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Roundel (Egypt)
This is a Roundel. It is dated 6th–7th century and we acquired it in 1902. Its medium is warp: undyed s-spun wool; wefts: s-spun red wool; s-spun white linen; s-spun pink wool; s-spun green wool (2 shades); s-spun black wool and its technique is plain weave with discontinuous wefts (slit tapestry), with supplementary weft wrapping. It is a part of the Textiles department.
Egyptians in the Byzantine (fourth-seventh century C.E.) and early Islamic (seventh-tenth century C.E.) periods often decorated garments with woven designs. Most common among these designs were orbiculi (roundels on the shoulders and abdomen), segmenta (ornamental squares in the same places) and clavi (vertical stripes running from the inner shoulder past the breasts). This example of an orbiculum likely decorated a tunic. Since tunics were mostly pain linen and frequently damaged, it was common for 19th and early 20th century collectors and dealers to cut out decorative elements and sell or display them separately. This seems to have been the case with this example, which is almost identical to clavus 1902-1-22 in material, weave, and style. Hunter iconography was popular in Byzantine and early Islamic Egypt, particularly for funerary use. The inscription on this orbiculum is illegible, but the inscription on the matching clavus reads, “Long Live,” emphasizing the wearer’s triumph over death.
This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Long Live.
This object was
donated by
John Pierpont Morgan.
It is credited Gift of John Pierpont Morgan.
- Fragment
- silk, linen.
- Gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt.
- 1896-1-26
- Daoist Priest's Robe (China)
- silk, metallic yarns.
- Gift of Harvey Smith.
- 1968-135-77
- Fragment, The Lion Strangler
- silk, gilded vellum with silk core.
- Gift of John Pierpont Morgan.
- 1902-1-220
Our curators have highlighted 9 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:
- Tapestry Fragment (Spain)
- silk, metallic (gilded parchment wound around silk core).
- Gift of John Pierpont Morgan.
- 1902-1-82
- Fragment (Egypt)
- wool, linen.
- Gift of John Pierpont Morgan.
- 1902-1-31
- Mantle (Peru)
- warp: cotton; weft: silk, metallic (silver strips wrapped around linen core).
- Gift of John Pierpont Morgan.
- 1902-1-782
Its dimensions are
H x W: 23.5 x 21.5 cm (9 1/4 x 8 7/16 in.)
Cite this object as
Roundel (Egypt); warp: undyed s-spun wool; wefts: s-spun red wool; s-spun white linen; s-spun pink wool; s-spun green wool (2 shades); s-spun black wool; H x W: 23.5 x 21.5 cm (9 1/4 x 8 7/16 in.); Gift of John Pierpont Morgan; 1902-1-71
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Hewitt Sisters Collect.
