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Details
LOT 0449
Egyptian Mounted Coptic Textile with Running Hounds
CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
23 1/4 x 9 5/8 in. (163 grams, 59 x 24.5 cm).
Comprising a large fragment with a vertical band (clavus) from a garment, woven in linen and green, blue, yellow and red wool, embroidered with circular patterns filled with vegetal figures and arabesques, alternating with two parallel rows of running animals (hounds?), edged by a red border, a further band of foliage decoration. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired 1970s-1996.
Property of a North American collector.
London collection, 2016.
Literature
Cf. Wulff, O. & W.F. Volbach, Spätantike und koptische Stoffe aus ägyptischen Grabfunden in den Staatlichen Museen Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum / Ägyptisches Museum Schliemann-Sammlung, Berlin, 1926, no.9676, p.96, for similar textile.
Footnotes
Tapestry technique on natural linen. It is highly probable that this tapestry was part of a long decorated tunic, a clavus running vertically on the breast and on the back of it, and having a parallel clavus on the other side. Tunic decoration conformed to a specific layout with the back mirroring the front. Matching bands called clavi ran on either side of the neck. They could be full length, like our specimen, or stop above the waistline.
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