At a distance this stuff must have shown well, but its materials are not of the first class; though lively in tone, the silk is poor, and its gold made of that thin gilt parchment cut into flat shreds, like other examples here—Nos. [8590], [8601], [8639], &c.
1302.
Silk and Gold Damask; ground, fawn-coloured faded from crimson, in silk; design, large eagles perched in pairs, with a radiating sun between them, and beneath the rays dogs in pairs, running with heads turned back and looking on the foliage separating them, all in gold. Sicilian, 14th century. 17 inches by 8½ inches.
The fine and spirited pattern of this piece is now very indistinct, owing to the bad colour of the ground, which has so much faded, and the inferior quality of the gold upon the thread.
1303.
Silk Damask; ground, a rose-coloured tint; pattern, in a dull tone of the same, broad strap-work, in reticulations enclosing a circular conventional floriation. Moresco-Spanish, 14th century. 6 inches by 5½ inches.
The tone of the colour has changed from its first brightness, and the stuff is of a very thin texture.