Band with Medallion and Dancers

Description

Tapestry woven band representing a bust portrait and three dancers. The bust portrait is oriented perpendicularly to the orientation of the standing dancers. It is positioned in a medallion with a thick border. The bust, likely a female, stretches out a scarf displaying fruits in front of her chest. This is a common attitude for personifications of the earth or the seasons. The arrangement of the fragments in this area is uncertain. Below the medallion are two dancers, one with arm raised and wearing a full length tunic, perhaps a maenad. A smaller figure raises his or her hands to his face (playing an instrument?). Both dancers look upwards towards the medallion with the female bust. Vine tendrils fill the interior space of the band. While most of the band features figural decoration woven with dark blue yarns against a white background, this is reversed at bottom. At bottom a white figure stands against a blue-colored square, one arm raised and the other holding an object, maybe a shepherd’s crook (pedum); the figure possibly wears a loincloth. Flying shuttle creates details of the figures. Remnants of a simple border design are visible on both sides of the bands.