Description
Segmentum (medallions) like this decorated tunics in Coptic Egypt. Medallions were woven into a tunic’s shoulders or lower half. This medallion's design scheme displays waves encircling geometric shapes and representational images. It features a cross-legged dancer balanced on a vase with hands raised prayerfully. Other dancers clang cymbals while satyrs frolic below them. Coptic can refer to a language, an ethnic group, a religion, or an artistic style (which wasn’t always Christian). Coptic classical imagery reflects the Hellenized (Greek, 305–30 BC) and Roman cultures of Egypt (30 BC–AD 395) before the Byzantine era.
Provenance
(Mrs. Paul Mallon, Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (1982); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1982-)
Accession Number
1982.271
Medium
Wool: tabby ground, inwoven tapestry ornament
Dimensions
Overall: 33 x 29.2 cm (13 x 11 1/2 in.)
Classification
Textile
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund