i
This pdf of your paper in Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress
belongs to the publishers Oxbow Books and it is their copyright.
As author you are licenced to make up to 50 offprints from it, but
beyond that you may not publish it on the World Wide Web until
three years from publication (December 2017), unless the site is a
limited access intranet (password protected). If you have queries
about this please contact the editorial department at Oxbow Books
(editorial@oxbowbooks.com).
ANCIENT TEXTILES SERIES VOL. 19
An ofprint from
GREEK AND ROMAN
TEXTILES AND DRESS
an Interdisciplinary Anthology
edited by
Mary Harlow and Marie-Louise Nosch
Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-715-5
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-716-2
© Oxbow Books 2014
Oxford & Philadelphia
Published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by
OXBOW BOOKS
10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW
and in the United States by
OXBOW BOOKS
908 Darby Road, Havertown, PA 19083
© Oxbow Books and the individual contributors 2014
Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-715-5
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-716-2
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Greek and Roman textiles and dress : an interdisciplinary anthology / edited by Mary Harlow and Marie-
Louise Nosch.
pages cm. -- (Ancient textiles series ; VOL. 19)
This anthology is the second volume of two which group interdisciplinary contributions to the ield
of textile research. The irst volume is Mary Harlow, Cécile Michel & Marie-Louise Nosch (eds),
Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern and Aegean Textiles and Dress: an interdisciplinary anthology.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-78297-715-5 (alk. paper)
1. Textile fabrics, Ancient--Greece. 2. Textile fabrics, Roman. 3. Clothing and dress--Greece--History-
-To 500. 4. Clothing and dress--Rome. I. Harlow, Mary, 1956- editor. II. Nosch, Marie-Louise, editor.
NK8907.3G74 2015
746.0938--dc23
2014039326
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing.
Printed in Malta by Gutenberg Press
For a complete list of Oxbow titles, please contact:
UNITED KINGDOM UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Oxbow Books Oxbow Books
Telephone (01865) 241249, Fax (01865) 794449 Telephone (800) 791-9354, Fax (610) 853-9146
Email: oxbow@oxbowbooks.com Email: queries@casemateacademic.com
www.oxbowbooks.com www.casemateacademic.com/oxbow
Oxbow Books is part of the Casemate Group
Front cover: The Parthenon east pediment. © Trustees of the British Museum.
Contents
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... v
Contributors .................................................................................................................................... vi
1 Weaving the Threads: methodologies in textile and dress research for the Greek
and Roman world – the state of the art and the case for cross-disciplinarity
by Mary Harlow and Marie-Louise Nosch ............................................................................... 1
2 Embellishment Techniques of Classical Greek Textiles
by Stella Spantidaki.................................................................................................................. 34
3 The Importance of Beginnings: gender and reproduction in mathematics and weaving
by Ellen Harlizius-Klück .......................................................................................................... 46
4 Representation and Realities: ibulas and pins in Greek and Near Eastern iconography
by Cecilie Brøns....................................................................................................................... 60
5 Dressing the Citharode: a chapter in Greek musical and cultic imagery
by Marco Ercoles ..................................................................................................................... 95
6 Alchemical Textiles: colourful garments, recipes and dyeing techniques
in Graeco-Roman Egypt
by Matteo Martelli ................................................................................................................. 111
7 The Conservation of a 5th-Century BC Excavated Textile Find from the Kerameikos
Cemetery at Athens
by Christina Margariti and Maria Kinti ............................................................................... 130
8 Transport Amphoras and Loomweights: integrating elements of ancient
Greek economies?
by Mark L. Lawall.................................................................................................................. 150
9 The Wool Basket: function, depiction and meaning of the kalathos
by Elisabeth Trinkl ................................................................................................................. 190
v Contents
10 Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery: a compilation of
written sources and archaeologically preserved textiles
by Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck ...................................................... 207
11 New Archaeological Data for the Understanding of Weaving in Herakleia,
Southern Basilicata, Italy
by Francesco Meo ................................................................................................................. 236
12 Roman Art: what can it tell us about dress and textiles? A discussion
on the use of visual evidence as sources for textile research
by Lena Larsson Lovén .......................................................................................................... 260
13 Where Marble Meets Colour: surface texturing of hair, skin and dress on Roman
marble portraits as support for painted polychromy
by Amalie Skovmøller ............................................................................................................ 279
14 Dressing the Adulteress
by Jessica Dixon .................................................................................................................... 298
15 Looking Between Loom and Laundry: vision and communication in Ostian
fulling workshops
by Elizabeth Bevis ................................................................................................................. 306
16 Roman Textiles and Barbarians: some observations on textile exchange
between the Roman Empire and Barbaricum
by Zoia Kaczmarek ............................................................................................................... 323
17 The Multiple Functions and Lives of a Textile: the reuse of a garment
by Ines Bogensperger ............................................................................................................ 335
18 Discovering Late Antique Textiles in the Public Collections in Spain:
an interdisciplinary research project
by Laura Rodríguez Peinado, Ana Cabrera Lafuente, Enrique Parra Crego
and Luis Turell Coll ............................................................................................................... 345
19 A New Approach to the Understanding of Historic Textiles
by Pilar Borrego and Carmen Vega ...................................................................................... 374
20 Burial Threads: a late antique textile and the iconography of the Virgin
Annunciate spinning
by Catherine C. Taylor........................................................................................................... 399
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient
Embroidery: a compilation of written sources and
archaeologically preserved textiles
Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
Did gender of late 19th and early 20th century lead to the fatal mistranslation – and thus
misinterpretation – of textile terminology mentioned in ancient texts? Were handicraft magazines for
the good housewife responsible for the male misunderstanding of embroidery as the most common
textile decoration technique in Antiquity? Male academics enjoyed translating ancient texts into
modern languages, as well as collecting, investigating and trading ancient objects of daily use,
such as late Roman textiles from Egypt, while their wives were educated to care for their homes
and become experts in needlework. Always seeking for new inspiration, authors like Thérèse de
Dillmont1 published embroidery pattern books based on historic motifs contributing to a general
confusion about the application of embroidery in antiquity in general (Fig. 10.1). And, while
upper-class women and middle-class housewives may have known that the motifs they stitched
into cloth were originally woven in tapestry technique, their husbands, who sat nearby to translate
the ancient sources, could only think of the term ‘embroidery’ when it came to decorating textiles,
since this was what they saw when they looked up at their wives. Starting from this presumption,
this chapter reinvestigates ancient embroidery in a joint approach: analyzing written sources in
their original language and contexts alongside preserved archaeological textiles. This approach
will shed new light on ancient textile decoration, coming from two directions mutually enriching
and stimulating one another.
Some decorative textile techniques
Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
Several ways of decorating textiles can be attested to in antiquity. Some, such as lying shuttle,
painting, printing, resist dyeing, appliqué of leather or textiles, beads or pendants, sewing, and
embroidery,2 are purely decorative, while others are both constructional and decorative at the same
1
Th. de Dillmont, Motifs de broderie Copte I–III, L’Art Chrétien en Égypte, Bibliothèque D. M. C., Mulhouse (about
1900). Even though de Dillmont was aware of the ancient techniques of the textiles she took as models, she chose a title
for her publications that implied that original Coptic textiles were embroidered.
2
The lying shuttle technique is a slight exception to this rule. It is employed while weaving the textile in tapestry
weaving technique. A separate yarn is added to the weave with a needle, carried on the main-side of the textile, producing
ine lines and sketching an image. The thread only dives into the textile to wrap around a warp-thread to gain hold. For
208 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
Fig. 10.1 After Thérèse de Dillmont, Motifs de Broderie Copte II, L’Art Chrétien en Égypte, Bibliothèque
D. M. C., Mulhouse (about 1900), pl. 26.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 209
time.3 Among those, all kinds of weaving techniques are identiied, such as tablet-weaving, tapestry
weave, twill, brocading, taqueté, damask, and samite, and even sprang and needle-binding, that
create the ornament while producing the cloth4 (Fig. 10.2a). The main factor determining the irst
group is that all techniques – except that of the lying-shuttle – are employed on a inished piece of
textile (Figs 10.2b–d). As A. J. B. Wace states: “… a pattern is added, usually by another person,
with a needle to a inished woven fabric after removal from the loom.”5 Embroidery is an elaborate
sewing technique, being an added thread of purely decorative and non-constructional purpose. It
derives from irst attempts of employing threads of colours other than the weave in order to create
a nicely designed line of stitches.6 Embroidery creates a neat face and a less attractive back, just
like the lying shuttle in tapestry weaves. But like sewing, embroidery is applied with a pinpoint
tip needle with thread eye serving as the transmitter through the textile. When the pointed tip
drives through the cloth, it disregards the woven structure, often harming the woven yarns or even
piercing right through them, wherever the decoration requires it.7 Finally, unlike tapestry woven
ornaments, embroidered decoration goes across seams and edges.
Part I – A compilation of ancient written sources on embroidery8
Kerstin Droß-Krüpe
Introduction
Embroidery (Figs 10.2b–d) is said to have been a “tremendously common art” in classical antiquity.9
Hugo Blümner devoted a whole chapter of his fundamental work on technology and terminology of
appliqué textiles and gold elements in ancient Egyptian times: Vogelsang-Eastwood 2010, 25; applied amber buttons and
sewn on glass pendants at Verucchio, Italy, 8th century BC, see von Eles 2002, 174 pl. 80 no. 228 a–c, pl. XX.3 no. 228.
3
See for instance paintings: Cat. Krefeld 2003, 106 no. 220; De Moor 2008, 18, 21–25 ig. 13–20, 114–115; printed
ornaments in resist-dye: van Raemdonck, Verhecken-Lammens and De Jonghe 2011, 231 ig. 12; De Moor 2008,
132–133; painted ornaments in resist-dye: Cat. Krefeld 2003, 107 nos. 221–222; De Moor 2008, 80 ig. 112, 134–135;
Vogelsang-Eastwood 1995, 89, ig. 151; dyes: Cat. Krefeld 2003, 109 no. 227; appliqué tapestry weaves: Cat. Krefeld
2003, 35 no. 35; 71 no. 133, 72 no. 135, 81–83 no. 161–164, 85–89 nos. 169–176, 91–94 nos. 182–192; appliqué gold
elements: Paetz gen. Schieck 2009, 104, 278 no. 83; compare Vogelsang-Eastwood 1995, 31–34.
4
See for instance brocading: Cat. Krefeld 2003, 103 nos. 211–213, 106 no. 219; De Moor 2008, 208–209; taqueté: Cat.
Krefeld 2003, 105 no. 218; De Moor 2008, 78 igs 109–110, 158–159; silk samite: Cat. Krefeld 2003, 104–105 nos.
214–217; De Moor 2008, 14 ig. 9, 60–62 igs 68–73, 82–84 igs 115–123, 89 ig. 130, 128–129, 192–195, 234–247;
sprang: Bénazeth 2011, 21–23 igs 9–12; De Moor 2008, 75 ig. 98, 178–179; Fluck and Froschauer 2011, 57–59 igs
3–5; Kwaspen 2011; looping technique: De Moor 2008, 74 ig. 95, 130–131.
5
Wace 1948, 52, see also 53: “Embroidery again where Plautus has none! It is an obsession of all classical translators.”
6
See for instance Pritchard 2006, 39 igs 13 a–b, 104 igs 4.46 c–d. For the variety of sewing and embroidery stitches,
see: Boser and Müller 1984; Winslow Grimm 1993.
7
Needles employed consist, for instance, of wood, bone, ishbone, bronze, iron, etc. – Janssen 1990, 12 ig. 8 (bird bone
serving as a container for 15 bronze needles, New Kingdom, 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC, Petrie Museum UC
7721); Hall 1990, 57–61, 59 ig. 43–44; Shamir 1999, 99 ig. 21 (wooden needle); Vogelsang-Eastwood 1995, 35–36 igs
54–55 (she mentions three types of needles in Egypt: short needles with two pointed ends, one bearing a hole; needles
with one pointed and one lattened end bearing a hole; needles with one pointed and one bent to form a thread eye);
Gostencnik 2011, 49 igs 16–17.
8
This research beneited from a grant from the Prof Dr Adolf Schmidtmann Foundation. I gratefully acknowledge
Mary Harlow (University of Leicester/CTR, Copenhagen) for valuable suggestions and discussions, Peder Flemestad
(Copenhagen) and Berit Hildebrandt (CTR, Copenhagen) for providing many of the ancient sources I might have been
missing otherwise. I would like to thank Matthias Bode (Marburg) for his comments on the English version of this paper.
Remaining errors are my own.
9
“ungemein verbreitete Kunst”, Blümner 1875, 218.
210 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
a b
c d
Fig. 10.2a–d Tapestry weave versus embroidery – (a) tabula of a child’s tunic in tapestry weave, 3.1 × 3.6 cm,
linen warp and wefts of wool and linen, about 4th century AD, Deutsches Textilmuseum (DTM) Krefeld inv. no.
12604 © D. Gasse, DTM; (b) chain stitch, (c) running stitch, (d) half back stitch carried out by Laila Glienke
© L. Glienke, Copenhagen.
ancient arts and crafts to this method of textile decoration. Embroidery, he explains, was recognized
early (“früh bekannt”)10 and this elaborate technique was practiced not only by Greeks and Romans,
but also by Egyptians, Babylonians and Phrygians. Fabio Vicari states: “L’arte del ricamo – acu
pingere – era appannaggio di artigiani specializzati”.11 The elaborate decorations mentioned in the
Liber Pontiicalis are – according to modern researchers – to be considered as embroidered on
silk.12 Any ancient Greek and Latin dictionary provides us with a range of words for embroidery
or embroidered textiles: ποικίλτης, πλουμάριος, plumarius, ποικίλτα, pictae vestes and many
others. When it comes to actual archaeological evidence, however, we hardly possess any textiles
10
Blümner 1875, 218.
11
Vicari 2001, 7. Similarly Rufing 2008, 724.
12
Osborne 1992, 319.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 211
embroidered with colourful yarns – is this just a matter of coincidence? Was embroidery really an
omnipresent technique in ancient textile manufacturing?
Looking at passages by ancient authors, as early as 1948 A. J. B. Wace doubted that embroidery
was the prevalent way of decorating textiles.13 Since his paper was little noticed in scholarly research
– especially in the ield of ancient history and philology – and since he took into consideration only
a selection of ancient sources, mainly Homer, this issue is worth a more thorough investigation.
This part of the chapter is organized as follows: the irst section gives an overview of the ancient
literary sources referring to textile decoration, using vocabulary often translated as ‘embroidery’
in scholarly literature and translated editions. The second section examines documentary sources
(i.e. papyri and inscriptions) to present ancient occupational titles of people involved in textile
decoration, usually referred to as ‘embroiderers’. Some conclusions are drawn in the inal section.
Literary sources – from Pliny to Homer and back again
Ancient literary sources mention the art of decorating textiles using different phases as ποικίλλω
and variations of this Greek verb, and pingere, pictus or plumatus in Latin. These terms are usually
used to characterise precious, colourful garments; dictionaries translate them as embroidering.14 This
part of the chapter aims to analyse ancient literary sources, trying to ind hints whether embroidery
was actually meant by these phrases. It investigates the terms used by ancient authors and modern
editors alike to describe textiles with patterns or pictorial representations to ind out if they really
indicate a widespread use of embroidery as a technique of decoration.
When it comes to identifying the origins of embroidery, one constantly comes across a
passage quoted from Pliny’s Natural History.15 According to him, hints for textiles with pictorial
representations (pictae vestes) can be found in the works attributed to Homer. He also states that
the Phrygians were the irst to use a needle (acus) to create those textiles (facere id), which were
thence called Phrygian (Phrygioniae). This most likely means that people in the 1st century AD
held the opinion that the Phrygians invented the art of embroidery. As a result most modern scholars
have read pictae vestae as embroidered textiles, which in this context is likely to be correct. Next,
Pliny refers to King Attalus II of Pergamon (159–138 BC), whom he calls the inventor of weaving
(intextere) golden threads. Finally, Babylonians are supposed to be highly praised for their textiles,
which show colourful representations (colores diversos picturae intexere). Again he uses the verb
intextere, meaning to weave something in – so most likely tapestry weave. It is interesting to
see that Pliny swiftly switches between different ways of decorating textiles – on the one hand
embroidering (acu facere), on the other hand weaving golden threads and pictures into the cloth
(intextere). Embroidery and tapestry weave are mentioned here side by side, most likely clearly
distinguished by Pliny – and his sources and ancient readers alike. It is therefore quite astonishing
to see that all translations of this paragraph provide only one textile technique – embroidery.16
13
Wace 1948.
14
E.g. Liddle-Scott-Jones 1940, s.v. ποικίλλω: work in embroidery, embroider garments; Slater 1969, s.v. ποικίλλω:
embroider.
15
Plin. NH 8,196.
16
E.g. Philemon Holland (1601): “In Homer’s time also they used garment embroidered with imagerie and loure-
worke: and from thence came the triumphant robbes. As for embroiderie it selfe and needle worke, it was the Phrygians
invention: and hereupon embroiderers in Latine bee called Phrygiones. And in the same Asia, king Attalus was the irst
that devised cloth of gold: and thence come such clothes to be called Attalica. In Babylon they used much to weave
their cloth of diverse colours, and this was a great wearing among them, and cloths so wrought were called Babylonica”.
212 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
Greek authors
Pliny refers to the works of Homer and the decorated garments mentioned there. When looking
carefully at the Iliad and the Odyssey17 there are only a few sections of text Pliny might have had
in mind when writing about pictae vestes: When Homer introduces Helen, he chooses a domestic
setting within the megaron of Priam’s palace:18 Helen is presented weaving a purple garment of
double fold, in which scenes from the battle of the Trojans and the Greeks were igured. Homer
explicitly mentions Helen’s loom, therefore she is busy weaving, indicated by the use of the verb
ὑφαίνω. Again we face a textile that was probably somewhat of the nature of tapestry weave, and
most likely not decorated by embroidery.
Another Homeric example of a woman producing a garment is Penelope, weaving the shroud
for her father-in-law, Laertes.19 Again we ind the verb ὑφαίνω combined with the mentioning of a
large loom – the same phrase that was used when presenting Helen’s skills as a weaver. Thus, these
verses indicate that the textile was actually woven – and they do not mean that it was decorated
after inishing using a needle and thread. As neither colours nor motifs are mentioned, Penelope’s
weave is – in contrast to the famous depiction of this scene on an Attic red igured skyphos, the
name vase of the Penelope Painter20 – simply plain.
This setting is nicely repeated by Homer’s description of Andromache, Hector’s wife.21 She is
creating a decorated textile as Helen does, but instead of depicting the Trojan war, she has chosen
a much more conventional and maybe less challenging motif – Andromache is ornamenting the
garment with a loral pattern.22 Again, the cloth is clearly said to be still on the loom (for Hector’s
wife is still weaving), and so it is highly unlikely that ποικίλ᾽ means embroidered in this phrase
as one would inish the weave before starting any further processing. It most likely indicates
“coloured” or “decorated” in a fairly general sense.
A similar phrase appears in the description of the peplos Hecabe devotes to the goddess Athena:23
This peplos is said to be a ποίκιλμα. Bearing in mind that ποικίλ᾽ in Il. 22,440 can hardly mean
‘embroidered’, one starts doubting whether ποίκιλμα is really meant to designate an embroidered
garment, though this time clearly referring to a inished garment. It might equally have been used
to indicate that this dress was colourful regardless of the technique used to apply the colour. The
conclusion must be, therefore, that the use of forms deriving from ποικίλλω cannot be understood as
an indication of embroidered textiles in the Iliad or the Odyssey. Other women weave in the Homeric
John Bostock, H. T. Riley (1855): “[...] embroidered garments are mentioned by Homer, and in this class originated the
triumphal robes. The Phrygians irst used the needle for this purpose, and hence this kind of garment obtained the name
of Phrygionian. King Attalus, who also lived in Asia, invented the art of embroidering with gold, from which these
garments have been called Attalic. Babylon was very famous for making embroidery in different colours, and hence
stuffs of this kind have obtained the name of Babylonian”. H. Rackham (1942): “[…] and they had embroidered robes
as far back as Homer, these being the origin of those worn in triumphs. Embroidering with the needle was discovered
by the Phrygians, and consequently embroidered robes are called Phrygian. Gold embroidery was also invented in Asia,
by King Attalus, from whom Attalic robe got their name. Weaving different colours into a pattern was chiely brought
into vogue by Babylon, which gave its name to this process”.
17
Cf. Mueller 2010.
18
Il. 3,125.
19
Od. 2,104–106 and 19,138–150.
20
ARV² 1300.2. A plain weave would of course raise the question how she could convincingly pretend to work on this
textile for three years.
21
Il. 22,440–441.
22
Cf. Salzmann-Mitchell 2005, 121–123.
23
Il. 6,294–295 and Od. 15,107–126.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 213
epics, such as Circe and Calypso.24 However, none of the garments they produce are described in
detail, so we have no idea if they were decorated with igures or lowers or not. The only thing
we know is that both Circe’s and Calypso’s weaving is not yet inished but still set on the loom,
so they cannot, in this state of production, be embroidered. All this leads to the assumption that
neither the Iliad nor the Odyssey contain satisfying proof for embroidery: the pictae vestes Pliny
says are mentioned in the Homeric epics are all far more likely to have been created by weaving.
When collecting evidence for ποικίλλω and words connected to the same root, one immediately
realizes the wide range of subjects that these words can be connected to. From the 7th centruy BC
until the 5th century AD ποικίλλω appears in literary sources. In about one quarter of these, it refers
to a textile context. It may also be used to describe the night or the sky, as by Aeschylos in the
opening paragraph of Prometheus Bound. The use of the word in this context indicates a meaning of
‘beautiful’, ‘decorated’ or ‘precious’. The kind of decoration it might refer to becomes clear when
taking into consideration a similar section from Euripides’ play Helen, where we ind Helen praying
to the goddess Hera:25 here again, it is not a garment or cloth is said to be ποικίλματος, but the
sky – decorated with stars. In that sense the expression is also used by Plato in his Athenaion Politeia.26
It is remarkable that forms of ποικίλλω are also used to describe various animal species – birds,
amphibians and mammals. For example Plutarch uses ποικιλία to describe a fox27 and an ibis28
whereas Athenaios in his Deipnosophistai uses it for the feathering of guinea fowl.29 Again the
meaning is the same as before: the appearance of all these animals – be it of feather, fur or skin –
is remarkably beautiful, nicely decorated or shimmering.
Apollonios Rhodius is best known as the author of the Argonautica, an epic poem about the
heroic adventures of Jason and the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece. This poem is
the only surviving Hellenistic epic and was written during the irst half of the 3rd century BC. For
Apollonios the adjective ποικίλος refers to the lowers (ἄνθεα) the nymphs are plucking.30 ποικίλος
is used by Apollonios to demonstrate that these lowers were not just ordinary blossoms but very
beautiful and precious ones. Again the term has nothing to do with textiles or textile decoration
but is an adjective used to describe something beautiful in appearance.
Forms deriving from ποικίλλω are often used by the 4th century BC philosopher Plato. They
appear in almost all his works in various contexts – referring to sounds or music,31 words or
numbers, differences, colours and many more. The meaning of ‘beautiful’ or ‘decorated’ are not
convincing as interpretations for Plato’s use of the term. Trying to ind a reasonable translation,
Ellen Harlizius-Klück convincingly stated that for Plato ποικίλλω means a “bunte Mischung
abzählbarer Elemente” (i.e. a mixed bag of countable elements).32 This may even mean that Plato
had some textile context at the back of his mind as the set-up of an upright loom with its warp
threads that were both well counted and exactly arranged.
24
Od. 10,222 (Circe), Od. 5,62 (Calypso).
25
Euripides, Helena, 1095 ff.
26
529d–e.
27
Septem sapientum 155c.
28
Iside 382c.
29
14,71. Snakes in Theognis, Elegiae 602.
30
4,1144.
31
To describe the sound or melody of various instruments: the poet Pindar used the phrase in the in the 5th century BC
(e.g. Olympian 3,8 or Nemean 44,6).
32
Harlizius-Klück 2004, 297.
214 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
The following examples, presented in chronological order, starting in the 5th century BC, present
the use of ποικίλλω in textile contexts:
In Euripides’ tragedy Hecuba the chorus describes the peplos presented to the goddess Athena
in the Parthenon of Athens and carried at the Panathenaic festival every four years.33 ποικίλλω is
used here to describe the garment as decorated with lowers and igurative representations of the
fall of the Titans. This extract has been dealt with by J. M. Mansield and E. J. W. Barber who
suggest that this decoration was created by tapestry weave.34 They believe a Greek audience would
have understood the textile process and recognise that the term would not have meant embroidery.
Our own research thus far would support their position. So, ποικίλλω again is used to present a
beautiful and decorated item. There are other examples where Euripides mentions women who
decorate fabrics with scenes from myths and other igural representations. In Iphigenia in Tauris
it is the heroine herself who is asked by her brother Orestes for the textile designs she created
featuring the tale of Atreus and Thyestes and the golden lamb and a representation of the sun.35 A
similar scene is presented in Ion, when Creusa talks about a textile showing the representation of
Gorgo36 and again when a textile decorated with various representations of mythological scenes is
described.37 In these cases Euripides uses another verb, ὑφαίνω, instead of ποικίλλω, demonstrating
beyond any doubt that these scenes were woven into the garment by tapestry weaving.
In the 3rd century BC, Theokritos, in yet another genre, that of Greek bucolic poetry, uses
ποικίλλω to describe the wall hangings in the palace of Ptolemy II in Alexandria in his poem
Συρακούσιαι.38 Once more these Egyptian textiles were certainly extremely precious and highly
decorated – but there is no supporting evidence to suggest they were embroidered.39
After a long break ποικίλλω as a way of describing a garment appears again in the works of
Plutarch (2nd century AD). In his biography of the Athenian statesman Aristides he describes the
battle of Plataea, fought between the Greek allies and the Persians in 479 BC. As Aristides was
strategos and commander of the Athenian forces it was his role to address the soldiers in the run-up
to the battle. In order to increase the ighting spirit of his men, he refers to the battle of Marathon
gloriously won by the Greeks. Nothing has changed since then, Aristides states – it is still weak men
they are facing, covered with gold and dressed in decorated garments he calls ποικίλματα.40 The
intention of this speech is obvious: it is meant to stereotype the Persian enemies as being morally
and physically weak and effeminate – no real challenge for a Greek warrior. The differences in
armour and outward appearance – inter alia dress – are apparent. ποικίλλω is here connected to
eastern garments, different from the ones the Greeks are wearing. It is used to distinguish friend and
foe. A similar use of a phrase deriving from ποικίλλω appears in another of Plutarch’s biographies,
the Life of Marcellus, also in a military context. Marcellus was a Roman military leader. The
dress of the Gallic king Viridomarus, Marcellus’ enemy at the battle of Clastidium in 222 BC, is
described as ποικίλμασι. Again Plutarch’s depiction of the enemy presents the topos of a weak,
effeminate and inferior despot, this time coming from territory to the north of the Roman heartland.
33
466–474.
34
Mansield 1995.
35
Iphigenia in Tauris, 811–818.
36
Ion 1417–1423.
37
Ion 1143–1154.
38
Theokr. Epigrams 15,78–83.
39
Pindar (4th century BC) also used ποικίλλω to describe textiles from the East Nemean 8,14–16.
40
Aristides 16,4.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 215
Decorated clothing is used as a topos to describe ‘the other’, no matter where they are located.
This is not uncommon in Greek and Latin literature.41 Plutarch also uses forms of ποικίλλω for
items not belonging to foreign enemies. In the Life of Timoleon, an Athenean statesman of the 4th
century BC, a ribbon (ταινία) is said to be Νίκας ἐμπεποικιλμένας – decorated with the igure
of a Victory. It is not clear if this Victory was created by embroidery or tapestry weaving – but
compelling reasons for preferring an embroidered decoration are not apparent.
To sum up: the possible meanings of ποικίλλω and forms deriving from it vary. They are used to
describe the appearance of animals, the design of textiles (often foreign ones), the look of lowers,
music, words, numbers and many more items. When connected to textiles there is no clear evidence
for the use of embroidery as a technique. Quite to the contrary, most of the precious garments are
likely to be created and decorated with the aid of tapestry weave, especially when the depiction
of igurative representation is mentioned.42 ποικίλλω is thus used to describe textiles as precious
and colourful – not to point out a special technique of textile decoration.43
Roman authors
Roman authors describe the art of embroidery as “painting with the needle” (acu pingere / artem
acu pingendi) in different literary genres from poetry, satire, history to philosophy. Cicero, Ovid,
Virgil, Martial, and Tacitus all use this term in the same manner.
The term pictus is used by Cicero, this time not referring to eastern rulers but to Dionysios of
Syracuse, a igure usually viewed very critically by the vast majority of ancient authors. In his
Tusculanae disputationes, Cicero made a considerable contribution to Dionysios’ bad reputation.
The moral anecdote commonly referred to as ‘the Sword of Damocles’ presented there is particularly
famous.44 Dionysios makes his courtier Damocles sit on a very beautiful dining-couch (pulcherrimo
stragulo) covered with textiles that are said to be decorated (textili magniicis operibus picto).
Ovid uses pictus in his narrative poem Metamorphoses, when telling the story of Arachne,
who dared to say she could produce better textiles than the goddess Athena. Arachne is clearly
decorating with a needle.45 Only a few lines later he describes in detail the goddess’ textile and
compares it with the one made by Arachne: both are creating fabulous designs, showing complex
mythological scenes as Athena and Neptune competing for the right to be the patron deity of
Athens or Jupiter impregnating Danae in the guise of a golden shower.46 The verbs Ovid uses
are pingere, inscribere, designare, facere as well as the adjective intertextus and the noun picta.
Using different phrases does not necessary indicate different ways of decoration. Instead Ovid
uses them for literary reasons, to make his text livelier and to avoid verbal repetition (and for a
better metrical form). All phrases deinitely refer to ways of decoration but the words used here
create no connection to embroidery as use of needles is not mentioned in this passage. It appears
that Ovid distinguished between decorating with and without a needle, just as his contemporary
Pliny did in the Natural History.
41
Cf. Harlow 2004; von Rummel 2007.
42
Cf. Wagner-Hasel 2000, 147–149.
43
Cf. Barber 1992, 313 and 327 n. 8.
44
Cic. Tusc. 5,61.
45
Ov. Met. 6,23.
46
Ov. Met. 6,70–124.
216 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
Acu pingere is also used by Virgil in his epic poem, the Aeneid. He mentions it as a way of
decorating tunics and mantles, saying pictus acu chlamydem47 and pictus acu tunicas.48 The irst
phrase refers to the mantle of Arcens, a noble Sicilian, who fought against Aeneas. Arcens’ equipment
is speciied as being Hibera – Spanish. So the embroidered garment is characterized as something
foreign, not Italian. Taking into account the passage from Cicero mentioned above it is interesting
to see that again a way of decoration that could maybe mean embroidery is connected to Sicily. The
second phrase is used to describe Chloreus, former priest of the oriental Goddess Cybele, in the
battle between Aeneas and the Trojans against King Turnus of the Rutili and his allies. Chloreus’
armour and dress are said to be peregrina and barbara (i.e. foreign and barbarian) in the very same
paragraph. So, Virgil creates Chloreus as a true oriental, using topoi deriving from Greek sources.49
Again, the art of embroidery is connected to eastern regions and an oriental way of appearance.
A needle is also mentioned in Martial’s satires in the 1st century AD.50 He refers to Babylonian
textiles, just as Pliny had done some years earlier. For Martial even Semiramis, the legendary queen,
who had built the city of Babylon, used a needle to decorate textiles. This does indeed suggest
actual embroidery – not coming from Rome or the Mediterranean but being some ‘oriental’ way
of ornamenting garments. This topos was obviously common in the 1st century AD as it is familiar
from Pliny, who also connects the art of embroidery with Babylon.
Tacitus mentions decorated oriental textiles in the Annals. He describes the preparation for the
battle between Pharasmanes of Iberia and Orodes of Parthia during the reign of Emperor Claudius.
In this context he mentions the Medes to be picta auro (i.e. decorated with gold), maybe really
meaning some embroidered garment.51
Chronologically, the next author is the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius who referred
to “pictured textiles” (textilibus in picturis) in De rerum natura.52 The purpose of the poem is
didactic, arguing against the supernatural and against the fear of death. The phrase referring to
decorated textiles (textilibus in picturis) derives from the prologue of the second book, extolling the
Epicurean life of detached tranquillity. The decorated textiles are used as a counterpart to garments
of the common people (plebeian veste) and are therefore meant to indicate wealth and prosperity.
The phrase does not indicate embroidery; it is much more likely that tapestry weaving created the
pictures in these textiles.
To sum up: The Latin expressions acu pingere or pictus (connected to a textile) are most probably
to be interpreted as embroidery as long as foreign garments are concerned. Ancient authors use
them most frequently when they refer to non-Roman rulers, be it ‘orientals’ or Sicilians. Decorating
textiles by using needle and thread appears not to be a Roman technique but to be connected – at
least in the perception of ancient literati and their audience – to foreign people.
The Roman comedian Plautus (late 3rd/early 2nd century BC) introduced another term that is
usually translated as embroidery or embroidered textiles, namely plumatus. By 1st century AD this
was established in the profession of plumarius.53 The Latin plumatus shows interesting similarities
47
Aeneid 9,582.
48
Aeneid 11,777.
49
Cf. Reed 2007, 59.
50
8,28,18.
51
6,34.
52
Lucr. 2,34–36.
53
Epidicus 230.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 217
to the use of ποικίλλω as it can be connected to various items, including animals54 and mythological
creatures.55 Tertullian (3rd century AD) even uses it to describe God.56 As far as I can ascertain,
plumatus is just once used in a textile context. Lucan in The Civil War describes in detail Julius
Caesar’s stay in Egypt. Coverings (stata) are mentioned in his depiction of Cleopatra’s palace pars
auro plumata nitet.57 These gold shining textiles could have been decorated with embroidery – but
as the technique of weaving golden threads into a textile was known,58 a inal decision between
embroidery and weave cannot be made, but the tapestry weaving technique is preferred.
The profession of a plumarius appears only once in the literary sources: Vitruvius, best known
for De architectura, a treatise on architecture, mentions workshops of these craftsmen: plumariorum
textrina.59 As textrina deinitely means weaving workshops (texere = weaving), Vitruvius’ plumarii
are not embroiderers, but more likely weavers. Another profession usually interpreted as embroiderer
is found in Plautus’ Menaechmi.60 A mantle (palla) is to be taken to a phrygio. This phrygio is
supposed to repair it and to add something to it. Remembering Pliny and his description of the
Phryigians as the irst to decorate textiles with a needle the interpretation seems to be self-evident:
what else could a phrygio be other than an embroiderer? However, there are several problems
with this easy answer: irst, there is a considerable time difference between the authors. Plautus’
Menaechmi was irst presented in 200 BC; Pliny published his Natural History around AD 76–78.
The meaning of the word phrygio might have been different in Plautus’ time. In addition, the text
itself gives further reason to doubt the equation of phrygio with embroiderer. For this person is
supposed to repair the garment and to add additional opera – whatever this might be. Decorating
the textile is not mentioned, nor are colours. Thus the main work of this phrygio might indeed
have been repairing garments. Making him an embroiderer because of an interpretation deriving
from a source almost 300 years later is not too convincing – though is it likely that he indeed used
a needle – for repairing but not necessarily for decorating the textile.61
Documentary sources – textile decoration provided by professionals62
Most ancient authors – if they care at all about the producers of garments – seem to refer to (noble)
women weaving within their own household to produce their own garments. Professional textile
production, existing alongside domestic, was beyond their sphere of interest. Our knowledge of
ancient professions is mainly based on documentary sources such as papyri and inscriptions. Among
the professions mentioned are several textile crafts, demonstrating that this economic sector was of
great importance in ancient times and provided a living for a large number of people.63 Professions
deriving from the verbs ποικίλλω and ὑφαίνω do appear, the craftsmen are called ποικίλτης and
54
Petronius 55,6,6 uses it for the feathering of a peacock, Apuleius in the Metamorphoses twice for birds (2,1,24 and
3,21,19).
55
As Cicero in his De natura deorum (2,114,17), describing the Lernaean Hydra.
56
Apologeticum 3,21,36.
57
Bell. civ. 10,122.
58
Cf. Pliny NH 8,196. Further see Alfaro 2001.
59
Vitr. 6,4,2.
60
426.
61
Mannering 2000.
62
All papyri are cited according to the Checklist of Greek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic Papyri, Ostraca and Tablets (last
updated 1 June 2011 – http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/papyrus/texts/clist.html).
63
Cf. Rufing 2008, 113 and 122: Out of 636 different professions documented in Greek documentary sources 150 belong
to the economic sector of textile production, forming the far largest group of specialised workers.
218 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
ὑφάντης/ὑφάντρα. It is quite remarkable that ὑφάντης/ὑφάντρα only appears in Ptolemaic texts
(the only exception is an inscription from Saiitai, dating to the 2nd century AD).64 Later on the
term γέρδιος seems to have replaced it completely.65 On the other hand ποικίλτης covers a much
wider time range. Ten papyri (3rd century BC–6th century AD) but no inscriptions attest to this
profession.66 Compared to the evidence for weavers covering the same time period (10 ὑφάντης/
ὑφάντρα and more than 300 references for γέρδιος), this does not amount to much evidence. It
might be interpreted as a hint that this was not a widespread profession. The exact work carried
out by these craftsmen is not elucidated in the documentary sources.
Late Roman documents also mention the profession of πλουμάριος – the Greek equivalent of
the Latin plumarius – which is usually interpreted as a synonym for ποικίλτης, though in one
papyrus the same person is said to be both, ποικίλτής and πλουμάριος.67 The profession appears
31 times (16 inscriptions, 15 papyri) from the 4th to the 7th century AD.68 Taking into account
that we are facing the Hellenised form of plumarii, who are not embroiderers but tapestry weavers
as was shown by analysing Vitruvius, it is rather unlikely that a πλουμάριος was embroidering
textiles. These craftspeople should be interpreted as weavers. The same goes for the few epigraphic
examples of plumarii. Only three inscriptions mention this profession.69
The Edict of Maximum Prices (Edictum de pretiis rerum venalium) of Emperor Diocletian
from AD 301 includes, among various professions and their wages, plumarii/πλουμάριοι. They
are listed close to other textile professions as gerdia (= female weaver) or fullo (= fuller).70 It is
notable that these craftsmen were not paid daily or monthly wages: They were paid per ounce
(unica), presumably of raw material used. Thus, the Edict of Diocletian supports the suspicion that
these men were not using needles but shuttles when working, being weavers, not embroiderers. The
64
Rufing 2008, 808: P.Cairo Zen. 1/59080 (Philadelpheia; 257 BC); P.Cairo Zen. 2/59176 (Philadelpheia; 255 BC);
P.Hib. 1/67 = W.Chr. 306 (Ankyronpolis; 228 BC); P.Hib. 1/68 (Herakleopolites; 228 BC); P.Col. 4/77 (r) (Philadelpheia;
245–239 BC); CPR 13/8b (Ankon, Lysimachis; 3rd century BC); P.Tebt. 3/703 (Tebtynis; ca. 210 BC); PSI 6/599
(Philadelpheia; 3rd century BC); P. et O. Eleph. DAIK 6 (Elephantine; 2nd century BC); SB 16/12330 (2nd century BC).
65
Rufing 2008, 414; Droß-Krüpe 2011, 58–86.
66
Rufing 2008, 724: P.Lond. 7/2055 (Philadelpheia; 3rd century BC); SB 16/12695 with BL 8/385 (Oxyrhynchos;
143 AD); P.Fuad. Univ. 8 (2nd century AD); P.Oxy. 12/1519 (Oxyrhynchites; 247/248 or 257/258 AD); P.Oslo 3/144
(Oxyrhynchos; 272–275 AD); P.Oxy. 6/980 (Oxyrhynchites; 3rd century AD); P.Oxy. 14/1677 (Oxyrhynchites; 3rd
century AD); P.Oxy. 46/3300 (Oxyrhynchos; 3rd century AD); BGU 1/34 (Hermopolites; ca. AD 322); P.Cairo Masp.
2/67163 (Antinoopolis; AD 569).
67
P.Cair. Masp. 2/67163, (Ptolemais Euergetis, AD 569).
68
Ed. Diocl. 20,1 u. 1a; I.Kilikia DF 38 = SEG XXXVII 1345 (Tarsos; 5th/6th century AD); Heberdey, Wilhelm 1896,
Nr. 108 (Pompeiopolis); I.Lesbos Suppl. 112 (Lesbos); IG Occid. Chr. 153a (Syrakus; Christian); MAMA III 285 = ETAM
22 Kry 456 (Korykos; Christian); MAMA III 364b? = ETAM 22 Kry 413b (Korykos; Christian); MAMA III 391? = ETAM
22 Kry 235 (Korykos; Christian); MAMA III 403 = ETAM 22 Kry 414 (Korykos; Christian); MAMA III 429 = ETAM 22
Kry 281 (Korykos; Christian); MAMA III 441a = ETAM 22 Kry 573a (Korykos; Christian); MAMA III 496 = ETAM 22
Kry 519 (Korykos; Christian); MAMA III 523? = ETAM 22 Kry 390 (Korykos; Christian); MAMA III 665 = ETAM 22 Kry
177 (Korykos; Christian); MAMA III 685 = ETAM 22 Kry 473 (Korykos; Christian); I.Tyr. Epit. 171 (Tyros; Christian).
P.Oslo 3/161 (3rd century AD); P.Aberd. 59 (5th/6th century AD); P. et O. Eleph. DAIK 324 (Elephantine; 4th/5th century
AD); SB 16/12838 (Thebais; 5th century AD); SB 16/12839 (Thebais; 5th century AD); SB 16/12840 (Thebais; 5th century
AD); P.Cairo Masp. 2/67163 (Antinoopolis; AD 569); SB 20/14105 (6th/7th century AD); SB 14/11543 (616/617 AD);
P.Prag 2/153 (Arsinoites; 7th century AD); P.Apoll. 38 (Apollonopolis; 7th century AD); P.Apoll. 65 (Apollonopolis;
7th century AD); P.Apoll. 75 (Apollonopolis; 7th century AD); P.Apoll. 83 (Apollonopolis; 7th century AD). Cf. P.Oxy.
24/2421 (Oxyrhynchites; AD 312–323).
69
Vicari 2001: #50 (= CIL 6/7411, Rome), #51 (= CIL 6/9813, Rome), and #317 (= AE 1976, 500; AD 232, Mogontiacum,
uncertain reading).
70
Ed. Diocl. 20,1–4.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 219
same applies for the barbaricarius or βαρβαρικάριος listed in the same section.71 The different
materials these craftsmen specialised in (e.g. gold and holoserica – silk) might then refer to the
weave of blended fabrics, made of threads or yarns of different textile raw materials.72
Conclusions
A thorough analysis of the literary and documentary sources presenting terms often translated
as embroidery has shown little evidence for this technique of textile decoration. Only the Latin
expressions acu pingere and pictus (if connected to textiles) might be interpreted as actual
embroidery. All other cases are either highly uncertain or even indicate the use of tapestry weaving
instead of embroidery. It seems as if modern scholars confused tapestry weaving with embroidery
and vice versa – be it a lack of knowledge, be it a lack of interest in these ‘subtleties’.
Part II – Embroidered textiles in the Mediterranean – a compilation of archaeologically
preserved textiles
Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
Introduction
Apart from the major functions of covering and protecting the human body, textiles also serve
decorative purposes.73 As Kerstin Droß-Krüpe has shown in the irst part of this paper, written
records of textiles – or better their translations into modern languages – starting from Homeric times,
often mention the term ‘embroidery’ as the major technique employed to create decorations.74 When
investigating preserved textile inds of the Mediterranean, though, it becomes evident that truly
embroidered textiles are very rare, being rather singular phenomena.75 Textiles with embroidered
ornaments irst appear in 18th Dynasty Egypt,76 and it is not before Hellenistic and early Roman
times that embroidery can be traced again. The number of embroidered textiles slightly increases in
late Roman times, but they do not become a (relatively) common phenomenon until the Byzantine
and early Islamic period.77
The following section serves as a compilation of ancient embroidered textiles, relying primarily
on published material, except for six objects stored in the Deutsches Textilmuseum Krefeld
(DTM), Germany (Figs 10.3–8).78 The quantity of known embroidered textiles may rise with
further discoveries, but it will remain relatively low in comparison to other types of textiles. The
textile inds introduced here all derive from the Mediterranean – the region of classical Antiquity
– and a glimpse of textiles originating from beyond the borders of ancient Greece and Rome is
71
Ed. Diocl. 20,5–8.
72
Pruneti 1998–1999.
73
The main task to be examined here is the question: ‘Weaving or Embroidery?’ discussed by A. J. B. Wace (1948) and
Barber 1992 ‘New Kingdom Egyptian Textiles: Embroidery vs. Weaving’.
74
Wace 1948.
75
See also: Wace 1948; Barber 1982, 442–444.
76
See: Riefstahl 1944, 1; Barber 1982; Vogelsang-Eastwood 2010, 23, 25. For prehistoric embroidered textiles see:
Grömer 2010, 190–193.
77
For Roman embroidery see for instance: Inv. no. 0955 and 1031, Bender Jørgensen 2000, esp. 260 ig. 8, 261 ig. 9;
for Byzantine embroidery see for instance: Cat. Mariemont 1997, 186 no. 70 (= Cat. Brussels 1988, ig. 100); Forrer
1891, 13 pl. XIV igs 1–7, pl. XV–XVII.
78
DTM Krefeld inv. nos. 10180, 10274, 11209, 12564, 12697, 12899 (= Cat. Krefeld 2003, 34 no. 33, 109 no. 228,
110 nos. 229, 231).
220 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
provided. The objects are arranged according to chronology and stylistic groups. Islamic textiles of
medieval times will not be included since they represent a large group deriving from non-igurative
Mesopotamian contexts.
Earliest evidence for embroidered textiles – Egyptian tomb treasures of the New Kingdom
Due to climatic conditions the oldest cloths of Mediterranean cultures were preserved in the dry
sands of Egypt, where innumerable textiles survive, including many garments from Pharaonic
times.79 These textiles permitted scholars like E. Riefstahl, E. J. W. Barber and G. Vogelsang-
Eastwood to set up a chronology of garments, according to cut, style, and decoration, over very
long time periods.80 Textiles of Pharaonic times were in general woven as plain white linen tabby;
decorations consisted of self-bands, and loop weaving.81 Suddenly, in 18th Dynasty patterned and
coloured textiles appear, along with innovative textile techniques such as brocading, outline-style,
tapestry weave, warp-faced pattern weave, card-weaving and embroidery.82 According to Barber,
these techniques were implemented in Egypt by copying foreign textiles and experimenting,83 some
of them disappeared after a while, others, such as embroidery, were reactivated in later times.
The earliest decorated textiles derive from the treasures of Senmut,84 Thutmosis IV, Kha85 and
Tutankhamun, found in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes-West, Egypt86 – the appearance of the
names relects the chronology of the burials.87 Of them, the Thutmosis IV88 and the Tutankhamun
treasure preserved embroidered textiles, while Tutankhamun’s textiles provided the wider
portfolio of techniques in general, including loop-weave, tapestry weave, warp-patterned textiles,
appliqué, sewn-on beads, gold discs and plaques.89 The most prominent objects of this context
are two embroidered tunics, an artiicial leopard skin and a pair of ‘wings’.90 The smaller tunic is
completely covered with rows of red and dark blue crosses of two types, all of them are carried
out in dyed linen yarns, in chain stitch, and the centres of the crosses show appliqué gold discs.91
The second tunic is of adult size decorated with separately produced and applied embroidered
textiles showing hunting scenes, vases, grifins, and sphinxes, carried out in chain stitch, outline
stitch, blanket stitch, random illing stitch, and isolated knot.92 The garment was investigated by R.
79
See for instance Pister 1936; Riefstahl 1944; Vogelsang-Eastwood 1993; Vogelsang-Eastwood 1995.
80
Riefstahl 1944; Barber 1982; Vogelsang-Eastwood 1993; Vogelsang-Eastwood 1995.
81
Riefstahl 1944, 16 ig. 19, 17–18; 25 ig. 33.
82
E. Riefstahl investigated the depictions of Egyptian tombs of the Old and Middle Kingdom, presenting people
dressed in colourful garments. She tried to match the images with preserved textiles, and draws several conclusions:
(1) the paintings rather refer to textile garments decorated with beadwork and others made of painted leather rather
than representing textiles; (2) the representations do not picture daily life and real situations but some sort of afterlife;
(3) paintings of the Middle Kingdom present processions of visitors from the neighbouring countries, such as nomads,
Syrians, Cretans, Nubians, etc., all of them dressed in their colourful and ornamented ethnic costumes. See: Riefstahl
1944, 1–2, 18–19. – For plain woven, unpatterned linen textiles see also: Barber 1982, 444.
83
Barber 1982, 444.
84
End of 16th century BC. Riefstahl 1944, 20.
85
Riefstahl 1944, 21–23 ig. 31.
86
Riefstahl 1944, 20–32.
87
Thutmosis IV reigned from 1397 to 1388 BC, Tutankhamun reigned from 1332 to 1323 BC.
88
Crowfoot and de G. Davies 1941, 116; Riefstahl 1944, 20–21.
89
Riefstahl 1944, 24–26.
90
Vogelsang-Eastwood 2010, 14, 23–25, esp. 24 ig. 2.2.
91
Vogelsang-Eastwood 2010, 24 ig. 2.2.
92
113.5 × 95 cm, without fringes, sleeves of 36 cm length.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 221
Pister, E. Riefstahl, G. M. Crowfoot and N. de G. Davies, and Vogelsang-Eastwood.93 All of them
claimed this tunic to be non-Egyptian since Egyptian tunics of these days were not equipped with
sleeves, and due to the fact that embroidery is rare. Most relevant, though, is that the spectrum of
the decorative motifs shows a mixture of Egyptian elements (the Pharaoh’s cartouche) with Syrian
(grifin). Barber calls these motives “steppe land animal-style” which she locates in Mesopotamia
or Syria.94 Vogelsang-Eastwood is convinced that the tunic in toto is of Syrian origin, and she
considers it to have been a precious gift of the Mitanni court,95 while Barber is convinced that the
craftsmen were of foreign provenance working in Egyptian court workshops.96
Embroidery in Classical Greece
Among the very few preserved textiles of Greece, only one bears traces of embroidery.97 This
fragment was preserved in a bronze urn found at Koropi near Athens, dating to the late 5th century
BC. The textile consists of a plain linen weave in tabby made of Z-spun yarns; the embroidery is
carried out with linen threads wound about with metal foil, possibly silver plated. The decoration
shows an arrangement of a regular lozenge pattern bearing tiny striding lions in their centres.
Embroidery of Roman times
Almost no embroidered textiles have been found in Roman Italy, neither in the catacomb burials of
Rome, nor among the fragments found at Pompeii.98 The only exception seems to be one fragment
mentioned by M. Gleba, consisting of a woollen rep-structured textile dyed in murex purple, decorated
with embroidery carried out in gold threads.99 Still it has to be admitted, that research on these inds
has just begun and no representative position can be taken, at this stage.
Roman inds from Egypt reveal few embroidered textiles. The waste dumps of the imperial
porphyritic quarry at Mons Claudianus in the Eastern Desert of Egypt,100 preserved large amounts of
textiles of extremely worn condition dating to the 1st half of the 2nd century AD, among them a few
embroidered textiles originating from bags with ornamental design.101 At Qasr Ibrim, located on the
east bank of the Nile in Nubia, textiles from 150 to 350 AD have survived.102 Some of them show
embroidered hems with blue dyed twined cotton yarns, carried out in chain and short stitch, depicting
human faces, a scorpion, and lower-motifs of the daisy or sunlower-type relecting Meroitic inluence.
In Palestine, sites such as ‘En Rahel, a way-station on one branch of the spice-route joining Petra
and Gaza (1st century AD),103 and the Cave of Letters of the Bar Kokhba Period (terminus ante quem
93
Pister 1936; Crowfoot and de G. Davies 1941; Riefstahl 1944; Vogelsang-Eastwood 2010, 24–25.
94
Barber 1982, 444.
95
Vogelsang-Eastwood 2010, 24–25.
96
Barber 1982, 444.
97
Muthesius 2001, 148–150, ig. 18.1 (Victoria and Albert Museum T 220A, B-1953), and further bibliography. Gleba
2008, 73 table 1 no. 65.
98
Mitschke and Paetz gen. Schieck 2012; Paetz gen. Schieck, Mitschke and Melillo 2014.
99
The purple cloth with gold-embroidery was found in a cremation burial at the Via dei Granai di Nerva, the yarns are
z-spun: Gleba 2008, 72 table 1 no. 49, 2nd century AD.
100
The quarry was exploited by free Egyptian craftsmen, imperial workers and Roman soldiers – the population being
mainly male. Egyptian craftsmen such as stone masons originated from Alexandria and Syene, imperial workers from
Anatolia and Semistic speaking areas, see Bender Jørgensen 2000; Bender Jørgensen 2004, 69.
101
Inv. no. 0955 and 1031, see: Bender Jørgensen 2000, esp. 260 ig. 8, 261 ig. 9.
102
Wild 2011, 111, 115–116, igs 12–13.
103
Shamir 1999.
222 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
135 AD),104 preserved large amounts of textiles dating to Roman times, but none showed evidence
of embroidery, while at Masada, on the south-west-end of the Dead Sea (terminus ante quem 73
AD), at least one piece of embroidered textile was found. It served as a document-wrapper; the
cloth was cut down from a former garment woven in diamond twill of the “Virring type”, which,
according to L. Bender Jørgensen, was most likely of northern European provenance.105 The edges
are equipped with an embroidered band, and the narrower sides are additionally aligned with a
zig-zag-embroidered decoration carried out in chain stitch.
Turning further to the east of the Roman Empire, two desert sites in the former province of
Syria preserved large amounts of ancient textiles: Palmyra, a town located in an oasis of the Syrian
Desert, served as the resting, starting and trading post for the silk-road bringing luxurious goods
from China to Rome.106 Through trade, Palmyra acquired enormous wealth, which was expressed
especially through luxurious textiles. These ended up as the torn up bands of worn garments in
the richly equipped burials of the upper class families of the 1st–3rd centuries AD.107 The number
of these objects is large, therefore they cannot be listed in this paper individually. They have been
investigated by R. Pister, A. Schmidt-Colinet and A. Stauffer,108 who could show that the portfolio
of motifs and techniques is wide and embraces tapestry woven ornaments of western, Roman
style as well as of Persian origin. They could even prove different types of silk weaves such as
plain silk tabbies, damasks, taqueté, which, even as woven ornaments themselves, could carry
additional embroidered ornaments carried out in silk yarns. Some of these textiles are clearly of
Chinese origin,109 others seem to be of local production.110 It becomes quite evident that contact
with eastern cultures and the enormous wealth of the population at Palmyra triggered the great
variety of different kinds of textiles at this site. To give an idea of the exceptional nature of Palmyra,
Dura-Europos and its great number of preserved textiles should be mentioned. It is located further
east in the Syrian Desert, on the Euphrates, serving as an outpost to a garrison defending a section
of the eastern limes of the Roman Empire. It was defeated and abandoned in 256 AD, but unlike
Palmyra none of the textiles found here showed traces of embroidery. This may be due to the fact
that Dura was off the Silk Road.111
Embroidery in Late Roman Egypt
The number of embroidered textiles increases relatively speaking in Egypt in Late Antiquity (4th–7th
centuries AD), but still, the total amount is very small compared to the thousands of contemporary
textiles of tapestry weave. Unlike the objects described before, very little is known about the
provenance, region, ind contexts, or former owners of the late Roman and early Islamic textile
ornaments. This is due to the fact that most of the textiles were acquired by private collectors and
collections in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when inds of the late phase of Egypt irst
received attention as interesting and collectable goods. Methodology and scientiic approaches in
archaeology were at a very early stage, and this lack of care or awareness caused great damage
104
Yadin 1963.
105
Sheffer and Granger-Taylor 1994, 223–226, esp. 225, igs 140–142.
106
Stauffer 2007, 72–87; Stauffer 2013, 132–136.
107
Schmidt-Colinet and Stauffer 2000, 1–5, 55–57, 91.
108
Pister 1934; Pister 1937; Pister 1940; Schmidt-Colinet and Stauffer 2000.
109
Schmidt-Colinet and Stauffer 2000, 26–28, 47–48, 58–81.
110
Schmidt-Colinet and Stauffer 2000, 30–31.
111
Pister and Bellinger 1945; Schmidt-Colinet and Stauffer 2000.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 223
to the objects. Taking tunics as an example: colourful ornaments were cut out of the completely
preserved garments, while the undecorated sections – which were more than 90% of the garment –
were cast away. This means that investigations focus on the information gleaned from the preserved
fragment namely technical data, material and ornament, rather than the entire garment. For this
reason, due to the larger amount of objects, and since they show clear preferences for certain types
of decoration,112 these textiles will be described in more detail than the earlier ones. They are
grouped according to motifs and chronology relecting trends of contemporary tapestry weaves,
such as bicoloured ornamental113 and bicoloured igurative designs (3rd–5th centuries AD). Among
them, for instance, are framed square and oval shaped tabulae and orbiculi bearing human igures
combined with vases;114 bands decorated with friezes of vases and individual vases.115 Polychrome
designs show mainly square tabulae depicting busts of personiied seasons,116 while others depict
lower ornaments generally employed on curtains.117 With regard to embroidery techniques: blanket
stitch, chain stitch, satin stitch, stem stitch and couching, seem to have been the most common
types of stitches, employing yarns of wool and linen.118 Silk is being employed in later times, in
the Byzantine and Islamic period.
Ornamental purple design embroidered on linen ground
For ornamental purple designs, just one fragment is known: an eight-edged embroidered ornament
composed of two squares shifted at 90 degree angles to each other,119 (compare Fig. 10.1). Each of
them is framed by a frieze; the very centre bears four medallions from whose corners ivy leaves
stick out. The object is dated to the 4th–5th century AD.
Figurative purple design embroidered on linen ground
The second type of embroidered purple decoration on linen ground depicts igures of the Dionysian
canon in a square frame, surrounded by vases and ivy-leaves. A completely preserved tunic of this
kind is kept by the Romisch-Germanisches Zentalmuseum at Mainz, Germany. It has been published
by W. F. Volbach120 quite thoroughly, but it will soon be published in detail by P. Linscherid. One
of these designs is kept in the Louvre, Paris, showing a hunter, mounted on a horse, chasing a
lion,121 dating to the 4th–5th century AD. A few details are carried out in orange yarns relecting
gold tapestry weaves.122 The sketch of the igure is quite detailed, being carried out with white
yarns in lying shuttle technique. A tabula found at Antinoopolis (now in Lyon) is also framed by
112
For some general notes on late Roman embroidery see: Vogelsang-Eastwood 2010, 25–26; Lamm 1938.
113
See for instance Cat. Krefeld 2003, 45 nos. 64–66.
114
See for instance Cat. Krefeld 2003, 35–39 nos. 35–46; Schrenk 2004, 367–370 no. 174; Trilling 1982, 50 no. 28, 53 no. 34.
115
See for instance Cat. Krefeld 2003, 39 no. 47, 48.
116
See for instance Schrenk 2004, 444–448 no. 216; Cat. Krefeld 2003, 69 no. 129; Trilling 1982, 32 no. 4.
117
Compare Cat. Krefeld 2003, 99 nos. 204, 205.
118
Vogelsang-Eastwood 2010, 26.
119
Ernst (without year), pl. 35; Mérat 2013, 128–130, igs 1a–b (with two further objects).
120
Volbach 1932, 114–116 no. 286a pl. 15; inv. no. 0.22708.
121
Dated to 4th to 5th century AD, Louvre inv. no. AF 5714, 9.5 × 9.5 cm (tabula); linen tabby of s-spun yarns, 10 ×
10 threads per cm; embroidery: purple woollen yarns, z-spun. – The tabulae is framed by a frieze of medallions and
vases, embracing a circular ield carrying a horse-riding hunter moving to the right. His face is shown frontally, his
right arm is bent upwards. The lion is positioned beneath the horse. – du Bourguet 1964, 51 ig. A7; Cat. Nantes 2001,
51 ig. 24; Mérat 2013, 126 ig. 3.
122
Such as Trilling 1982, front cover, 27 no. 83 pl. 7.
224 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
a frieze of vases and shows two igures standing
frontally with hands raised.123 The left igure
seems to wear a skirt while the igure on the
right seems to be naked. The depiction is rather
simple and stylized, being dated to the 4th–7th
century AD. A fragment in the Vatican Museum
dates to the 4th century AD. It was ripped from
the shoulder of a linen tunic, preserving a large
section of a tabula and clavus. Both elements
are framed by rays pointing outwards and
bearing dots in the interspaces.124 The clavus
is decorated with acanthus-scrolls and vases,
while the tabula is framed by a frieze of vases
and medallions, presenting two Dionysian
igures shown frontally, a naked maenad on
the left and a naked shepherd on the right.
Of the same type, and possibly deriving even
from the same garment, a smaller tabula also
at the Vatican Museum should be noted, framed
by similar rays. It presents the bust of a male
person, frontally. He wears a tunic with clavi Fig. 10.3 Purple wool embroidery on white linen tabby;
and he is framed by two shrubs.125 tabula of a tunic showing the bust of a man framed by
The collection of the DTM Krefeld vases; 3rd to 4th century AD; DTM Krefeld inv. no.
possesses a few textiles of this period with 12564 © A. Paetz gen. Schieck, DTM.
embroidered decoration. One of them is a
fragment of a tabula framed by a frieze of
vases and bearing the bust of a man shown frontally (Fig 10.3).126 The igure is embroidered with
dark purple woollen yarn and its details like the facial traits, the hairstyle and the garment are
additionally embroidered on top with z-plied yarn. The state of preservation is quite bad, most
of the woollen yarn has fallen off the textile but some details still reveal the decoration.127 The
Museum of Fine Arts Budapest keeps a tiny medallion of oval shape.128 This fragment is cut along
123
Dated to 4th to 7th century AD, Musées des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs de Lyon inv. no. 28520/11, 28 × 22 cm (in
total); linen tabby, woollen embroidery. www.musee-des-tissus.com/en/02_02/co101/tis14/print.html.
124
4th century AD, Vatican Museum inv. no. T 88, 17 × 31 cm (in total), 11.5 × 11.5 cm (tabula), 2.7cm (clavus), linen
tabby with self-bands and purple woollen embroidery, Renner 1982, 75–78, pl. 28 no. 39.
125
4th century AD, Vatican Museum inv. no. T 90, 34 × 59 cm (in total), 6.5 × 7 cm (tabula), linen tabby with self-bands
and purple woollen embroidery. See: Renner 1982, 78–79, pl. 28 no. 40.
126
3rd to 4th century AD, DTM Krefeld inv. no. 12564, width 7.3 cm, height 7cm. Tabby with self-bands, S-spun linen
yarns, 23 warp-threads per cm, 16 weft-threads per cm. The needle-pointing consists of dark blue woollen yarn, two
simple S-spun yarns, Z-plied. Due to preservation and conservation conditions, most of it fell off and no types of stitches
or stitching systems can be identiied. Additional embroidery of linen yarn, two S-spun, strongly Z-plied, was applied
to characterise facial features in casting stitch and dress in laid couching stitch or self couching stitch. The fragment
was cut out in modern times and was sewn onto modern linen cloth in 1963. The fragment was bought from C. Harald,
Ronco, Switzerland, in 1961, and it was found in Girgah, Egypt.
127
Compare DTM, inv. no. 12483; Trilling 1982, 75 no. 70, 76 no. 72, 84 no. 89.
128
4th century AD, of unknown provenance, Museum of Fine Arts Budapest inv. no. 97.74.A, 4.7 × 3.5 cm, linen tabby,
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 225
the contour and there is uncertainty about its former use. Embraced by undecorated broad band,
the frontally depicted bust of a young male is shown dressed in a tunic with clavi bearing two
crossed lines on the chest. The man’s hair is arranged in two spiral curls at each side of his head
and two further spiral motifs on his shoulders.
Some decorations focus on vase-motifs, just as the tabula kept in the Victoria and Albert-Museum,
London.129 The square element is framed by a simple band, embracing a kind of Greek vase with a
narrow stand, a heart-shaped body and narrow neck. Two handles are arranged symmetrically. They
are of S-shape and melt into two ivy-garlands coming out of the neck-opening and running down at
the sides of the body. Friezes of vases of the same kind, bearing two branches of ivy interchanging
with stylized baskets were quite common in tapestry and have been illustrated by embroidery
once in a while, as well. Doubled bands serving as manicae are kept in the Museo Nazionale di
Ravenna,130 resembling features in the objects of the Vatican Museums. An elaborately designed
vase on a tiny stand, a wide and heart-shaped body, a wide opening and S-shaped spiral handles
arranged symmetrically, is kept at Skulpturensammlung und Byzantinisches Museum, Berlin.131 Its
neck carries a decoration of two clover leaves and on the rim, two birds take a rest. The motif is
carried out in red and violet yarns.
A group of ive children’s tunics researched by C. Fluck, and kept in various museums, show a
symmetrical concept of decorating the neck-opening and the shoulders with simple tabulae.132 Fluck
has also published a sketch-like embroidery depicting Amor and Psyche, kept at Münster.133 Finally,
a uniquely embroidered bird in proile, oriented to the left, is preserved on a linen tabby, should be
noted. It is also part of the DTM Krefeld collection (Fig 10.4),134 dating to the 3rd–4th century AD.
The bird has a dark purple body; the tiny beak and short red legs are carried out in reddish yarns.
One wing and the eye are carried out in white linen yarn, in a secondary stage of production.
Polychrome vegetal designs
Among the polychrome designs, ive linen tabby textiles are decorated with loral motifs and
petals of pinkish lowers. These textiles relect designs from tapestry weave generally employed
for curtain textiles of the Brussels kind.135 The embroidered versions are kept in the Victoria and
Albert Museum, London, in the Abegg-Stiftung, at the Vatican Museums, the Louvre, and in the
Lamm Collection at Roslags-Näsby. 136
purple woollen and white linen embroidery. See: Cat. Budapest 2005, 94 no. 41.
129
4th to 5th century AD, from Akhmim, Kendrick 1920, 123 no. 299 pl. XV.
130
4th century AD, Museo Nazionale di Ravenna inv. no. 2455, Antinoopolis, purchased by A. Guimet in 1902, 21.5 × 10.5 cm,
19,5 × 2.6 cm (bands), linen tabby, purple woollen and white linen embroidery. See: Cat. Ravenna 1993, 34, 45–46.
131
6th to 7th century AD, Berlin inv. no. 9207, linen tabby, woollen embroidery carried out in red and purple yarns, 26
× 24 cm. See: Wulff and Volbach 1926, 137 no. 9207, pl. 85.
132
Fluck 2011, 77–82; Vogelsang-Eastwood 2010, 27 igs 2.3a–b.
133
Fluck 2011, 83 ig. 23; compare: Letellier-Willemin 2013, 22–23, with further objects.
134
DTM inv. no. 10180, Cat. Krefeld 2003, 34 no. 33, 8.8 × 6.6 cm, tabby, S-spun linen yarns, 25 warp-threads per cm, 17
weft-threads per cm. The embroidery is carried out in dark purple woollen yarn and white linen yarns, both kinds consist
of two single yarns which were then Z-plied. The bird is created in needle-pointing. While the body, beak and legs were
created by some sort of cross stitches or lines of diverging stem stitches, the white details are made in couching stitches.
135
Cat. Brussels 1988, 15, 16; O’Neill 1995, 22, 23.
136
Victoria and Albert: Kendrick 1920, 47 no. 22 pl. VIII–IX (= Fluck 2011, pl. XII); Abegg-Stiftung: Schrenk 2004,
395–396 no. 186; Vatican Museums: Renner 1982, 52–53 no. 14 pl. 13; Louvre: Mérat 2013, 132–133 igs 4a–b; Lamm
Collection: Lamm 1938, 24 ig. 1.
226 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
Fig. 10.4 Purple wool embroidery on linen tabby; Fig. 10.5 Polychrome wool embroidery on linen tabby
bird, possibly a dove, with purple body, red beak and with self-bands; 4th to 5th century AD; DTM Krefeld
red feet; 3rd to 4th century AD; DTM Krefeld inv. no. inv. no. 10274 © A. Paetz gen. Schieck, DTM.
10180 © A. Paetz gen. Schieck, DTM.
Polychrome circular designs
Four fragments stored in different collections present very simple and roughly made embroidered
designs. The most elaborate one is kept at Museum Simeonsstift, Trier.137 It shows a star-like
motif with a row of dots in yellow, orange, red green and blue. Two circular embroideries belong
to the Haifa Museum, one with embroidered dots and lowers carried out in blue, green and pink
silk threads on linen tabby, while the other one shows no distinctive motif in blue and coral-red
satin stitch.138 A fourth embroidered circle is kept in DTM Krefeld (Fig. 10.5):139 a fragment of
tabby weave bears an oval decoration which is framed by several lines and subdivided into four
compartments, each of a different colour. On top, lines of brownish yarn subdivide the areas. The
embroidered medallion was cut out of its former context and appliqué on an ancient linen tabby in
recent times. The colours employed are red, yellow, green and blue. Since all of these decorations
were cut out of larger textiles, their former use can no longer be determined.
Polychrome venationes (hunting scenes)
One piece of embroidered textile is unique in its design. It consists of a square panel with an
inscribed medallion containing a scene of a man (left) ighting a lion (right).140 The iconography
refers to characteristic scenes of Herakles ighting the Nemean lion, a type of image that was also
taken over into circus scenes as well as early testament scenes of David ighting the lion.
137
5.5 cm in diameter, see Nauerth 1989, 141 VII.169, pl. 12.
138
Baginski and Tidhar 1980, nos. 263, 264.
139
DTM inv. no. 10274, 24.5 × 17 cm, roundel 6 to 6.6 cm, tabby weave with self-bands, linen yarns, S-spun; the needle-pointing
is carried out in polychrome woollen and white linen yarns, Z-spun. The fragment was sewn onto ancient linen weave in 1955.
140
Cat. Rouen 2002, 115 no. 69, Louvre inv. no. AF 5854.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 227
Polychrome tabulae presenting human busts
A relatively large group of decorations is of the tabula type, bearing the bust of a human igure.
While some of the tabulae are framed by simple broad lines, others show frames of several
decorative bands. The earlier ones, supposedly, depict nimbed busts in a more complicated three-
quarter perspective with slightly turned faces and shoulders, the others present the persons frontally.
Two embroidered tabulae are kept at the Byzantine Museum of Athens.141 Their frames are simple,
the main ield is circular, and the corners are illed with lotus-lowers. The busts depict winged
and nimbed females with faces slightly turned to their right. They are dressed in tunic and coat,
wear heavy necklaces and hold fruit, possibly peaches. Two tabulae at the Whitworth Gallery,
Manchester show the same composition. A broad zone of tiny check-pattern frames the square and
keeps the bust of a nimbed female igure in a slight turn to her right.142 The one tabula presents a
young woman equipped with a heavy golden necklace, arm-rings, long pearl-earrings, and a lower
crest. She holds a piece of cloth in front of her chest containing fruits like peaches and grapes.
The second tabula depicts an elderly lady with veiled head and completely covered body without
jewelry, her only accessory being the lealess branch of a tree. The younger woman is interpreted
as harvest time, while the elder woman personiies winter.
Finally, a single tabula at Brooklyn shows a frame of several zones, the central one carrying
lowers. The bust is depicted frontally, showing a young and nimbed woman holding a lower-
basket and a palm leaf, possibly signifying summer time.143 Quite close in design, but in very bad
condition, are the two fragments of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.144
Simple Christian crosses
Christian crosses seem to have been embroidered into garments often. The simplest version consists
of a tiny cross with gabled ends.145 Others offer a mere outline sketch,146 and one textile at the
DTM Krefeld is composed of pinkish and dark blue outlines, illed with compartment carried out
in yellow, green and blue, reminding of a metal cross covered with gems (Fig. 10.6).147 Only one
embroidered Christian cross is of elaborate design, showing a detailed wreath of laurel leaves
embracing a cross of regular shape with slightly enlarged ends, being decorated with gem- and
pearl-motifs.148 The four angles are illed with birds. The textile is kept at the Victoria and Albert
Museum, London.
Christian Saints in silk embroidery of 7th and 8th centuries
A distinctive group of tunic decorations of clavi and orbiculi date to the 7th and 8th centuries AD.
They have been worked in silk embroidery on separate panels which were then applied to linen
tunics. One of the medallions, now in the Louvre was found in Akhmim and depicts the adoration of
141
Apostolaki 1932, 179 ig. 152 (= Lamm 1938, pl. II B; Renner-Volbach 1996, pl. 2 ig. 2); Renner-Volbach 1996, pl. 2 ig. 3.
142
Pritchard 2006, 30–31 igs 3.3–3.4 (= Renner-Volbach 1996, pl. 9 ig. 11, 12).
143
Thompson 1971, 26–27 no. 8 pl. V (= Renner-Volbach 1996, pl. 3 ig. 4).
144
Lamm 1938, A, B pl. III.
145
Renner 1982, 183 no. 95 pl. 55.
146
Renner 1982, 138–140 nos. 96, 97.
147
Inv. no. 12547, Cat. Krefeld 2003, 110 no. 231. – 13.4 × 15.3 cm, tabby, linen bearing an embroidered cross of 9.5 ×
7.4 cm, carried out in satin stitch and stem stitch (along the dark blue outlines of the shorter lines of the contour). The
yarns consist of simple S-spun woollen yarn, Z-plied, the red yarn is even made of three Z-plied threads.
148
Kendrick 1921, 15 no. 318 pl. V.
228 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
the three Magi.149 Others kept at the Victoria and
Albert Museum depict the bust of an archangel
surrounded by a petal-frame, the annunciation
to Mary, the apostles at a table, and worshippers
in front of a throne.150 Clavi were designed
corresponding to the roundels, one of which
depicts the birth of Christ,151 while a fragment
at Frankfurt shows three adoring igures and the
feet of a fourth igure,152 and one at the Victoria
and Albert Museum shows an indeterminate
scene,153 while a clavus at Brussels154 presents a
completely different design: it has the rounded
lower end of the clavus, being framed by a
petal frieze illed with medallions with busts
of saints.
Woollen birds and lowers of the 9th and 10th
centuries
Three embroidered roundels of less than 5 cm in
diameter are stored in the Brooklyn Museum.155
Two of them show birds of the guinea fowl
Fig. 10.6 Wool embroidery on linen tabby with self- kind, while the third depicts a vase of narrow
bands, depicting a simple cross; 4th to 5th century stand and two small handles. The ornaments are
AD; DTM Krefeld inv. no. 12547 © A. Paetz gen. carried out in lines of stem stitches and cover
Schieck, DTM. the whole ground. A very similarly designed
bird of has been published by A. Lorquin.156
A rather large scale ornament is an embroidered lower motif kept at the DTM Krefeld, found at
Fustat, Cairo157 (Figs 10.7a–c). The woollen embroidery is carried out in chain stitch on a woollen
tabby weave. The decoration formerly covered the whole ground but is now partly missing. These
sections reveal black outlines sketching the design on the tabby, to be embroidered at a second
stage. Another fragment, also deriving from Fustat, shows the same technique but in a igurative
design. It is kept in Göteborg158 and has been published by Lamm with further embroidered textiles
of this kind, showing other human igures and a centaur.159
149
Cat. Mariemont 1997, 186 no. 70 (= Cat. Brussels 1988, no. 100).
150
Kendrick 1922, 57–58 no. 778–779 pl. XVI, 784 pl. XVII (woollen embroidery); Rutschowscaya 1990, 132–133.
151
Cat. Nantes 2001, 137 no. 101 (= du Bourguet 1964, 213 E67; Rutschowscaya 1990, 128–129, 133).
152
Cat. Frankfurt 1986, 32–33 no. 13.
153
Kendrick 1922, 59 no. 782 pl. XVII.
154
Cat. Brussels 1988, ig. 99.
155
Thompson 1971, 32 no. 11 a–c pl. VIII.
156
3.7 × 4.7 cm, see Cat. Cluny 1992, 241–242 no. 93.
157
DTM Krefeld inv. no. 12899, 41 × 9.4 cm, see Cat. Krefeld 2003, 109 no. 228. The needle-pointing consists of vertical
lines carried out in vertical lines of stem stitch, giving the impression of a sort of cross stitch. The yarns employed
consist of wool, two simple yarns, Z-plied.
158
Erikson 1997, 162–164 no. 20 (= Lamm 1938, pl. IV A).
159
Lamm 1938, pl. I, IV B.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 229
a
c
Fig. 10.7a–c Wool embroidery on wool tabby; lower,
completely covering the textile ground; missing
embroidery yarns reveal black outline sketches applied
onto the cloth; 9th to 10th century AD, DTM Krefeld
b inv. no. 12899 © A. Paetz gen. Schieck, DTM.
Christian motifs in wool and silk embroidery of 10th to 13th centuries
A remarkable fragment of linen tabby is owned by the DTM Krefeld. It bears two embroidered
human igures shown frontally while praying (Figs 10.8a–c).160 They are arranged one above the
other, accompanied by Greek letters and a Christian cross. The igures measure 19.2 and 22.5 cm;
they are dressed in striped garments. Due to exact parallels in design, the Krefeld textile can be
assigned to the same embroiderer who produced a large textile in the Louvre measuring 4 m in
length. This textile depicts 12 igures of the Krefeld type, all in the same posture.161 The number
of igures and the inscriptions suggests the igure are the 12 Apostles. Three quite similar textiles
that may have served as altar cloths or scarves in liturgical rites are also stored in the Louvre.162
From the same period come a series of linen tunics bearing embroidered decorations illustrating
160
DTM Krefeld inv. no. 12697 A, B, found in the Fayum oasis, Egypt, dating to 10th to 12th century AD, see Cat.
Krefeld 2003, 110 no. 229. The needle-pointing was created with very thick woollen yarns. They are S-spun, and heavily
Z-plied, and employed doubled. The yarns are stitched in rows of stem stitch creating a dynamic surface structure.
161
du Bourguet 1964, 650 L6 (= Cat. Rouen 2002, 132 no. 97).
162
du Bourguet 1964, 648–649 L4–L5 (= Cat. Rouen 2002, 133 no. 98), 651 L7.
230 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
b
a
c
Fig. 10.8a–c Wool embroidery on linen tabby; two orans igures and a Christian cross; 10th to 13th century AD;
DTM Krefeld inv. no. 12697 © A. Paetz gen. Schieck, DTM.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 231
archangels, Mary and the child Jesus, St. George and some crosses, all carried out in silk yarns on
linen. These appear to have been quite common garments of the 13th century AD.163
Outer-Mediterranean embroidery of Hellenistic to Late Roman period
While the number of embroidered textiles in the Mediterranean region is quite small and only
slowly increases towards the Arab period, regions beyond the Mediterranean and the former borders
of Classical Antiquity in the Middle and Far East provide large numbers of embroidered textiles
throughout the same period. To give just an idea some of these inds are detailed here.
Three exceptional textile fragments belonging to a uniquely luxurious cloth dating to 3rd century
BC were found in a lead cofin of a woman buried in a mound at Sokolova Mohyla near the Greek
site of Panticapaeum (Kertch) on the Krim.164 The textiles consist of a woollen repp material dyed
with murex purple. It is covered with gold embroidery depicting ivy-leaf garlands.165 Further to
the East, at Zagunluk in the Qarqan-region in the Taklimakan basin (770–221 BC), large numbers
of embroidered textiles were found in the nomad necropolis.166 Others originate from burials at
Sampula, Lop-region, Hotan-district in China (Han to Jin period, 206 BC–420 AD).167 All of these
textiles are covered by varieties of chain stitch, covering the whole ground. The motifs are mainly
ornamental, consisting mostly of spiral ornaments. The greatest variety of textile techniques is found
among the remains of the kurgans of the nobility of the Yiong-Nu at Noin Ula, the northern region
of Mongolia.168 They consist of many embroidered textiles, mostly deriving from kurgan 6 and
25, in fragments of dress, wall-hangings, loor-coverings, saddle-cloths and banners. Embroidered
cloths are found made of wool, linen and silk; many of them show a great variety of stitches and
needle-painting,169 depicting tiger skins, turtles, Chinese dragons, etc., and the textiles seem to have
been produced in eastern textile centres possibly in China or in the North-Pontic region, while
others, like those of kurgan 25, show rather western, Hellenistic inluence presented in grifins and
palmetto friezes.170 This cultural amalgam is interpreted as purely Bactrian and the textiles may
well have been acquired as precious gifts, or as plunder in raids from the end of the 1st century
BC to the beginning of the 1st century AD.171
163
Volbach 1927, pl. 14 a–b (Mayence), pl. 15–17 (two tunics at Cairo, Moallakachurch; Berlin; Leipzig); Cat. Hamm
1996, 370–371 no. 423; Cat. Rouen 2002, 131–132 no. 96.
164
Gleba 2008, 66–67 igs 1, 2, 74 table 1 no. 78.
165
Unfortunately, the types of stitches were not classiied.
166
Cat. Mannheim 2007, 196–197 no. 96.
167
The dating ranges are quite wide and need further speciication which cannot be provided in this article. Cat. Mannheim
2007, 207–208 no. 103, 216 no. 116, 220 no. 123.
168
Polozmak and Barkova 2005, 30, 137; Paetz gen. Schieck 2009, 104–109. For other types of decoration see: (1) felted
appliqué: Polozmak and Barkova 2005, 28–29, 66, 109, 112–127, 129–130, 132, 140–147, 150–153; (2) leather appliqué,
partly gilded: Polozmak and Barkova 2005, 44–49, 52–57, 60–61, 108, 110; (3) applied threads sewn onto textiles:
Polozmak and Barkova 2005, 49 no. d, 92–95; (4) appliqué beads: Polozmak and Barkova 2005, 96; (5) Taqueté: Cat.
Mannheim 2007, 55–56, 74, 81, 84, 85, 260 no. 162; 250 no. 149; 251 no. 152; (6) painted garments: Cat. Mannheim
2007, 236–237 no. 136; (7) resist dye: Desrosiers, Debaine-Francfort and Idriss 2001 (the site was abandoned in the
1st half of the 4th century AD, both inds derive from houses that still have been inhabited in the 3rd century AD. Both
consist of cotton, tabby weave with Z-turned threads, having been imported to China from India.); (8) golden palettes
with grenadine: Cat. Mannheim 2007, 258–259 no. 159, 271 no. 164, 280 no. 169.
169
The grave must have been covered and packed with precious textiles. Among them felted carpets, wall-hangings,
banners etc. See: Rudenko 1969, 108–112, pl. 137–162, pl. IX, XIII, XVII, XXXIX, XLI–XLV, XLIX, L–LIX, LXII–
LXVII; Stawiski 1979, 82–85, ig. 54.
170
Trever 1932; Rudenko 1969, 93, LX–LXI; Stawiski 1979, ig. 55–56; Cat. Mannheim 2009, 385–386 no. 312.
171
Kurgan 6 served as resting place of the emperor Wu-chu-liu Jo-ti-hsien who was buried in 12–13 AD.
232 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
Chinese inds from Loulan-Gu Cheng, in the Qarkilik-region, provided several embroidered
textiles and garments in grave burials. They resemble motifs and ornaments of the earlier
embroidered textiles from Sagunluk and Sampula, with designs carried out in chain stitch in silk
yarns.172 While some fragments show wavy lines, spirals and elements reminiscent of stylized leaves,
the trousers of ‘the man from Yingpan’ worn beneath a kaftan, show a regular lozenge design, into
which cross-shaped elements were inserted, covering the complete textile.173
Conclusion
When investigating preserved and published textiles, the impression grows that technological input
into textile production was triggered by the east, throughout the centuries. This is evident in the
textile treasures of the New Kingdom, when Egypt was closely related to the Syrian court and once
that relationship declined the knowledge of techniques such as embroidery was lost. Again, after
about 1400 years, when Rome reached out to the East, a new range of textile techniques comes in,
among them once again, embroidery. When investigating preserved embroidered textiles, the greatest
varieties in materials, in stitch types and in motifs can be attested in Asia, particularly in China, and
it is not surprising that the textile inds from Roman period Palmyra relect this Chinese impact,
while other contemporary sites in the region produce very small numbers of individual objects or no
embroidered textiles at all. It is likely that the technique was transmitted to the West along the Silk
Road via Persia, Parthia, and Syria, especially Palmyra, through decorated textiles as trade goods,
or even by travelling craftspeople teaching their techniques. In the Late Roman period the number
of embroidered textiles increases, possibly due to trade goods coming into the Empire from the east.
But unlike the Asian textiles, which show very neatly made lines of very regularly arranged stitches
expressing great experience in this technique, contemporary embroidered textiles from Egypt present
irregularly arranged stitches and uneven structures. The Egyptian textiles evoke the impression that
embroidery served as a technique to add an ornament or simply colour the inished weave, while
the quality of the embroidery was of secondary importance. The number of embroidered textiles
increases again in the early Islamic period, and embroidery becomes one of the most frequently
employed decorative textile techniques. The quality of embroidered decorations greatly improves,
demonstrating the techniques of its craftspeople in regular structures, and the intentional employment
of variations and combinations of different kinds of stitches in one object. This again relects the
eastern inluences on technology and fashion, in particular of the Abbasid and the Fatimid courts.
Bibliography
Alfaro, C. 2001 Recent discoveries of gold textiles from Augustan age Gadir (Cádiz). In P. Walton Rogers et al.
(eds), The Roman textile industry and its inluence, 77–83.
Apostolaki, A. 1932 Ta Koptika Huphasmata tou en Athenais Mouseion Kosmetikon Technon.
Au il du Nil. Couleurs de l’Egypte Chrétienne, Exhibition catalogue Musée Dobrée Nantes. (Cat. Nantes 2001).
Baginski, A. and Tidhar, A. 1980 Textiles from Egypt, 4th–12th centuries C.E.
Barber E. J. W. 1982 New Kingdom Egyptian Textiles: Embroidery vs. Weaving, AJA 86, 442–445.
Barber, E. J. W. 1992 Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special
Reference to the Aegean.
172
Cat. Mannheim 2007, 238 no. 137, 254 no. 155.
173
Cat. Mannheim 2007, 260 no. 162.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 233
Barber, E. J. W. 1993 The peplos of Athena. In J. Neils (ed.), Goddess and Polis. The Panathenaic Festival in
Ancient Athens, 103–117.
Bénazeth, D. 2011 Accessoires vestimentaires dans la collection de textiles coptes du muse du Louvre. In A. De
Moor and C. Fluck (eds), 12–33.
Bender Jørgensen, L. 2000 The Mons Claudianus Textile Project. In D. Cardon and M. Feugère (eds) Archéologie
des textiles des origines au Ve siècle, Actes du colloque de Latte, octobre 1999, 253–263.
Bender Jørgensen, L. 2004 Team Work on Roman Textiles: The Mons Claudianus Textile Project. In C. Alfaro,
J. P. Wild and B. Costa (eds), Purpureae Vestes, Actas del I Symposium Internacional sobre Textiles y Tintes
del Mediterráneo en época romana, Ibiza Novembre 8 to 10, 2002, 69–75.
Blümmner, H. 1875 Technologie und Terminologie der Gewerbe und Künste bei Griechen und Römern, vol. I.
Boser, R. and Müller, I. 1984 Stickerei, 2nd edition.
Bruwier, M.-C. 1997, Égyptiennes Étoffes Coptes du Nil. (Cat. Mariemont 1997).
Crowfoot, G. M. and de G. Davies, N. 1941 The Tunic of Tut’Ankhamun. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 27, 113–130.
de Dillmont, Th. (about 1900) Motifs de Broderie Copte I–III, L’Art Chrétien en Égypte, Bibliothèque D.M.C.
De Moor, A. 2008 3500 Years of Textile Art. The collection in headqARTers.
De Moor, A. and Fluck, C. (eds) 2011 Dress Accessories of the 1st Millennium A.D. from Egypt, Proceedings of
the 6th conference of the research group ‘Textiles from the Nile Valley’ Antwerp, October 2 to 3, 2009.
De Moor, A., Fluck, C. and Linscheid, P. (eds) 2013 Drawing the threads together. Textiles and footwear of the
1st millennium AD from Egypt, Proceedings of the 7th conference of the research group, ‘Textiles from the Nile
Valley’ Antwerp, October 7 to 9, 2011.
Desrosiers, S., Debaine-Francfort, C. and Idriss, A. 2001 Two resist-dyed cottons recently found at Karadong,
Xinjiang (third century AD). In P. Walton Rogers, L. Bender Jørgensen and A. Rast-Eicher (eds) The Roman
Textile Industry and its Inluence. A birthday tribute to John Peter Wild, 48–55.
Droß-Krüpe, K. 2011 Wolle – Weber – Wirtschaft. Die Textilproduktion der römischen Kaiserzeit im Spiegel der
papyrologischen Überlieferung, Philippika 46.
du Bourguet, P. 1964 Musée National du Louvre Catalogue des étoffes coptes.
Durand, M. and Saragoza, F. (eds) 1932 Égypte, la trame de l’Histoire. Textiles pharaoniques, coptes et islamiques.
(Cat. Rouen 2002).
Erikson, M. 1997 Textiles in Egypt 200–1500 AD in Swedish Museum Collections.
Ernst, H. (no date) Tapisseries et Etoffes Coptes.
Fluck, C. and Froschauer, H. 2011 Dress accessories from Antinoupolis – inds from the northern necropolis. In
A. De Moor and C. Fluck (eds) 2011, 54–69.
Fluck, C. 2011 Bestickte Kleider aus dem spätantiken Ägypten. In M. Eaton-Krauss, C. Fluck and G. J. M. van
Loon (eds), Egypt 1350 BC–AD 1800. Art and Archaeological Studies for Gawdat Gabra, 75–86.
Forrer, R. 1891 Römische und byzantinische Seidentextilien aus dem Gräberfeld von Achmim-Panopolis.
Gleba, M. 2008 Auratae vestes: Gold textiles in the Ancient Mediterranean. In C. Alfaro and L. Karali (eds), Vestidos,
textiles y tintes. Estudios sobre la producción de bienes de consume en la Antigüedad, Purpureae Vestes II, 61–77.
Gostencnik, K. 2011 Textile Production in Late Republic and early Empire: “Old Virunum” on Magdalensberg
in Noricum (Southern Austria). In C. Alfaro, J.-P. Brun, Ph. Borgard, and T. Pierobon Benoit (eds), Textiles y
Tintes en la ciudad antigua, Actas del III Symposium Internacional sobre Textiles y Tintes del Mediterráneo
en el mundo antiguo, Purpureae Vestes III, Nápoles, 13 al 15 de noviembre, 2008, 41–53.
Grömer, K. 2010 Prähistorische Textilkunst in Mitteleuropa. Geschichte des Handwerkes und Kleidung vor den Römern.
Hall, R. 1990 Egyptian Textiles, 2nd edition.
Hansen, S., Wieczorek, A. and Tellenbach, M. (eds) 2009 Alexander der Große und die Öffnung der Welt – Asiens
Kulturen im Wandel, Catalogue Exhibition Mannheim October 3, 2009, to February 21, 2010. (Cat. Mannheim 2009).
Harlizius-Klück, E. 2004 Weberei als episteme und die Genese der deduktiven Mathematik – in vier Umschweifen
entwickelt aus Platons Dialog Politikos.
Harlow, M. 2004 Clothes maketh man: Power dressing and the elite male in the later Roman world. In L. Brubaker
and J. M. H. Smith (eds), Gender in the Early Medieval World: East and West, 300–900, 44–69.
Janssen, R. M. 1990 Gewänder für das Leben und den Tod im Alten Ägypten Das Altertum 36, 5–13.
Kendrick, A.-F. 1920 Catalogue of the Textiles from burying-grounds in Egypt I.
234 Kerstin Droß-Krüpe and Annette Paetz gen. Schieck
Kendrick, A.-F. 1921 Catalogue of the Textiles from burying-grounds in Egypt II.
Kendrick, A.-F. 1922 Catalogue of the Textiles from burying-grounds in Egypt III.
Kwaspen, A. 2011 Sprang hairnets in the Katoen Natie Collection. In A. De Moor and C. Fluck (eds) 2011, 70–95.
Lafontaine-Dosogne, J. 1988 Textiles Coptes. Musée Royal d’Art et d’Histoire. (Cat. Brussels 1988).
Lamm, C. J. 1938 Coptic Wool Embroideries Bulletin de la Société d’Archéologie Copte (BSAC) 4, 23–28.
Letellier-Willemin, F. 2013 The embroidered tunic of Dush – a new approach. In A. De Moor, C. Fluck and P.
Linscheid 2013, 22–33.
Liddle, H. G., Scott, S. and Jones, H. S. 1940 A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised and augmented throughout.
Lorquin, A. 1992 Les tissus coptes au musée national du Moyen Age, Thermes de Cluny, Catalogue des étoffes
égyptiennes de lin et de laine de l’Antiquité tardive aux premiers siècles de l’Islam.
Mannering, U. 2000 The Roman Tradition of Weaving and Sewing: A Guide to Function? Archaeological Textiles
Newsletter 30, 10–16.
Mansield, J. M. 1995 The Robe of Athena and the Panathenaic Peplos.
Mérat, A. 2013 Étude technique et iconographique d’un ensemble de broderies égyptiennes antiques conservées
au musée du Louvre. In A. De Moor, C. Fluck and P. Linscheid (eds) 2013 126–139.
Mitschke, S. and Paetz gen. Schieck, A. 2012 Dressing the Dead in the City of Rome: burial customs according
to textiles. In M. Carroll and J. P. Wild (eds), Dressing the Dead in Classical Antiquity, 115–133.
Mueller, M. 2010 Helen’s Hands: Weaving for Kleos in the Odyssey. Helios 37/1, 1–21.
Muthesius, A. 2001 A previously Unrecognised Lion Silk at Canterbury Cathedral. In P. Walton Rogers, L. Bender Jørgensen
and A. Rast-Eicher (eds), The Roman Textile Industry and its Inluence. A Birthday Tribute to John Peter Wild, 148–157.
Nauerth, C. 1986 Koptische Stoffe, Liebieghaus Monographie 9.
Nauerth, C. 1989 Die koptischen Textilien der Sammlung Wilhelm Rautenstrauch im Städtischen Museum Simeonstift
Trier. (Cat. Frankfurt 1986).
O’Neill, O. (ed.) 1995 Textiles of Late Antiquity.
Osborne, J. 1992 Textiles and Their Painted Imitations in Early Medieval Rome, Papers of the British School in
Rome 60, 309–351.
Paetz gen. Schieck, A. 2003 Aus Gräbern geborgen. Koptische Textilien aus eigener Sammlung, Exhibition Krefeld
Mai to September 2003. (Cat. Krefeld 2003).
Paetz gen. Schieck, A. 2009 Alexander der Große und das Ornat des persischen Großkönigs. In Cat. Mannheim
2009, 104–109.
Paetz gen. Schieck, A., Mitschke, S. and Melillo, L. 2014 Purpur, Gold und Seide au der Asche Pompejis. Enizigartige
Belege für die textile Vielfalt in einer römanischen Stadt des 1 Jahrhunderts n. Ch. In Antike Welt 1, 15–21.
Pister, R. 1934 Textiles de Palmyra découverts par le Service des Antiquités du Haut-Commissariat de la République
Française dans la nécropole de Palmyre.
Pister, R. 1936 Les Textiles du Tombeau de Toutankhamoun. In R. Pister, Matériaux pour servir au classement des
textiles ègyptiens postérieurs á la conquête Arabe, extrait de la Revue des Arts Asiatiques X, Fasc. 1 et 2, 207–218.
Pister, R. 1937 Nouveaux textiles de Palmyra découverts par le Service des Antiquités du Haut-Commissariat de
la République Française dans la nécropole de Palmyre (tour d’Élahbel).
Pister, R. 1940 Textiles de Palmyra découverts par le Service des Antiquités du Haut-Commissariat de la République
Française dans la nécropole de Palmyre III.
Pister, R. and Bellinger, L. 1945 The Excavations at Dura-Europos conducted by Yale University and the French
Research Academy of Inscriptions and Letters, Final Report IV Part II The Textiles.
Polozmak, N. V. and Barkova, L. L. 2005 Koztjium u Tekztila Pazlirliktev Altaja (IV–III B. B. lo n. l).
Pritchard, F. 2006 Clothing Culture. Dress in Egypt in the First Millennium AD. The Whitworth Art Gallery.
Pruneti, P. 1998–1999 Plumarios e barbarikarios: osservazioni lessicali in margine all’Edictum de Pretiis e alla
testimonianza dei papiri, Analecta Papirologica 10–11, 149–159.
Reed, J. D. 2007 Virgil’s Gaze. Nation and poetry in the Aeneid.
Renner, D. 1982 Die koptischen Textilien in den Vatikanischen Museen.
Renner-Volbach, D. 1996 Eine Jahreszeit am Nil.
Riefstahl, E. 1944 Patterned Textiles in Pharaonic Egypt.
Rizzardi, A. 1993 I tessuti copti del museo nazionale die Ravenna.
10. Unravelling the Tangled Threads of Ancient Embroidery 235
Rudenko, S. I. 1969 Die Kultur der Hsiung-Nu und die Hügelgräber von Noin Ula.
Rufing, K. 2008 Die beruliche Spezialisierung in Handel und Handwerk. Untersuchungen zu ihrer Entwicklung und
zu ihren Bedingungen in der römischen Kaiserzeit im östlichen Mittelmeerraum auf der Grundlage griechischer
Inschriften und Papyri, Pharos 24.
Rutschowscaya, M.-H. 1990 Tissus Coptes.
Salzmann-Mitchell, P. B. 2005 A Web of Fantasies: Gaze, Image and Gender in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
Schmidt-Colinet, A. and Stauffer, A. 2000 Die Textilien aus Palmyra. Neue und alte Funde.
Schrenk, S. 2004 Textilien des Mittelmeerraumes aus spätantiker bis frühislamischer Zeit, Die Textilsammlung
der Abegg-Stiftung 4.
Shamir, O. 1999 Textiles, Basketry and Cordage from ‘En Rahel. ‘Atiqot 37, 91–123.
Sheffer, A. and Granger-Taylor, H. 1994 Masada IV. Textiles from Masada – a primary selection. The Yigael Yadin
Excavations 1963–1965, Final Reports.
Slater, W. J. 1969 Lexicon to Pindar.
Stauffer, A. 2007 Textilien aus Xinjiang. Textilherstellung und Kulturtransfer entlang der Handelsrouten an der
Taklamakan. In Cat. Mannheim 2007, 72–87.
Stauffer, A. 2013 Textile Luxusgüter aus dem Osten. In M. Tellenbach, R. Schulz and A. Wieczorek (eds), Die
Macht der Toga. Dresscode im römischen Weltreich, 132–136.
Stawiski, A. 1979 Mittelasien – Kunst der Kuschan.
Thompson, D. 1971 Coptic Textiles in the Brooklyn Museum.
Török, L. (ed.) 2005 After the Pharaohs. Treasures of Coptic Art from Egyptian Collections, Exhibition. (Cat.
Budapest 2005).
Trever, A. 1932 Excavation in Northern Mongolia.
Trilling, J. 1982 The Roman Heritage. Textiles from Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean 300 to 600 AD.
van Raemdonck, M., Verhecken-Lammens, C. and De Jonghe, D. 2011 The mummy of the ‘embroideress’ and the
contents of her grave. In A. De Moor and C. Fluck (eds) 2011, 222–235.
Vicari, F. 2001 Produzione e commercio dei tessuti nell’Occidente romano.
Vogelsang-Eastwood, G. 1993 Pharaonic Egyptian Clothing.
Vogelsang-Eastwood, G. 1995 Die Kleider des Pharaos. Die Verwendung von Stoffen im Alten Ägypten.
Vogelsang-Eastwood, G. 2010 Embroidery from the Arab World.
Volbach, W. F. 1927 Eine koptische Tunika im Römisch-Germanischen Central-Museum. In Direktion des RGZM
(ed.), Festschrift zur Feier des fünfundsiebzigjährigen Bestehens des Römisch-Germanischen Zentral-Museums
zu Mainz, 187–191.
Volbach, W. F. 1932 Spätantike und frühmittelalterliche Stoffe. Kataloge des Römisch-Germanischen Zentral-Museums.
von Eles, P. (ed.) 2002 Guerriero e sacerdote. Autorità e comunità nell’éta del ferro a Verucchio. La tomba del trono.
von Falck, M. (ed.) 1996 Ägypten, Schätze aus dem Wüstensand. Kunst und Kultur der Christen am Nil, Exhibition
Hamm June to October 1996. (Cat. Hamm 1996).
von Rummel, Ph. 2007 Habitus barbarus. Kleidung und Repräsentation spätantiker Eliten im 4. und 5. Jahrhundert.
Wace, A. J. B. 1948 Weaving or embroidery? AJA 52, 51–55.
Wagner-Hasel, B. 2000 Der Stoff der Gaben: Kultur und Politik des Schenkens und Tauschens im archaischen Griechenland.
Wieczorek, A. and Lind, C. (eds) 2007, Ursprünge der Seidenstraße. Sensationelle Neufunde aus Xinjiang, China.
(Cat. Mannheim 2007).
Wild, F. 2011 Fringes and aprons – Meroitic clothing: an update from Qasr Ibrim. In A De Moor and C. Fluck
(eds) 2011, 110–119.
Winslow Grimm, M. 1993 Directory of Hand Stitches used in Textile Conservation, Researched by the Study Group
on Threads and Stitching Techniques.
Wulff, O. and Volbach, W. F. 1926 Spätantike und koptische Stoffe aus ägyptischen Grabfunden.
Yadin, Y. 1963 The Finds from the Bar Kokhba Period in the Cave of Letters.