Gebel Adda (Sudanese Nubia). Church IV, vault A (-B) (funerary). Field registration number: n.d. Museum textile number #103.
13th-14th c. CE
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (Canada). Inventory number ROM 973.24.3480.2.
a) 6x5;
b) 8x10;
c) not measured (loose fill)
a) ground weave tabby with supplementary weft in satin weave;
b) tabby;
c) no woven, raw fibre (cotton)
a) banded decor alternating in a-b-c-d-e-d-c rythm: a=pink, b=yellow, c=pink/black/orange/black, d=geometrical patterns black on white ground, e=orange framed by black
b) chequered in white and blue (9 white/2 blue in warp and weft)
c) n.c.
a) - cotton
- Z
- white (undyed)
- 9 threads/cm (each thread counts 3 grouped threads, unplyed)
b) - linen
- S
- cream (undyed), blue
- 16-20 threads/cm
c) n.c.
a) - silk
- I or slight Z
- pink, yellow, orange, black
- c. 20 threads/cm
b) - linen
- Z
- cream (undyed), blue
- 16-20/cm
c) n.c.
The fragments are samples from a quilt found in a burial located in church IV, crypt A (-B). It was composed of a central silk panel [a] sewn on a linen ground [b] and inside was stuffed with raw cotton [c].
Textile fragments examined by M.M. Wozniak in November 2017 (The whole quilt inv. 973.24.3480.1 was not available for study during my stay).
n.c.
Imported. Possibly made in Nubia from reused imported fabrics.