Fragment of a hat BM EA72285

Find spot (context): Qasr Ibrim (Sudanese Nubia). Site unknown (unknown). Textile register number QI.72.T/224a,b,c.

Dating: Late Christian Period (14th-15th c. CE)

Present location: British Museum, London. Inventory number EA72285.

Dimensions (in cm): 5.5x13

Weave: Tabby with supplementary weft (a), tabby (b).

Decoration: The blue hem is quilted in an interweaving lattice design.

Warp (fibre, twist, color, proportion):
Outer layer (a)
- silk
- I
- blue
- est. 35-40 threads/cm

Inner layer (b)
- linen
- Z
- undyed
- 16-18 threads/cm

Weft (fibre, twist, color, proportion):
Outer layer (a)
- silk/gilded leather strips
- I
- blue
- est. 35-40 picks/cm; gilded threads set by 8 (visible in one area only)

Inner layer (b)
- linen
- Z
- undyed
- 16-18 picks/cm

Other features: The linen fabric was also used at the back. Between the two linen layers, padding with raw cotton. This decorated hem provides also a good analogy to decorated borders of sleeves and edges of elite costumes represented in numerous Nubian mural paintings. The worn state of this fragment does not exclude its possible use as a decorative border of a robe's sleeve.

Documentation: British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA72285
Textile seen in January 2017 (MM Wozniak).

Analysis: n.c.

Production: Imported. Quilting possibly made in Nubia.