Square Ornament from a Tunic
Unknown Artist
700s
Medium
Silk; complementary weft-faced twill weave with inner warps (samite)
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.235,"width":0.242},"mounted":{"height":0.311,"width":0.318}}
Classification
Textile
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1947.192
About this artwork
The folded edges on all four sides of this luxury silk fragment indicate that it decorated a unisex linen tunic. The symmetrical deer with suckling fawn flanking a simplified central tree of life continues an ancient theme in a naturalistic style. The roundel is connected on all four sides and displays heart-shaped floral borders. This fragment is said to have been found in Akhmim, Egypt, south of Cairo, where, during the 1880s, numerous related silk fragments were excavated.