Artwork Page for Fragment with lions and griffins in combat

Details / Information for Fragment with lions and griffins in combat

Fragment with lions and griffins in combat

1459–1669 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)

Iran ?, in the style of the Buyid period

(945–1055)
Medium
Silk: lampas weave
Measurements
Overall: 50.8 x 71.1 cm (20 x 28 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1968.221
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

A Kufic inscription is in the rectangular frame between each rondel.

Description

Against a diaper-patterned background are roundels each containing a Tree of Life flanked by a lion and dragon in combat, birds, and griffins. The rondels are framed with a frieze of running animals. Twelve-sided figures in the interspaces enclose diamonds with pairs of confronted birds and animals flanking another Tree of Life.
A rectangular silk fragment in dark brown features two rows of three large roundels. Each depicts a central tree flanked by mirrored winged creatures and lions. Small rectangular bands of script and lozenge-shaped motifs occupy the spaces between the circles. Worn with age, the textile has ragged edges and a deep notch missing from the top center. The intricate, black-on-brown pattern remains visible against the aged, dark ground.

Fragment with lions and griffins in combat

1459–1669 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)

Iran ?, in the style of the Buyid period (945–1055)

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