Chapter 17

embroidered in gold.

[262] See Wilkinson's "Ancient Egyptians," iii., pl. xvi.; v., pl. xxxiv. In general, a scarf floats from the prow or from the oars.

[263] The Crusaders carried away splendid booty from the towns they took and ransacked. As it was the great gathering-place of all Eastern and Western nations, Jerusalem was a mart for rich merchandise from Persia, Arabia, Syria, and Phœnicia, till the times of the Latin kings. Antioch, as well as Jerusalem, yielded the richest plunder. Matthew Paris (a contemporary historian), speaking of what was taken at Antioch, 1098, says, "At the division of costly vessels, crosses, weavings, and silken stuffs, every beggar in the crusading army was enriched." Alexandria, as early as the middle of the sixth century, A.D., had been the depôt for the silken stuffs of Libya and Morocco. Here is a wide area opened to us for suggestions as to the origin and traditions of patterns in silk textile art. See Bock's "Liturgische Gewänder," vol. i. pp. 29, 30.

[264] Rock, Introduction, p. ccxlviii, and p. 268, No. 8710.

[265] The weaving of inscriptions in textiles is not a Saracenic invention. Pliny says it was a custom among the Parthians. See Rock's "Textile Fabrics," p. lxi.

"In allusion to lettered garments, Ausonius thus celebrates Sabina, of whom we otherwise know nothing:--

"'They who both webs and verses weave, The first to thee, oh chaste Minerva, leave; The latter to the Muses they devote. To me, Sabina, it appears a sin To separate two things so near akin; So I have writ these verses on my coat.'"

See Lady Wilton on "Needlework," p. 53.

[266] Birdwood, "Indian Arts," p. 274.

[267] Yates, "Textrinum Antiquorum," p. 244; Tegrini, "Vita Castruccii," in Muratore, "Ital. Script.," t. xi. p. 1320.

[268] Riano, "Cat. of Loan Exhibition of Spanish Art in South Kensington Museum," 1882, p. 46.

[269] In Hoveden's account of the fleet of Richard I. coasting the shores of Spain, he speaks of the delicate and valuable textures of the silks of Almeria. Rog. Hoveden, Ann., ed. Savile, p. 382. Rock, p. xx.

[270] Bock, pp. 39, 40, quotes from Anastasius and the Abbot of Fontenelle, proving that silken rugs were manufactured in Spain by the Moors.

[271] Auberville, "Histoire des Tissus," p. 14.

[272] Yule's "Marco Polo," p. 224. "Baudakin" from Baghdad, "damask" from Damascus. "Baudakin" was woven with beasts, birds, and flowers in gold.

[273] "Récit de Robert Clari." He was one of the companions of Ville d'Hardouin, and a witness to the coronation of Baldwin II. See Auberville's "Histoire des Tissus," p. 21.

[274] Satin is called by Marco Polo "zettani," and he says it came from Syria. The French called it "zatony;" the Spaniards named it "aceytuni," which is probably derived from "zaituniah," the product of Zaiton. Yates (p. 246) gives the derivations of the words satin and silk; the one imported to us through Greece and Italy, the other from Eastern Asia, through Slavonia and Northern Europe.

[275] Ibid. In the Wigalois, a story is told of a cavern in Asia full of everlasting flames, where costly fellat was made by the Salamanders, which was fireproof and indestructible.

[276] "Man of Lawe's Tale: Canterbury Pilgrims."

[277] "Ohitos terciopelos" (three-piled-velvet eyes) is a pretty Spanish phrase, describing the soft, dark, shadowy eyes of the Spanish girls.

[278] The Italian word _velluto_ means "shaggy."

[279] Bock, i. pp. 99-101.

[280] Buckram was sometimes a silken plush, but generally was woven with cotton. This was also Asiatic, and named by travellers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. I have already mentioned it as a textile in the chapter on cotton. When woven of silk it belongs to the class of velvets.

[281] Elsewhere I have spoken of the embroideries of the early Christian times found in the Fayoum, in Egypt. These afford notable examples of the ancient method in putting in patches on a worn or frayed garment. They invariably embroidered them, and so added a grace to the old and honoured vestment, and justified the classical appellation, "Healer of clothes" for a darner. The comparatively modern additions of the restorer, are in ancient as in later specimens, often a puzzle to the archæologist.

[282] The specimens in the South Kensington Museum, where Dr. Rock gives their approximate dates, are most useful to the student of this subject.