Sunday, August 18, 2024

Another Antinoe band (two-hole diamond-and-dots)

This band is in the Louvre, here: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010049695 and here: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010046880

The label says that's it's from Antinoe (i.e. Coptic Egypt), estimated to be from sometime between 395 and 641 CE.  There is no other info about it, I don't think.

The band and chart are in Aisling's new book on Tablet Woven Bands from Egypt.  I had intended to maybe do the slightly larger Brooklyn-museum band that is nearby in the book, but when I saw this one, I was overcome by its charms and had to drop everything to make it my next project.


It is indeed extremely charming.  I like it a lot, both sides of the band.  The original was made from red wool and white/natural linen, with something slightly more greenish as the edge tablet.  Mine is from the usual cheap big-box-store #10 cotton, in red, white, and sage green.  The weft is a finer red cotton.

The original is apparently 2.2cm wide.  Mine is 1.4cm wide  (5/8").  Mind ended up about 67" long (roughly 167cm).

The photo is of the unblocked band, so some of the motifs are still a bit elongated from the weaving tension.  It shows mostly the front but also the back of the band.

Two-hole is so much fun.  I love the texture of it.  The motifs in this band look like little polka-dots in a diamond mesh.  I'm looking forward to making the Brooklyn band someday -- it's a little wider and the motifs are more like diamonds than polka-dots.  But it too is seriously swoon-worthy in its cuteness.  Both of these will probably stay in my repertoire since they're fairly quick and straightforward to weave.

I have no idea what I'll do next.  As usual.


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