Details

Object type

tapestry tunic decoration

Culture/School

Coptic

Place Associated

Egypt (place of manufacture)

Date

5th to 6th century

Materials

wool, linen

Dimensions

overall: 220 mm x 220 mm

Description

These colourful bands and roundels, woven from wool, would have been sewn onto a linen tunic. During the Roman Period in Egypt it became fashionable to decorate clothing in this way. Because these fine examples have been removed from the item of clothing they once adorned, it is not now possible to reconstruct their original arrangement on the garment. However, tunics that survive with their decoration intact show it was the custom for bands to extend from the top of the shoulder to the waist, and for roundels to be sewn on to the shoulders or waist. These particular examples are decorated with lively figures of animals, nude dancing women and cupids against a red ground.

Credit Line/Donor

Gifted by Sir William and Lady Burrell to the City of Glasgow, 1944

Collection

Burrell Collection: Coptic and Peruvian Tapestries

ID Number

48.14.a

Location

In storage