Charles Ede Ltd (London), Catalogue 85 (March 1972) no. 19 (ill.); J.R. Green with B. Rawson, Catalogue of Antiquities in the Australian National University, A.N.U. (Canberra, 1981) 102.

1972.04

Fragment of Coptic Tapestry

Purchased. Max. preserved ht 24cm; width 20.8cm; width of tapestry band 13.0cm; 8 warp and 25 weft threads per cm2.

A vertical band of linen woven in dark blue on a dark mustard ground. The fragment has been cut along the left outer edge of the band almost the entire length. Some threads, especially on the border, have worn away; a repair patch 1 x 0.7cm has been inserted to the right of the band.

On either side the band has a border of two narrow stripes framing a formalised floral pattern. The central design is of interlaced vine tendrils forming lozenges and small circles alternating in two rows. The lozenges contain human figures, the circles animals, running vertically. The figures are represented frontally, variously dressed, right arm raised, most probably dancing. To the left of each figure is a stylized tree consisting of 4-5 ball-like leaves and a trunk. The animals appear to be hares and lions.

In the dry sands of Egypt textiles, like wood and papyrus, have been preserved in some quantity, and they have become the subject of increasing study. Most, like the papyri, belong to Late Antiquity and the Coptic period, but since so many have found their way into collections without record of their archaeological context, issues of chronology are extremely difficult and they are compounded by an enormous variation in quality. Probably a stripe from a tunic. Perhaps 6th-7th century AD.

The arrangement is not unrelated to the peopled scrolls seen commonly in architectural decoration of the second century and later, especially in North Africa and the East. At the same time it comes close to the medallion system also commonly found in Coptic textiles. For examples with similar arrangement and subject-matter, though of slightly better quality, see A. Stauffer, Textiles d’Egypte de la collection Bouvier/Textilien aus Ägypten aus der Sammlung Bouvier (Freiburg-Berne 1991) 201-204 nos 99-100.

On the fruited trees, their symbolism and significance, see the discussion of more naturalistic versions by A. Schmidt-Colinet, “Le jardin aux arbres. De l’origine et de la signification des tentures ‘à motifs d’arbres’ de l’Antiquité tardive”, in: Stauffer, op.cit., 35-53. The idea is of Near Eastern origin and was taken over to indicate paradise and/or the Tree of Life. On the hares, see the discussion in Stauffer, op.cit. 114 no. 35 with p. 58, colour pl. IV. She points out that in pharaonic Egypt, it was dedicated to the moon and represented death and resurrection and thereby eternal life. In the later Roman Empire, a hare eating grapes became a symbol of fertility and eternity, within a Dionysiac context, and is shown as such on a number of sarcophagi. For the Christians this latter became a eucharistric symbol and it is found frequently in mosaics. For another recent article on the significance and symbolism of the decorative motifs, see A. Zaccaria Ruggiu, “Significato e simbolo della tunica copta e delle sue decorazioni”, Revue Archéologique 2001, 279-303.

For the stance of the figures, compare also S. Lewis, Early Coptic Textiles (Stanford Art Book 9, 1969) pl. 41, and L. Kybalova, Coptic Textiles (London 1967) pl. 33; for the animals, Kybalova pll. 36 and 44. Also L. Rodríguez Peinado, “Los tejidos coptos del Museo Arqueológico Nacional”, Boletín del Museo Arqueológico Nacional 17, 1999, 19-47.

On the dyes employed, see recently I. Szabolcs, “Untersuchungen von Farbstoffen und Farbmethoden am spätantiken Stoffen”, Mitteilungen zur Christlichen Archäologie 11, 2005, 63-86. She suggests that the brown-yellows were achieved with henna but that black came through natural black wool.

A brief overview of material of this kind, with references to earlier studies, will be found in T.K. Thomas, “Coptic and Byzantine Textiles found in Egypt”, in: R.S. Bagnall (ed.), Egypt in the Byzantine World, 300-700 (Cambridge 2007) 137-162. A good range of examples, which includes some outstanding pieces, may be found in the exhibition catalogue by A. Stauffer, Textiles d’Egypte de la collection Bouvier/Textilien aus Ägypten aus der Sammlung Bouvier (Freiburg-Berne 1991); it contains some excellent colour illustrations as well as further bibliography. See also the same author’s Spätantike und koptische Wirkereien. Untersuchungen zur ikonographischen Tradition in spätantiken und frühmittelalterlichen Textilwerkstätten (Berne 1992). As well as including useful discussion of the types of clothes from which these fragments come, she emphasises the continuity of iconographic elements from the classical tradition. On matters of design, see the same author’s “Cartoons for Weavers from Graeco-Roman Egypt”, in: D.M. Bailey, (ed.), Archaeological Research in Roman Egypt: The Proceedings of The Seventeenth Classical Colloquium of The Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum (JRA Supplement 19, 1996) 223-230. An outstanding collection published recently is P. Linscheid, Spätantike und Byzanz. Bestandskatalog Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe: Textilien (Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident, Band 8.2, Heidelberg 2018): https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.385

For a useful introduction on their evidence for the styles of clothing involved, see A. Lorquin, “Le costume dans l’antiquité tardive d’après les vestiges textiles coptes”, in: F. Chausson and H. Inglebert (eds), Costume et société dans l’antiquité et le haut moyen âge (Paris: Picard 2003) 121-128. There is a good discussion of the subject-matter of the various decorative motifs by T.M. Kristensen, “Dressed in Myth: Mythology, Eschatology, and Performance on Late Antique Egyptian Textiles”, in: H. Leppin (ed.), Antike Mythologie in christlichen Kontexten der Spätantike (Berlin 2015) 263-296: they form an interesting example of the persistence of ancient (pagan) imagery into the Christian period such as one can see in a range of media including mosaics. M. Mossakowska-Gaubert, “Tunics Worn in Egypt in Roman and Byzantine Times: The Greek Vocabulary”, in: S. Gaspa, C. Michel & M.-L. Nosch (eds): Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD (Lincoln, Nebraska, 2017), 321-345, describes the various fashions through time and the names given to them; she also provides an excellent bibliography.

Charles Ede Ltd (London), Catalogue 85 (March 1972) no. 19 (ill.); J.R. Green with B. Rawson, Catalogue of Antiquities in the Australian National University, A.N.U. (Canberra, 1981) 102.