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Details
LOT 0546
Egyptian Coptic Textile Fragment
CIRCA 5TH-6TH CENTURY A.D.
3 in. (11 grams total including package, 74 mm).
Central part of an orbiculus representing a six-petalled flower, S torsion, in red, yellow, olive green and blue wool. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired 1970s-1996.
Property of a North American collector.
London collection, 2016.
Literature
Cf. Del Francia Barocas, L., Museo dell'Alto Medioevo, Roma, I materiali Copti, p.102, no.13, for similar textiles.
Footnotes
Similar figures are widely presented in Coptic textiles, repeating a pattern in which flowers are usually paired with bird figures. This decoration is typical of tunics, but it was also used in large-scale textiles intended for domestic or funerary furnishings.
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