Fragment of Striped Silk

Egypt

13th-15th century

Medium
Linen and silk; plain weave, bands of weft-faced plain weave with paired warps, bands of twill weave; stripes of warp-faced plain weave and supplementary warp and weft float weaves
Classification
Textile
Dimensions
24.2 × 14 cm (9 1/2 × 5 1/2 in.)
Culture
Egypt
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago, Textiles
Credit line
Gift of Martin A. Ryerson through the Antiquarian Society
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Art Institute of Chicago

About this work

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, dealers in Egyptian cities including Alexandria and Cairo would often cut up ancient and antique textiles into many pieces in order sell them to multiple buyers, maximizing their profits. Fragments helped private collectors and museums at the time to build large collections that included as many different textiles as possible. This fragment was cut from the larger cloth in the collection of the National Museums in Berlin, Museum für Islamische Kunst.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0