An Exploration of a Textile Pattern: Pearl Roundels Joined by Smaller Pearl Discs
An Exploration of a Textile Pattern: Pearl Roundels Joined by Smaller Pearl Discs
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Date
1990
Authors
Carmel, Lorna
Advisor
Eyo, Ekpo
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Abstract
Scattered around the world are a number of textiles
patterned with repeat systems of pearl roundels joined by
smaller pearl discs at the tangential points. The
roundels bear animal motifs similar to those represented
in royal Sasanian and post-Sasanian art. Based on the
iconographic and stylistic similarity to the Sasanian
motifs, and also because of the popularity of the pearl
roundel as a framing device in Sasanian and post-Sasanian
stucco and metalwork, art historians have attributed
these textile fragments to Sasanian manufacture, usually
dating them to the sixth or seventh century.
However, in the late-Sasanian rock sculpture at Taq-i-
Bustan, in western Iran, where twenty-two textile
patterns are represented, there are no such textile
patterns. Further to the East though, in Soviet Central
Asia, recent excavations have uncovered wall-paintings
with representations of textiles patterned with pearl
roundels joined by smaller pearl discs. Textile fragments and a complete costume have been unearthed at sites in
China and the Caucasus. In light of these discoveries,
some scholars have assigned Central Asia, particularly
Sogdiana, as the provenance for these textiles.
This thesis examines the unique common
characteristics shared by the textiles patterned with
pearl roundels joined by smaller pearl discs which
identifies them as a group. It suggests that their repeat
pattern is most-likely the result of the adaptation of a
style of Sasanian coins to the weaving process. Their
influence on repeat patterns of floral roundels joined by .
smaller floral discs awaits future research.