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2004
Shuttle, Brush and Ball of Thread Late Antique Textiles from Egypt and their Production 25th April – 14th November 2004 daily 2 p.m. – 5.30 p.m. During the second to eighth centuries three great civilizations overlapped in the Nile delta – the late Graeco-Roman, the Christian and the Islamic. The result was an epoch of exceptional cultural productiveness and diversity, which left its mark on the textiles of the period. This year the Abegg Foundation’s special exhibition examines the production techniques of that age, showing the range from highly complex weaving with preselected repeat patterns through to freely designed tapestry weaving. One highlight is formed by three fully preserved garments, which were woven to shape, complete with all decorations. A second significant group comprises textiles for interior use, such as wall hangings, curtains and bedcovers. The extremely delicate voiles with colourful silk details, and the woven decorative elements in imperial purple and gold, are really quite exceptional. These textile treasures are grouped according to the different techniques used in their production, represented by the main utensils – brush, shuttle and ball of thread. Texte français sur demande * * * Mysteries still enshroud the colourful, technically sophisticated and sometimes quite large textiles from the first centuries of the first millennium, some of which are very well-preserved. Most were found in Egypt and originate from the extensive cemeteries of the late Antique and early Islamic periods. They are commonly known as "Coptic" textiles, but since this term can be applied to religion and art even of the present day, it is now used less often to refer to objects from the first millennium. This year’s special exhibition at the Abegg-Stiftung, « Shuttle, Brush and Ball of Thread: Late Antique Textiles from Egypt and their Production» is devoted to these fabrics. The exhibition shows a selection from the Abegg-Stiftung’s wealth of surviving textiles, including no less than three fully preserved tunics, fragments of garments, parts of curtains, hangings used for separating off parts of rooms and for other purposes, furnishing textiles, luxurious bands and reconstructable wall hangings up to 7 m wide. The exhibition focuses on the various techniques for producing and decorating fabric. The brush, shuttle and ball of thread were important utensils: they stand for the painting of textiles, the weaving of complex fabrics, and tapestry weaving—techniques that are explained in the exhibition. The exhibition opens up surprising perspectives. It shows the close relationship between function and methods of production —particularly with textiles—and at the same time provides insights into the means of identifying fragments. The tunic, for example, the most common garment of the age, was produced in a unique way. Tunics were generally rectangular, or T-shaped if the garment had sleeves. While they were being woven they lay crosswise in front of the weaver, which greatly facilitated reproduction of the clear and fairly standardized system of decoration. The exhibition shows a tunic spread out to its full extent to illustrate its impressive size—it required a weaving area of around 260 x 270 cm. Our knowledge of the weaving method has allowed many fragments to be identified as remnants of tunics, thus revealing the great diversity of late Antique clothing: linen and woollen textiles were used, and also silk, which is sometimes of unbelievable fineness. Some fabrics were decorated with geometrical patterns, individual figures, or, for example, a cycle of pictures from the life of the Virgin Mary. Mythological themes were always popular. Two tunics are shown the way they used to be worn: one is a heavy, austere, almost coat-like garment, the other a light, elegant woollen tunic with a check pattern. The degree of certainty in identifying tunic fragments also allows us to distinguish fragments of textiles which had other functions. Thus the exhibition also shows furnishing textiles, some of which are of enormous size. Microscopic traces of feathers were detected on the back of one such piece of cloth. The textiles were woven using a complex technique to produce a running pattern of animal friezes or geometric motifs. Parts of curtains and other hangings also appear to have been decorated in this way. They include two new acquisitions: square panels woven using tapestry techniques in subtly differentiated colours, with personifications of spring and summer in the form of busts. These are among the most impressive examples of tapestry art that the age produced. Finally, large wall hangings were a special kind of luxurious décor. They probably adorned rich town houses and rural villas. A large wall hanging with a Biblical cycle may well have hung in a church. The two different techniques of applying decorations to material with a brush which were used with large hangings, round off the picture of textile art that—particularly in the case of wall décor—is equal in status to murals and mosaics. Texte français sur demande |
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