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Details
LOT 0454
Large Egyptian Coptic Textile Fragment
CIRCA 4TH-8TH CENTURY A.D.
11 7/8 in. (108 grams total including package, 30 cm).
Very large tunic fragment with a clavus connected by a thin band to the orbiculus, in red purple, brown and red granate wool over linen, S torsion, embroidered with three tondos decorated with stylised images of dancers with raised heads and curly hair; crenellated borders. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired 1970s-1996.
Property of a North American collector.
London collection, 2016.
Literature
Cf. Pritchard, F., Clothing culture, Dress in Egypt in the collection of The Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester, Manchester, 2006, figs.2.3 (a) and 2.3 (b), for similar textiles.
Footnotes
This type of embroidery was typical of tunics and garments characterised by full-length clavi, decorated with either intricate geometric patterns or with a multitude of small figures and animals, often edged with geometric borders and finished with thick, weft-loop fringes or cords.
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