Fragment of a Tunic

The collection record classifies this work as textile. It is dated 400s–600s CE. Recorded culture or place: Egypt, Byzantine period.

Egypt Textiles

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OBJECT RECORD

A closer look at the details.

Museum title: Fragment of a Tunic
Date: 400s–600s CE
Culture / origin: Egypt, Byzantine period
Materials and technique: wool: tabby ground, inwoven tapestry ornament
Dimensions: Overall: 94 x 39.4 cm (37 x 15 1/2 in.); Mounted: 99.7 x 48.3 cm (39 1/4 x 19 in.)
Artist / maker: Not specified by the museum
Museum: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Accession number: 1926.143

FROM THE MUSEUM

In the museum’s words

The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.

Tunics with decoration on the front and back were worn by both men and women. These long bands, called clavi, feature pairs of stylized haloed figures gesturing, possibly in dance, and wearing short skirts with scarves across their chests. They alternate with pairs of foxes (?) and fish. The ancient repair in the lower center of this woolen winter tunic reveals that decorated cloth was expensive, and thus often mended and reused.