Fragment of Silk Tissue; ground, crimson and gold, with three white and green narrow stripes running down the middle, and an inscription on each side the stripes. Spanish, 14th century. 7 inches by 6 inches.
The warp is of thick cotton thread, the woof of silk and gold. Though very much broken, the inscription is Latin, and gives but a very few entire words, such as “et tui amoris in eis,” with these fragments, “—tus. Re—— le tuoru—.” From this, however, we are warranted in thinking this textile to have been wrought, not for any vestment—for it is too thick, except for an orphrey—but rather for hangings about the chancel at Whitsuntide. See Introduction, § 5.
8596.
Piece of Silk Damask; ground, light crimson; pattern, in deep brown, vine-leaves within an ellipsis which has on the outer edge a crocket-like ornamentation, and on both sides a cluster as if of the letter U, arranged four in a row, one row above the other. Sicilian, 14th century. 8½ inches by 6 inches.
As we saw in [Nos. 8591, 8591A], so here we see that very curious and not usual ornamentation, in the former instances like an O or zero, in the present one like another letter, U. The same crispiness in the foliage may be observed here as there; and in all likelihood both silks issued from the same city, perhaps from the same loom, but at different periods, as the one before us does not come up, by any means, in beauty with those fragments at [Nos. 8591, 8591A]. In some instances the feathers in a bird’s tail are made in the shape of our capital letter U.
8597.
Piece of Silk Damask; ground, blackish purple; pattern, conventional foliage in greyish purple. Italian, 14th century. 1 foot 8 inches by 1 foot 6 inches.