Page:Textile fabrics; a descriptive catalogue of the collection of church-vestments, dresses, silk stuffs, needle-work and tapestries, forming that section of the Museum (IA textilefabricsde00soutrich).pdf/464

 86O9.

Piece of Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; pattern, wreaths of white flowers, green boughs bearing white flowers, forming part of a design in which an ellipsis in green constitutes a leading portion; and a broad band figured with scroll-work and an Arabic sentence, all in gold. Sicilian, 13th century. 1 foot 5-1/2 inches by 5-3/4 inches.

Probably in the sample before us we behold a work from the royal looms or "tiraz"—silk-house—of Palermo, when Sicily was under the sway of France, in the person of a prince belonging to the house of Anjou. In the first place, we have the fawn—a tone of the murrey colour of our old English writers—and the light joyous green; in the second place, the ellipsis was there, though our specimen is too small to show it all. Those narrow borders that edge the large golden lettered band present us with a row of golden half-moons and blue fleurs-de-lis on one side; on the other, a row of golden half-moons and blue cross-crosslets: on the band itself we find, alternating with foliage, an oblong square, within which is written a short sentence in Arabic—a kindly word, a wish of health and happiness to the wearer—such as was, and still is, the custom among the Arabs. Sure is it that this textile, if wrought by Saracenic hands, was done under a Christian prince, and that prince a Frenchman.

861O.

Piece of Silk Damask; ground, fawn-colour; pattern, birds and dogs in green. Sicilian, 14th century. 1 foot 4-1/2 inches by 10-1/4 inches.

Like so many other specimens of the Palermitan loom, both in colours and design, this piece is rather poor in its silk, which is harsh and somewhat thin. The birds are a swan ruffling up its feathers at the presence of an eagle perched just overhead, amid branches and foliage in which the trefoil abounds.