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The Coptic textiles and old tapestries , usually composed of linen thread, wool, hemp, very rarely of silk, evoke the first century of our era and a civilization which bloomed in Egypt. The fabrics, found in tombs, were used for clothings and furniture by Egyptians, between the end of the second and the twelfth century AD.
The name “Coptic” is the deformation of the word “Egyptian” reduced to its consonants in the written language of the Arab conquerors.
This Coptic art, covering a period of ten centuries, was rediscovered at the end of the nineteenth century as a result of excavations made in Egypt on the site of Antinoê, thanks to the generosity of Emile Guimet who sponsored them. The majority of Coptic tapestries consists of fragments of clothings used by the laity. They mainly refer to Greco-Roman mythology for their iconographic inspiration. The symbolic material of Antiquity (Dionysus, the Nereids) gradually became christianised. An evolution can be observed in the rendering of relief which, towards the third century, favoured massive forms and played on the contrast of coloured surfaces. Most of the Coptic textiles used the technique of tapestry. They enhanced the general effect thanks to the lustre of the threads of warp and weft creating a relief of crests and hollows. rising out of the regular pattern. Copts were experts at using dyes and the well-preserved dazzling colours of Coptic items are evidence of their skill.
The variety and freshness of colours are the most striking features of Coptic textiles.
The coptic textile production was widely opened to outside influence and this item is a significant example. Woven in an Egyptian workshop, it illustrates a theme common to Roman paintings and mosaics.
The Textile Museum in Lyon, french museum about textile history and textile industry :
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