8577, 8577A.
Two small Pieces of Silk, Tyrian purple. Byzantine, 12th century. Each 1¼ inches square.
8578, 8578A.
Two Rosettes, in small gold thread on deep purple silk, bordered by an edging of much lighter purple. 14th century. 1½ inches square; 1 inch square.
8579.
Piece of Silk and Linen Damask; ground, green; pattern, a monster animal within a circle studded with full moons, and a smaller circle holding a crescent-moon studded in like manner. Syrian, 13th century. 1 foot 8¼ inches by 1 foot 2 inches.
This bold and effective design is somewhat curious, exhibiting, as it does, a novel sort of monster which is made up of a dog’s head and fore-paws, wings erect, and a broad turned-up bushy tail freckled with squares, in each of which is an ornament affecting sometimes the shape of an L, sometimes of an F, at others of an A. Around the neck of this imaginary beast is a collar which, as well as the root of the wing, shows imitations of Arabic characters.