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Eastern Horse Archer on a Byzantine Textile,
Egypt or Byzantium, 6th-7th centuries,
Victoria and Albert Museum 2185A-1900
Textile Fragment with Hunting Scene
Place of origin: Byzantine (Possibly, made)
Date: ca. AD500-700 (made)
Materials and Techniques: Woven silk
Museum number: 2185A-1900
A piece of samite medallion woven in blue and cream silk and glued to a linen backing. Egypt or Byzantine, ca. AD500-700. A floral border, with guilloche, encircles two mounted huntsmen with bows, who are attacking lions/tigers at the horses feet. The warriors wear cloaks and the horses have decorative harnesses. Battles between men and animals symbolised the struggle between good and evil in human nature. Similar to 2185-1900, 2185B-1900, 2186-1900, 817-190 and 292-1889. Similar to a piece held by Abegg-Stiftung, Riggisberg.
Samite (twill woven silk) was thought to originate from Persia under Sassanian rule (AD224-651). It was commonly decorated with pairs of animals and birds and set in pearled lotus roundels. It is often found in Western burials, within church possessions and along the Silk Road. Byzantine weaving workshops took on the samite technique to make it an essential weave of the period. It was a luxury textile of the Middle Ages brought to Europe when the Crusades opened up direct contact with the East. It was forbidden to the middle classes of France under the sumptuary rules c. 1470.
Victoria and Albert Museum
