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Spanish, Spain

Textile fragment, ca. 1475-1525

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Spanish

Title

Textile fragment

Year

ca. 1475-1525

Medium

Silk compound satin weave

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • silk

Techniques

  • compound satin weave

Dimensions

Length: 43.2 cm (17 inches)

Place

Spain

Type

  • Textiles

Credit

Gift of Ugo Jandolo

Object Number

32.195

About

As Spain began colonizing the Americas in the 1490s, big changes were also taking place on the Iberian Peninsula, including the end of several centuries of Muslim rule and the banishment of Jews. These red, black, and green silk textile fragments—probably woven after the 1492 fall of Spain’s last Islamic kingdom, the Nasrid dynasty of Granada—suggest the robust palette of Nasrid-style textiles. Abstracted boteh motifs, which inspired today’s paisley pattern, reference the tree of life in Islamic tradition as they frame repeated pairs of lions. Converging between the climbing animals are spiraling tendrils, each topped with a stylized pomegranate (“granada” in Spanish).

Complex silk weaving techniques brought to Spain by Muslim weavers flourished from the 800s into the 1500s, with Moorish weavers producing luxurious lengths for courtly purposes.

Spain
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Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Textile fragment with the accession number of 32.195. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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