Textile Fragment with Fantastic Creatures and Fish

Textile Fragment with Fantastic Creatures and Fish

Coptic (Egypt), ca. 4th-5th century

linen with indigo dye
height 3 inches
width 4.5 inches

Hallie Ford Museum Label Text
This fragment of a Coptic textile was most likely discovered in one of the Christian cemeteries of Egypt where, because of the exceptionally dry climate, many such textiles with well-preserved color have been discovered. These textiles are mainly from tunics or mantles that were decorated with sleeve and shoulder bands as well as panels on the shoulders and near the hem. In the past, it was common practice after excavation to cut out and keep only the well-preserved and decorated areas of these garments. Probably from a shoulder band, this fragment has a wave pattern border and two fantastic creatures that betray Hellenistic influence. These figures with large eyes and raised hands (though to avert the evil eye) have interlocking animal-like lower bodies. In the Coptic period, the opposition and duality represented by this pair may reflect the Gnostic idea of the spiritual struggle inherent in human dualistic nature.

Willamette University, Hallie Ford Museum of Art    SPG50.050
Gift of Mark and Janeth Hogue Sponenburgh