A silk samit fragment, Spain, circa 1100

of rectangular form, woven with red, cream and blue silk threads with a repeat pattern of large foliate roundels each enclosing paired confronting peacocks supported on a petalled base and flanking a central palmette standard with pearl fringing

Possibly a sleeve fragment, due to shape. There is loss of the supplmentary threads in turquoise and yellow to the top section as visible in the photograph and evidence of conservation consolidation threads across the foundation warps, in this area, and to the legs of the bird, and smal area to motif at left side, below the roundel edge and above the beak of the bird. Minor wear to centre, within wing of bird, with loss of turquoise threads and visible burgundy foundation warps. Evidence of cut edges, to all sides, except the narrowest edge.
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This fragment belongs to a group of early textiles that are distinguished by the use of the repeating roundel motif enclosing pairs of confronted or addorsed animals. These textiles were made throughout Asia and the Middle East from China to Byzantium and drew inspiration from Near Eastern, as well as Far Eastern, sources. Woven silk was a highly prized commodity and was often worn as an indicator of wealth and rank. The portable nature of textiles resulted in the continuous cross-pollination of designs and techniques along established trade routes.

The pearled sash carried in the beak of our bird is a motif that was used repeatedly across Asia and the Middle-East and in various media: see, for instance, a sixth/seventh-century mural at Kizil, Sinkiang Province, and a similar fresco is in the Museum für Indische Kunst, Berlin (Beurdeley 1985, p.117).  In China the motif was known as tse-niao and was an indicator of status; only high-ranking court officials were permitted to wear costumes decorated with such a motif (Hayashi 1975, pp.128-129).

Although geographically isolated from the rest of the Islamic world the court at Cordoba was keen to learn and emulate the latest tastes of the Arab world. They were particularly influenced by the fashions of the Abbasid court and the Coptic textiles of Egypt. The veil of Hisham II (r.976-1013 with interruptions) is clearly inspired by contemporary Egyptian courtly textiles, and a fragment in Madrid's Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan has strong resonances of Abbasid and antique Sasanian designs. This aspiration to emulate their caliphal rivals is seen in a datable example (circa 1100) from the tomb of San Pedro de Osma, bearing an inscription that states: 'This is one of the things made in Baghdad'. This fallacious claim is exposed by the distinctive Iberian style of calligraphy.

A comparable example is an Iberian twelth-century fragment found in the Church of St Sernin, Toulouse (Baker 1995, p. 43), whereas a silk samit fragment in The David Collection, Copenhagen, which displays an almost identical colour scheme and design with roundels of confronting peacocks perched on a petalled pedestal reserved, is attributed to "Iran or Iraq, seventh/mid-eighth century" (von Folsach 2001, p. 367, no. 622).