[MR] Hey, assisi is NEAR perugia

[Alianora Munro]

--- Betty Eyer <betty_eyer at yahoo.com> wrote:

> You know, I could talk about islamic influence on
> european textiles all day, in fact, I probably have,
> but I am just guessing that you and I are the only
> ones really this interested in the evolution of
> towels, so maybe a more in depth discussion should
> be
> off line.

Since several people seem to be interested in keeping
it on-list, I'll do so.

> If you are interested in my bibliography,
> I can ship it to you. 

Sure!  I would love to see it.  :-)

> > How early is early?  :-)  
> If you think 13c is early, does that mean you are
> Elizabethan? 8^)

15th C Burgundian, and actually, I don't think 13th C
is early.  I was offering that date as a baseline
point for actual surviving 'Perugia towels.'

Just for those playing along at home, I'm putting
'Perugia towels' in inverted commas because the term
refers to items which were *not* woven exclusively in
Perugia, and were not just towels.  They were domestic
linens of all kinds, woven in various places in Italy,
as well as in southern Germany and even, apparently,
parts of Switzerland.  They're characterised by the
use of woven-in, usually brocaded, bands of
decoration.  While silk brocade wefts are known, the
most common designs are woven in indigo-dyed cotton.

> I think I acknowledged that in my first sentence. 
> And
> I thought that the humorous tone of the title would
> help get that across, but email is an incomplete
> communication style.  I am not particularly
> interested
> in Perugia towels per se, but in cross cultural
> influences in textiles.

OK.  I am interested in 'Perugia towels' per se, and
as I said, my primary interest was clarification.

> And on that subject, the motif that I like to call
> "facing stylized birdies with vegetation between
> them"

I know the one you mean. Art historians sometimes call
this a tree of life pattern, but your name is much
more descriptive.  :-)

> was certainly used by Persians (I am assuming you
> mean
> Ottomans, if you think 13C is early)

No, I meant Persians -- more specifically, Sassanians.
 The 'senmurv' motif appears much earlier than the
13th C in Sassanian art and textile design.

(A 'senmurv' is a mythological creature from
pre-Islamic Persia, usually sort of a
bird-dog-lion-looking thing, with a peacock's tail. 
There's a brief write-up, with a picture, at
http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/monsters/Html/Senmurv.htm
A lovely 8th-C Sassanid depiction from an artefact in
the Hermitage is at
http://www.kutriguri.com/body_aa13.html although for
some reason the Senmurv is called a goddess on the
page.)

> If you open the
> link in my last email, you will note that the
> (embroidered) Assisi work uses the same said
> birdies. 

It's also not uncommon in Perugia-type weavings.  :-)

regards,
Alianora


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

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