LOT 0659

Large Egyptian Coptic Tunic Textile Fragment with Central Broad Clavus and Side Clavus

CIRCA 7TH-8TH CENTURY A.D.

22 5/8 in. (236 grams total including paper folder, 57.5 cm).

Comprising a large portion of tunic, with a complete section of the collar (maniakion) divided in successive decorative circular bands, ornamented with geometric patterns of floral elements, plants, interlaces; a central segmentum broadly decorated with geometric patterns, palmettes, triangles, and a round medallion with an impressive floral design; the segmentum is bordered by two purple stripes, flanked by other two bands of vegetal ornaments enclosed in medallions; the terminal part of the tunic still presents the fastening stripes of selvedges in rope forming the lowed border; S-twist yellow-orange and purple wool warp on linen; a long clavus in purple wool on linen decorated with vegetal interlaces, the borders meander decorated. [No Reserve]

Acquired 1970s-1996.
Property of a North American collector.
London collection, 2016.

Cf. Del Francia Barocas, L., Museo dell'Alto Medioevo, Roma, I materiali Copti, no.63 A-B-C, pp.222-223, for similar textiles.

The large fragment featuring geometric and vegetal decoration may date to the early period of the Islamic conquest, when tunic ornamentation began to take on an increasingly abstract and geometric character, often linked to the representation of plants and Nilotic flora. The rich decoration of the tunic and the use of purple suggest that it may have belonged to an aristocrat or a wealthy ecclesiastic of the Coptic-Greek population, or perhaps to a dignitary of the Umayyad Empire.