Threaded Abundance in Domestic Interiors

The Good Life - Henry Maguire

Domestic Prosperity in Late Antiquity
- Textiles played an important role in the decoration of Late Antique houses and
also served as a public display of wealth
- Tapestry-weave wall hangings used as Burial Cloths in Egypt when they were
no longer needed in the home
- Similar thick textiles would be used to cover furnishings and employed colours
and motifs to decorate the space, including floral motifs, landscapes, hunting
imagery, and even beneficent personifications.
- Wealthy clothing consisted of extravagantly weaved patterned silks, which
was criticized by both christian and pagan groups alike
The Good Life - Henry Maguire
- Jewelry also played an important role in the self-mage of the wealthy
- With the popularity of such rich materials as a form of showmanship, copies
began to appear made of less expensive or rare materials, such as using
dyed wool and linens in place of silk
- Houses were adorned with images that either relayed the level of prosperity of
the owner or their desire for prosperity
- Art also included female personification of Christian beliefs and Ideals
- Alongside those we see personification or natural elements such as the earth
and moon
Rich Interiors: The
Remnant of a Hanging
from Late Antique Egypt
in the Collection of
Dumbarton Oaks -
Jennifer L. Ball
Rich Interiors: The Remnant of a Hanging from Late
Antique Egypt in the Collection of Dumbarton Oaks -
Jennifer L. Ball
- Textiles were considered a continuation of Roman art in the early Christian Period,
which is problematic as they were re-dated later and showed to be from the 7th
and 8th century, not 300-600 ace.
- The range of possible uses and the reception of textiles in later late antique
(seventh- and eighth-century) Egypt was not limited to Roman sources.
- Looking into properly dated textiles helps us further understand the cultural life of
egypt within those centuries and helps separated textiles form their perceived
romanness
- Depictions of hangings and curtains in church interiors in Egypt, most of which
predate our textile, are not uncommon.
Rich Interiors: The Remnant of a Hanging from Late
Antique Egypt in the Collection of Dumbarton Oaks -
Jennifer L. Ball
- The influx of textiles into so many museums and private collections coincided with an
interest among artists, designers, and collectors in the so-called primitive arts, which
they saw as inspiration for modern art movements.
- These textiles, once found, were used more as a tool to understand local life and
culture around the time of their creation instead of being truly appreciated for the work
of art and evidence of masterful techniques that they were
- While mores of religious elites in Islam, as well as Judaism, opposed figural imagery,
there is a good deal of archaeological and literary evidence to suggest that the
practice of using figural decoration in the home continued at least into the thirteenth
century in Egypt.
Curtains at the
Threshold: How
They Hung and
How They
Performed -
Eunice Dauterman
Maguire
Curtains at the Threshold: How They Hung and How They
Performed - Eunice Dauterman Maguire
-Their functions were certainly physical and practical, but curtains could be at the same time
dramatically strategic arbiters of ceremonial public or stately private space, communicating
messages of social, aesthetic, or religious significance.
- The liturgical use of curtains in the Byzantine church subtly dramatizes the idea of a curtain as a
barrier. This type of liturgical stagecraft evolved from and reciprocated certain nonliturgical, even
secular, uses of curtains at spatial boundaries: in the humblest and smallest houses a curtain
could serve as a wall dividing a room, or as a means of separating indoor from outdoor space.
- Almost acted as a kind of Sensorium
- Clement suggests that the senses, like stretched curtains, close off or veil the perception of
spiritual and eternal things.
- The primary theme of Christian triumph and salvation on the British Museum curtain pair
includes varied and reiterated motifs of peace and prosperity, making the curtains a fitting
accessory for protocol and ceremony.
Curtains at the
Threshold: How
They Hung and
How They
Performed -
Eunice
Dauterman
Maguire
Domestic Textiles and Religion
- Christianity:
- Rich history within Christianity, in both Churches and
Homes
- Incorporated more pagan imagery including
mythological elements, combining the worlds of late
antiquity and early christianity
- In later late antiquity, a mixing of iconographic
elements is common, and one can find references to
multiple traditions—such as Nilotic imagery, classical
mythology, Christianity, and Persian culture—in a
single work. (Ball)
- In some textiles, nude and possibly allegorical figures
bring offerings to gods, as in a marriage scene
featuring Dionysus and Ariadne
 Domestic Textiles and Religion
- Islam:
- It seems that, similar to the effects of Christianity on Roman
traditions, Islam introduced an increased concern with
modesty and concealment in the context of domestic life, in
addition to social and economic changes. (Ball)
- Many mentions of Curtains as an important symbolic element
surrounding Muḥammad
- “Ibn Abbas said: ‘Allah is Most Clement and Most Merciful to
the believers. He loves concealment. The people had
neither curtains nor curtained canopies in their houses.
Sometimes a servant, a child or a female orphan of a man
entered while the man was having sexual intercourse with his
wife. So Allah commanded them to ask permission in those
times of undress. Then Allah brought them curtains and
all good things.’”
Domestic Textiles and Religion
- Judaism:
- The archaeological record presents a complicated picture of the Jewish
relationship to figural art.
- Synagogues predating the Dumbarton Oaks Textile have been found with
artistic decorations on walls depicting animals and flora
- Referred to by Moses Maimonides as a nuisance
- Was considered by some to break the second commandment
- In Judaism individuals are asked to pray in a space away from all distractions,
but religious areas with decorations similar to those found in these textiles
exist.
Textiles and their Symbolic Nature
- Textiles were linked to marriages across all religions and were often included
in dowries
- With that came inclusions of elements that would protect the union form
external spiritual factors
- Textiles also served as a display of wealth or as a show of desired wealth and
prosperity, working as a good omen for the owners
Important Questions to Consider
- How does depictions of wealth to such an elaborate extent in textiles within the
home and church lived harmoniously with christian teaching s surrounding
money, greed, and charity?
- Could textiles seen as religious by one group be considered purely aesthetic
and use a decoration by another? Could a Christian use an Islamic textile in
their home as the bounty of a conquest or a sign of worldliness?
- How do the ideals of modesty co-exist with nude depictions within textiles?
- When creating textiles with pagan motifs and imagery, who determined which
characters or images could be used? Who decided which could depict christian
teachings, ideals, or be associated with christian celebrtaions and not be
considered heretic?