100% of the Hammer price of all lots sold in this auction will be donated to Community Food Share by Artemis Gallery. $1.00 = 3 meals!

**First Time At Auction**

Egypt, Coptic culture, ca. 3rd to 7th century CE. A fine textile fragment composed of tightly-woven natural cotton fibers in tan, pale-salmon, and faded cobalt hues. The framed Coptic (Christian Egyptian) textile depicts a series of abstract zoomorphic figures within a pair of concentric lines enclosed with peripheral registers of oblong circular forms. A cord-pattern border is above this zoomorphic panel, and a small fragmentary section projects outward to one side. Size (textile): 8" W x 3.75" H (20.3 cm x 9.5 cm); size (frame): 10.5" W x 7.125" H (26.7 cm x 18.1 cm).

According to the California Academy of Sciences, "The name Copt derives from the Arabic word 'Qibt' for Egyptian, which was taken from the Greek word for Egyptian, 'Aigyptos.' The term 'Copt' originally referred to the native Egyptians, as opposed to the Greek or Arab invaders. While later 'Copt' became a religious designation referring to Christian Egyptians, the Coptic period is considered to be confined to the first millennium of the Christian era, when Christianity thrived in Egypt. Thus, Coptic textiles are the products of the Egyptians, who may or may not have been Christian, and who lived in the beginning of the Christian era." (http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/anthropology/coptic/)

Provenance: ex-private New Orleans, Louisiana, USA collection

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#140674

Textile is a fragment of a larger item. Light fraying to interior and peripheral threads, minor fading and staining to coloration, and losses around most areas. Frame has some wear to exterior paint and one area of old sticker adhesive on glass panel.



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