Tunic with Profile Animals and Checkerboards
Unknown Artist
410–540 CE (radiocarbon date, 93% probability)
Medium
cotton; dye-patterned plain weave
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.724,"width":1.041}}
Classification
Textile
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession Number
2005.16
About this artwork
The imagery in the central field of this unique tunic—animals with long tails and three-toed feet—seems to have been created by painting a slurry-like material on the pale areas to protect them when the fabric was immersed in a bath that turned other areas light brown. Then the slurry was removed, revealing the pattern. The checkerboard areas at the sides, on the other hand, are woven with brown and cream-colored yarns. Specialists puzzle over the origins of the tunic, some attributing it to the...