1284A.
Silk Damask; ground, amber yellow; design, a running hart, in gold, amid foliage. Sicilian, 14th century. 8 inches by 4½ inches.
The last four pieces are, in fact, but fragments of the same stuff, and when put together make up its original pattern, and beautiful it must have seemed when beheld as a whole; the bird and animals are done with much freedom and spirit; so likewise the foliage: but two of the portions, by being more exposed to the light, are much faded, in such a manner that the green in them has almost fled. As usual, so poor was the golden thread that the bird and animals now look almost black, but here and there, with a good glass, shimmerings of gold may be found upon them. To some eyes the sun may look like a rose surrounded by rays. At one time or another an unfeeling hand has most plentifully sprinkled all these four pieces with flowers made from gilt paper stamped out, and pasted on the staff with stiff glue. The silk, especially the yellow, of this tissue was mixed with very fine threads of cotton.