Tapestry Roundel in Wine Red Wool and Beige Wool Ground
6th century
The iconography of this stunning wine-red, purple fragment is awash in dancers, vases, vegetation, and birds. The numbers eight and three are repeated throughout the fragment’s composition. An eight-pointed star, emerging from eight vases, encloses eight birds, while eight different dancing scenes surround the outer edges of the star. The central image contains a tripartite image of three dancers surrounding vegetal motifs emanating from a single vase or urn. The object’s purple coloring indicates a patron of higher social status, owing to the color’s rarity and exclusivity in the ancient and late ancient world.
Compare with the colors, dancers, and associated motifs found on McMullen 2018.25 in this collection, as well as BZ.1953.2.32 in the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Collection.
Artwork Details
Title:
Tapestry Roundel in Wine Red Wool and Beige Wool Ground
Date:
6th century
Geography:
Egypt
Classification:
Textile
Materials:
Linen and wool
Dimensions:
22 x 22 cm (8.5 x 8.5 in)
Repository:
McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Accession Number:
McMullen 2018.18
Tellalian Number:
Tellalian 1984-00250
Donor:
Barbara and Donald Tellalian
Provenance:
Purchased from Nanette R. Kelekian on 24 March 1984. Previously in possession of Charles Dikran Kelekian, Ancient Arts, New York, NY. Provenance unknown prior to Kelekian family.
Exhibition History:
McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College. Roman in the Provinces: Art on the Periphery of Empire, 14 February - 31 May 2015. https://www.bc.edu/sites/artmuseum/exhibitions/rip/
Publication History:
Nicgorski, Ann M. “The Fate of Serapis: A Paradigm for Transformations in the Culture and Art of Late Roman Egypt.” In Roman in the Provinces: Art on the Periphery of Empire, edited by Lisa R. Brody and Gail L. Hoffman, 153–66, plate 169. Boston College: McMullen Museum of Art, distributed by the University of Chicago Press, 2014.
Conservation History:
No known conservation history