The birds are in two pairs, one at rest, the other on the wing darting down; between them is an ornament somewhat heart-shaped, around which runs an inscription of imitated Arabic. Most likely this silk is of Sicilian work.
8627.
Piece of Silk Damask; ground, dark blue; pattern, lozenge-shaped compartments, filled in with quadrangular designs varying alternately. Spanish, late 14th century. 10½ inches by 8 inches.
There is a Moorish influence in the design, which leads to the supposition that this stuff was wrought somewhere in the South of Spain.
8628, 8628A.
Two Fragments of Silk Damask; ground, light yellow; pattern, flowers and birds, with the letters A and M crowned, all in pale red. Italian, late 14th century. 6 inches by 5 inches; 6 inches by 3½ inches.
A very pleasing design, in nicely toned colours, and evidently wrought for hangings, or perhaps curtains, about the altar of the B. V. Mary, as we have the whole sprinkled with the crowned letters A M, significative of “Ave Maria.”