Gebel Adda (Sudanese Nubia). Church IV, vault D (-A) (funerary). Field registration number: 66:1:35. Museum textile number #107.
13th-14th c. CE
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (Canada). Inventory number ROM 973.24.2901.9
16x10, 8x9 + smaller fragments not measured
Warp-faced tabby
Alternating stripes in black/ecru/orange/green, and black/ecru/red/blue
- silk
- slight S
- black, ecru, red, blue
- 40 to 44 paired warps/cm (red and black threads) and 56 paired warps/cm (blue and ecru threads)
- cotton
- Z spun
- dark blue (thread dye)
- 12 paired picks/cm
Simple selvedge (Type C1). The fragments are samples from a quilt found in a burial located in church IV, crypt D (-A). It was composed of a central silk panel framed by dark red cotton panels (ROM 973.24.2901.7) and stuffed with raw cotton. The central panel was itself made at least from two pieces ROM 973.24.2909.1 (210x88cm) and ROM 973.24.2909.2 (208x87). These pieces were not available for examination during my visit, but the smaller fragments I had the opportunity to study allowed a complete technical analysis of the textile.
Textile fragments examined by M.M. Wozniak in November 2017.
n.c.
The silk panel was imported. The whole quilt may have been made in Nubia from (reused) imported fabrics.