Coptic Fabric

Strip of Coptic fabric in three colors with decorative motifs forming a frieze. The linen fabric is woven and stitched with white and red ocher threads (silk?). In the center of a frieze decorated with stylized aquatic plants is represented in a circle a winged character, three quarters, presenting a bird. No doubt a Pelican with such a characteristic beak, an animal from the first Christian bestiary. The Pelican is a powerful Eucharistic symbol, embodying paternal love and sacrifice. This type of fragment of Coptic textile from the beginning of the Christian era is undoubtedly to be placed among the collectibles of the 1900s: a real "coptomania" developed following an exhibition at the Palais du Costume.