, for similar textiles.
FootnotesThe clavi are realised in tapestry technique, and the one with prominent figures has a rounded end. They were part of a tunic decoration and the presence of the Imperial eagle, not a common pattern, could refer to a military tunic.
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AUCTIONS:
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Egyptian Hieroglyphic Scarab Group
Late-Ptolemaic Period, circa 664-30 B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £286
Comprising; a copper-alloy scarab with a scarab flanked by rearing uraei on the underside; a stone scarab with similar motif on the underside; a faience scarab with floral motif; a stone scarab with hieroglyphics on the underside; a stone scarab with plain underside. 17.1 grams total, 14-20 mm
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
Egyptian Steatite Scarab with Hieroglyphs
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Detailed carapace and legs, a leaping quadruped with other hieroglyphs on the underside; pierced longitudinally. 2.37 grams, 16 mm
Mrs Allinson to Mrs Foster, 1867 and thence by descent to the current owner, Stanley Crescent, London, UK. -
Egyptian Coptic Textile Fragment Group
Circa 5th-6th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Comprising a fragment of a large segmentum in linen and wool, embroidered with a dancer, followed by a tondo with a Nereid riding a dolphin, borders with geometric decorations; an orbiculus decorated with vegetal patterns. 37 grams total including package, 6.7-14 cm
Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016.
The segmentum was probably part of the vertical clavus of a tunic; it is highly probable that the embroidery refers to the Dionysian cycle with dancers, animals and probably, in the missing parts, hunters.
