Tunic with Dionysian motifs, tapestry weave of dyed wool, undyed linen, plain (tabby) ground weave of undyed linen (Panopolis (Akhmim), Egypt, early 6th century CE) (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, image courtesy Art Resource, NY)

Textiles in Late Antiquity

In Late Antiquity, textiles played a significant role in both public and private life – economically, politically and cultural.

Tunic photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Tunic. © Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Both from an economic and a cultural point of view textiles played a very important role. Narrative sources witness to the use of textiles and clothes as important sign of economic, cultural or religious power (or the lack thereof). But extant textiles also furnish a colourful glimpse of their importance as social and cultural markers.

Of overall importance are the many pieces of clothing and fragments of textiles, which archaeologists aka grave-robbers salvaged from the Egyptian sand. Early finds, reportedly from Saqqârah, ended up in Turin, Louvre and the British Museum. However, in 1883 digging began at Akhmim and large collections of tunics, curtains and other textiles – whole or fragmentary – fragments began to fill the coffers of the large museums as well as the booming market for antiquities. Unfortunately mummies were more often than not unpacked in order to retrieve the colourful and patterned pieces, while the more humble undecorated linens and wools were discarded. Of special interest were the textiles embellished with appliqued silk and the occasional use of gold yearn to couch these.

Part of this interest was undoubtedly fuelled by the Arts & Crafts Movement, which led to the creation of large public collections intended to foster the fine arts and techniques of textile productions of the late 19th and early 20th century.

ragments of a hanging that represent a servant opening a curtain possibly from Egypt, 5th century A.D. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Fragments of a hanging that represent a servant opening a curtain possibly from Egypt, 5th century A.D. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Currently (2016) exhibited at ISAW/NYU

Estimates vary, but it is generally believed that 100.000 – 150.000 pieces may be found in collections in America, Europe, and Asia. As yet, international collaboration has not been able to secure funding for doing a full and proper registration of the diverse collections. In stead, beautiful collections help to focus the attention towards the artistic merits of the many beautiful patterns and decorations. However, the last 20 years have also witnessed an explosion in the scientific studies of the material.

Another significant branch of textile production was the manufacture of large wall decorations. Such hangings as well as curtains played a very important role in the upper-class houses at that time. In Late Antiquity they seem to have superseded the colourful paintings of the Roman villas. But textiles were also widely used as cushions

Motives were, however, the same: gardens with fruit trees, seascapes with monsters and mythological themes. Later Sassanian motifs like winged animals, palmettes and hunting scenes became fashionable.

Some of these textiles were also used in a liturgical context as is witnessed by the inventory of the Ecclesia Cornutanensis, a house-church built at a villa near Tibur (today’s Tivoli near Rome) around 471. The Charta (pp. 146 – 48) outlines the deed which consisted of a piece of land, silver utensils to the weight of 541 Roman pounds, bronze chandeliers and three sets of curtains – of silk, half silk and linen from Aquitaine. Listed were also covers to be used at the altar or to cover the graves of the saints as well as liturgical vestments with golden bands (clavi) to be used by the clergy. The document is interesting because it stipulates the colours in detail – purple could be had in a full version as well as in more pale greenish or whitish versions. To judge by the specifications, a liturgical service in the church must have been a dazzling and colourful experience.

A fragment of a tapestry representing two figures from Egypt, ca. 7th-9th century A.D. Byzantine Collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC
Fragment of a tapestry representing two figures from Egypt clad in traditional tunics, ca. 7th-9th century A.D. Byzantine Collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC. Currently (2016) exhibited at ISAW/NYU

Excavations around the Mediterranean have unfortunately not as yet led to a precise understanding of how these large textiles were produced and what particular kinds of looms were used. However evidence in the form of papyrus illustrations witness to the existence of professional workshops. Two distinctive types of tools used in these establishments have been identified: pattern-books presenting general iconographic repertoires and cartoons, and 1.1 scale guides for weaving tapestry textiles. Detailed analysis by Galliker has shown that a significant body of conventions existed and that these were perpetuated for centuries. In itself, this underlines the professional character of much of this textile production in Late Antiquity.

However, these finds from Egypt should not mislead us to believe that textile production and consumption were the prerogative of the Egyptians. Precious textiles were without a doubt produced as well and in abundance in Syria, Palestine, and Constantinople and further into Asia Minor. Early finds from Dura-Europos, Palmyra and Masadah have shed light on the importance of those regions for both textile imports and textile production on a larger scale.

From an imperial decree from c. AD 300 we lalso earn that textile workshops (gyneecae/gynaikeia) as well as dying workshops could be found in both Southern France and Tunisia. In medium-sized cities like Oxyrunchus, we know that about 60 % of the population was involved in the textile production, which produced the short tunics and cloaks used in the Roman Army.

SOURCE:

The Cambridge History of Western Textiles
By David Jenkins (ed)
Cambridge University Press 2003

Middle Byzantine Silk in Context: Integrating the textural and Material Evidence.
By Julia L. Galliker
Thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity
Edited by Thelma K. Thomas
Princeton University Press 2016
ISBN: 9780691169422

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FEATURED PHOTO:

Tunic with Dionysian motifs, tapestry weave of dyed wool, undyed linen, plain (tabby) ground weave of undyed linen (Panopolis (Akhmim), Egypt, early 6th century CE) (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, image courtesy Art Resource, NY). Currently (2016) exhibited at ISAW/NYU

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