[MR] Hey, assisi is NEAR perugia

[Alianora Munro]

> That does not make the essence of what I was saying
> false.  Italian towels with borders using stylized
> and
> commonly repeated decorative motifs were based on
> Arabic embroidered trade wares and the early copies
> were, indeed, embroidered. 

How early is early?  :-)  The earliest examples of
'Perugia towels' which I know of (and which are
probably from Campania, not Umbria) are 13th C, with
multicoloured silk brocade wefts and linen grounds. 
Beautiful.  One of them has a band of 'senmurvs'
clearly appropriated from Persian textile motifs.

I certainly didn't mean to imply that embroidered
(even cross-stitched) linens didn't exist, or dismiss
the importance of Islamic textile design on European
textiles.  You have no idea how many surviving
'Perugia towels' there are with bands of mock Kufic
script.  :-)  But I did want to clarify that modern
art historians (the people who gave us the term
'Perugia towels,' misleading though it be) use it for
woven items, not embroidered ones.

regards,
Alianora




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Dame Alianora Munro, Atlantia
the website: http://hometown.aol.com/noramunro/Chateau/index.htm
the blog:  http://damenora.diaryland.com

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