7034.
Silk Damask; ground, crimson silk; pattern, in gold thread, two very large lions, and two pairs, one of very small birds, the other of equally small dragons, and an ornament like a hand looking-glass. Oriental, 14th century. 2 feet 4 inches by 2 feet.
The large lions, which strongly resemble, in their fore-legs, the
Nineveh ones in the British Museum, are placed addorsed regardant and
looking upon two very small birds, while between their heads stands
what seems like a looking-glass, upon a stem or handle; at the feet of
these huge beasts are two little long-tailed, open-mouthed, two-legged
dragons. The whole of this design now appears to be in coarse yellow
thread, which once was covered with gold, but so sparingly and with
such poor metal that not a speck of it can now be detected anywhere
in this large specimen. The probability is that this stuff was wrought in
some part of Syria, for the European market; at the lions' necks are
broad collars bearing two lines or sentences in imitated Arabic characters.
Copes and chasubles for church use during the Middle Ages were often
made of silks like this. Dr. Bock has figured this very piece in his
"Geschichte der Liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters," t. i. pl. iv.
7035.
Silk and Linen Texture; ground, crimson; pattern, star-like flowers. Spanish, 15th century. 5-3/4 inches by 2-1/2 inches.
Poor in design as well as material.
7036.
Silk Diapered, with a man wrestling with a lion repeated; ground, crimson, the diaper in various colours, and the waving borders in creamy white, edged black, and charged with crimson squares, and fruits crimson and deep green. Byzantine, 12th century. 15-3/4 inches by 12-1/2 inches.
