Clavus Fragment (detail) Woven in a tapestry technique in madder-red, rose, blue,
yellow, green, brown, and beige wools on a linen ground, this
clavus,
framed with a polychrome jeweled border, was once the colorful ornament
for a tunic. In the length of the strip there are figures whose distorted
limbs closely echo the curves of the stylized caulicole, or plant
stems, with which they alternate. The subject is unclear. The schematized
figures may be dancers with shawls, or Amazons with one breast exposed
and wielding a shield, or orants with arms raised in prayer. The bust in
the pendant medallion may represent a haloed saint, but more likely the
"halo" is the figure's massive shock of hair. The composition and
proportions have become stylized and wholly decorative, as is commonly
found in later Coptic textiles.
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