8287.
Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue, on a red ground; a design in green, relieved by bands of scroll-pattern, with an eagle's head and neck in gold and flowers in white and dark purple. Sicilian, 15th century. 12-1/4 inches by 12 inches.
When new this tissue must have been very showy, but now the
whole of its pattern is somewhat difficult to trace out. The way in
which the large eagle's head and neck are given, resting upon a broad-scrolled
bar, is rather singular; so, too, is the listing or border, on one
side charged with a small but rich ornamentation, amid which may be
detected some eaglets.
8288.
Piece of Silk and Gold Tissue, the ground of which is gold banded with patterns in blue, red, and green, divided by narrowed stripes of black; on one golden band is an Arabic word repeated all through the design. Syrian. 16-1/2 inches by 16 inches.
The value of this fine rich specimen will be instantly appreciated
when it is borne in mind that it is one of the few known examples of
real Saracenic weaving which we have.
Its ornamentation has about it, in the checkered and circular portions of its design, much of that feeling which shows itself in Saracenic architecture; and those who remember the court of lions, in the Alhambra at Granada, will not be surprised at seeing animals figured upon this piece of stuff so freely.
The broad bands are separated by very narrow black ones, on which are shown, in gold, short lengths of thick foliage like strawberry-leaves, and an animal, which, from the tuft of hair on its ears, seems a lynx, chased by the hunting-leopard, of which our celebrated travelling countryman, Sir John Mandeville, in his "Voiage," written in the reign of Edward III, speaks thus: "In Cipre men hunten with Papyonns that ben lyche Lepardes, and thei taken wylde bestes righte welle and thei ben somedelle more than Lyonns; and thei taken more
