Fragment of a textile: gladiator figure
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Fragment of tapestry border with Dionysiac figures

Fragment of embroidery with grotesque bust

Culture
Coptic (culture)
Dimensions
4.7 × 3.5 cm
Date
4th century A.D.
Period
Late Antique Period (4th–7th centuries A.D.); 4th century A.D.; Late Antique Period (mid-3rd–mid-5th centuries)
Material
linen; wool
Iconography
bust; clothing
Production place
Egypt
Present location
Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts, Collection of Classical Antiquities
Provenance
Szigeti, József Collection
Inventory
97.74.A
ID
Hyp-298
Condition
Detail.
References
Török 2005a, 76, 41. sz.; Török 2005b, 94, no. 41.

Embroidery in purple wool and unbleached linen on unbleached linen tabby ground textile. 

On a small piece of textile cut out from a woven fabric in modern times, a grotesque bust is represented in a circular frame supported by a triangle. Small busts frequently occur from the fourth century onwards on woven monochrome textiles. The playful rendering of the figure recalls stylised heads inserted into floral decorations in Roman mosaics and wall painting from the Imperial period, is also characteristic for a number of similarly fine textiles embroidered in purple wool.