A COPTIC TEXTILE
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF BARBARA AND BERNARD BERGREEN
A COPTIC TEXTILE

CIRCA 5TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

Details
A COPTIC TEXTILE
CIRCA 5TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.
24 ¾ in. (62.8 cm.) high
Provenance
with Martin and Ullman, Artweave Textile Gallery, New York.
Bernard (1923-2023) and Barbara (1937-2021) Bergreen, New York, acquired from the above, 1982; thence by descent to the current owners.
Literature
J. Allen, “Past Perfect: Bernard and Barbara Bergreen on Fifth Avenue,” Architectural Digest, November 1987, p. 191.

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Hannah Fox Solomon
Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

Lot Essay

Most likely part of a wall hanging or curtain, this tapestry fragment belongs to a group featuring dark-skinned figures (see K. Colburn, “Dark-skinned Figures in Late Antique Egyptian Textiles”, in A. M. Achi, ed., Africa and Byzantium, pp. 116-120) An example in the British Museum may depict Artemis and Actaeon, while an example in the Coptic Museum shows a piper playing an aulos or flute (see op. cit., no. 79). The ancient textile center of Akhmim in Upper Egypt has been suggested as the place of production of these textiles, which are normally preserved from funerary contexts, regardless of their original function.

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