Egyptian Coptic-Fatimid Mounted Textile with Dancers
Circa 12th century A.D. The woven textile fragment of linen and wool with a large horizontal decorative band depicting octagonal rosettes inscribed in rhomboids; the rosettes divided by stylised columns decorated with foliage elements; the band edged by two lateral segments formed of octagonal rosettes enclosing flowers, bordered with scalloped geometries; at the bottom four stylised dancers. Cf. Rutschowscaya, M.H., Tissus Coptes, Paris, 1990, p.73, for similar. 285 grams, 60 x 35.5 cm (23 5/8 x 14 in.).

Acquired 1970s-1996. Property of a North American collector. London collection, 2016. It is the lower part of a cloak from the Fatimid era. The end of the Coptic period was characterised by a treatment of eight-lobed rosettes, a current motif in Muslim art. The four dancers are made as simple signs. [No Reserve]