Square with Bird
Byzantine
Red tapestry woven square. Red oval medallion at center contains a bird standing in profile, possibly a duck. An eight pointed star in contrasting buff wefts extends around the central medallion. Four of the star’s points extend to the edges of the square, the other four terminate in bursts of vine tendrils. Red circles likely representing jewels sit within the points of the star. A red scrolling wave border runs around all sides of the square. Supplementary weft wrapping in buff yarn creates the vertical lines in the wave border, the sides of the star, and inner border of the square. Areas of plain weave surround the tapestry square. Darning closes the slits on either side of the tapestry woven area.
Linen, tapestry woven
Byzantine period, Early