Tag: Syria

NOW: Dura-Europos Patterned Fragment 1933.483

The patterned fragment from Dura-Europos has always fascinated me, so today it too joins the Nalbound Object of the Week collection. The fragment was excavated by the Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos sometime between 1928–37. It is only 5 7/8 by 6 11/16 in. (15 × 17 cm). Given the standard ratios of socks of this type and analysis of the fragment itself, what remains is 3/4 of the original circumference of the sock ankle.

Anne Marie Decker’s theoretical reconstruction of what the Dura-Europos patterned fragment may have looked like when the sock was whole based on standard ratios found in examinations of socks worked in Cross-knit Looping found in Egypt and surrounding regions. The fragment itself is in the background.

Object: Patterned fragment from Dura-Europos

Description: The patterned heel cup and ankle of a fancy Cross-knit Looping sock. The pattern consists of a vertical column of knit wales followed by a purl background with two pomegranate shapes placed one over the other (one is missing). Then another vertical column, a tree of life pattern that goes up the center back of the sock, and another vertical column. This is followed by another purl background with two pomegranates and ending with a final vertical column. The fragment has a few perpendicular stitches on the bottom right that are the remains of the mid-foot section. On the same side, a few lacing loops are preserved indicating that this sock likely had a tongue flap and lacing closure similar to that seen in the contemporaneous sock from Egypt currently in the V&A collections in London.

Dated to: pre-256 CE1

Find location: Dura-Europos, in modern day Syria

Material: Wool

Stitch(es) used: Z-crossed Cross-knit Looping,  F1B1 O & B1F1 O, knit & purl stitch patterned

Inventory number: Accession Number 1933.483

Current location: Yale University Art Gallery

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/5962

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Dura-Europos Fragments
Examining the Dura-Europos fragments

Rutt, Richard. A History of Hand Knitting. London: B T Batsford Ltd, 1987 ISBN 0713451181; reprinted Loveland, Colorado: Interweave Press, 1989 ISBN 0-934026-35-1, Library of Congress Catalog Number 87-46353; pgs. 28-30.

Pfister, Rudolf and Bellinger, Louisa. “The textiles: Knitting,” Rostovtzeff, M.I., et al. The excavations at Dura-Europos Final Report IV, Part II. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1945, 54-5.

Photograph:

1933.483 Patterned fragment from Dura Europos. Cropped and rotated to show original orientation. Original Photo Credit: The Yale University Art Gallery – Public Domain CC0 1.0 Deed

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  1. The Yale Univeristy Art Gallery dates the fragment to c. AD 200-256 https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/5962. Dura Europos was sacked and never reoccupied, so we are fairly certain the sock pre-dates 256 CE when that occurred. The only other example of a sock with lacing loops in the corpus has been carbon dated to a very similar timeframe. ↩︎

Dura-Europos Fragments

The most famous of the Dura-Europos fragments is the beautifully stitch patterned cross-knit nalbound fragment, Inv. No. 1933.483, in the Yale University Art Gallery, showing a opposing leaf pattern bordered by repeats of a pomegranate like shape. Its original function is unknown, but the conservation efforts made the three remaining integral lacing loops visible. (Update 1/7/2020: The patterned fragment has evidence that confirms what remains is that of the heel cup/ankle shaft of a sock.)

http://b03.deliver.odai.yale.edu/fc/a7/fca7de0a-646c-43fd-8fa1-d651d9d5bd93/ag-obj-5962-001-pub-large.jpg
Photo credit: Yale University Art Gallery – Public Domain
Source: Knit Textile Fragment | Yale University Art Gallery

The particular fragment pictured above initially caught my eye back in the late 1990’s. I had gotten my first copy of Richard Rutt’s A History of Hand Knitting. The chart he included for a knitted simulation did not match the image of the actual object provided on page 30 with the precision that I desired. I spent many many hours pouring over that image and charting out stitch by stitch the nalbinding pattern the year I was in Taiwan (1999/2000). I also spent a good bit of time consolidating a list of references to track down and discovered that the Academia Sinica library had an amazing Humanities and Ethnography collection. This collection included a copy of R. Pfister and Louisa Bellinger’s 1945 article on the “knitting” in The excavations at Dura-Europos Final Report IV, Part II which included a black and white image that was clearly post cleaning/conservation.

Increase/decrease diagrams from my 2000 cross-knit nalbinding handout.

My class handout I initially created in 2000 included not only diagrams of the possible increases and decreases and my chart for the specific pattern found in Inv. N0. 1933.483, it also included my initial attempts at using the images of the Dura-Europos fragment to illustrate the specific increases and decreases used in extant Roman Era cross-knit nalbinding. It continues to be a favorite piece for this purpose as it includes so many examples thereof in the formation of its stitch patterning.

Reviewing surface structure similarities after my presentation at the 39th International Medieval Congress.

In 2004, I was honored to present “Nalbinding or Not?: Some Structural Differences between Nalbinding and other Textile Techniques” at a DISTAFF session during the 39th International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The patterned Dura-Europos piece proved to be an excellent example for demonstrating what cross-knit nalbound increases and decreases looked like in an actual object and how they differed from the corresponding shaping of a knitted object.

kzoo39-handoutDownload

Here is a copy of the handout from my presentation.

A sample testing out the pattern I charted from Inv. N0. 1933.483 made while listening to presentations at the 39th International Medieval Congress.
Cross-knit looping being produced by both crossed/twisted knitting and the cross-knit nalbinding variant.

The cross-knit looping structure can be produced by two different techniques, either cross-knit nalbinding or crossed/twisted knitting. They both produce a fabric of the same basic structure. However, they are worked in opposite directions. The clues as to which technique produced the fabric are in the shaping (increases/decreases), pick-ups, and mistakes. The preferred spiral working direction also differs between the two.

More information regarding the stitch patterned fragment, Inv. N0. 1933.483, along with a downloadable full size image is available on the Yale University Art Gallery’s site. The record for the two “ribbed” fragments, Inv. No. 1935.556, that were also found at Dura-Europos is available here. The electronic records were created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect their current knowledge about the objects, thus they are still listed as having been knitted.

The Yale University Art Gallery also has a permanent exhibition on the Dura-Europos excavations and as part of that has a very nice online feature outlining the historical background and excavation history with images and maps of the excavation: http://media.artgallery.yale.edu/duraeuropos/

I would like to thank the Yale University Art Gallery for providing such excellent photos in their online collections. I am also very much looking forward to, and very grateful for, the opportunity to view the fragments in person later this month. They continue to play a pivotal role in the study of the nalbinding technique and the structures it produces.