The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Fragment with Gold Foil, from a Furnishing Fabric
300s–400s CE
Overall: 40.8 x 48.4 cm (16 1/16 x 19 1/16 in.); Mounted: 47.9 x 53.3 x 7 cm (18 7/8 x 21 x 2 3/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1983.140.a
Location: not on view
Description
The rare gold foil and rich purple wool in these two fragments originally enriched a luxurious fabric. Costly gold foil wrapped around a silk core forms the central motif within a diamond, woven in tapestry weave. The surrounding interlacing knot design—achieved with three overlapping squares (in the small fragment) or interlacing squares (in the large fragment)—offered protection from danger and harm. The roundels were woven with extra, or supplementary, linen wefts wrapped on the purple ground. Linen pile loops in the ground fabric resisted abrasion in furnishing fabrics and provided insulation in tunics.- Mrs. Paul Mallon, Paris.
- Thomas, Thelma K., Jennifer Ball, Edward Bleiberg, Kathrin Colburn, Helen C. Evans, Christine Kondoleon, Brandie Ratliff, and Elizabeth Dospel Williams. Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. 2016. 61Thomas, Thelma K., Jennifer Ball, Edward Bleiberg, Kathrin Colburn, Helen C. Evans, Christine Kondoleon, Brandie Ratliff, and Elizabeth Dospěl Williams. Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. 2016. fig. 1-2.8.a, p. 61
- Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, NY, New York, NY (February 25-May 22, 2016).Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 18, 2014-March 2, 2015).
- {{cite web|title=Fragment with Gold Foil, from a Furnishing Fabric|url=false|author=|year=300s–400s CE|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1983.140.a