Red Wool Tabby Band
9th century
This small piece was once attached to McMullen 2018.8, before it was separated in 1981. White chevron medallions and swastikas dominate the fragment’s vibrant red background. Contemporary viewers will recognize the swastika, which was infamously appropriated by the Nazis in the mid-twentieth century and used as a symbol of hatred and anti-Semitism. Before the 1930s, the swastika had a lengthy, multi-thousand-year history of use as a symbol with many religious and cultural connotations. (For more background, read “The History of the Swastika,” a brief encyclopedic essay published online by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.)
Swastikas appear on other late antique Egyptian textiles, such as T.231-1923 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as 15061 at the Museo Arqueólogico Nacional.
Artwork Details
Title:
Red Wool Tabby Band
Date:
9th century
Geography:
Egypt
Classification:
Textile
Materials:
Wool tabby
Dimensions:
4 x 13.5 cm (1.5 x 5.25 in)
Repository:
McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Accession Number:
McMullen 2018.9
Tellalian Number:
Tellalian 1980-00100
Donor:
Barbara and Donald Tellalian
Provenance:
Purchased from Charles Dikran Kelekian, Ancient Arts, New York, NY on 9 December 1980, as part of McMullen 2018.8. Provenance unknown prior to Kelekian family. Removed from lower portion of McMullen 2018.8 by Donald Tellalian in 1981.
Exhibition History:
No known exhibition history
Publication History:
No known publication history
Conservation History:
Unknown month, 1983: Donald Tellalian -- vacuum, wet wash with igepal and distilled water, multiple rinses in distilled water and drying on glass.