1272.
Silk and Cotton Stuff; ground, light purple cotton; design, small but thick foliage, interspersed with birds of various kinds, in pairs and face to face, in amber-coloured silk. Sicilian, 14th century. 9-1/2 inches by 7 inches.
Though so small in its elements, this is a pleasing design, and extremely
well drawn, like all those from Palermo.
1273.
Silk and Cotton Damask; ground, of cotton, a light orange; design, within a ten-cusped circle, and divided by the thin trunk of a tree, two cocks, face to face, all in gold thread, upon a purplish crimson ground, and between the circles an ornamentation in which a small crown tipped with fleur-de-lis, over a lion passant gardant, is very frequent in gold. Sicilian, late 14th century, 10-1/4 inches by 3 inches.
Though such a mere rag, this piece is so far valuable, as it shows
that France then got her silken stuffs from Sicily, and, in this instance,
perhaps sent her own design with her Gallic cock, and her fleur-de-lis
mingled so plentifully in it. How or why the lion is there cannot be
explained.
1274.
Silk Damask; ground, fawn colour; design, parrots, and giraffes in pairs, amid floriated ornamentation, all, excepting the parts done in gold, of the tint of the ground. Sicilian, 13th century. 20-1/2 inches by 10-1/2 inches.
Upon an egg-shaped figure, nicely filled in with graceful floriated
ornaments, stand two parrots, breast to breast, but with heads averted,
which (as well as their pinion-joints, marked by a broad circle crowded
with little rings on their wings, and legs and claws) are wrought in threads
of gold, all now so tarnished as to look as if first worked in some dull purple
silk. Their long broad perpendicular tails have the feathers shown by
