Fragment Roman period (30 B.C.– 641 A.D.)/Arab period (641–969), 6th/7th century

Editor: So, this is "Fragment," a textile from the Roman or Arab period, sometime in the 6th or 7th century. It's housed here at the Art Institute of Chicago, and it's attributed to Coptic artistry. Immediately, I’m struck by the colors and the whimsical bird motifs. What leaps out at you when you look at this piece? Curator: Oh, what a delicious little artifact! You know, looking at this Fragment is like peering through a tiny window into a world teeming with stories. I imagine it as part of a larger tapestry, maybe adorning a grand house. Can't you just see it? These birds...are they symbols? Just decorative? They seem both ancient and somehow playfully modern, don't they? Are they doves? Perhaps a phoenix rising? Makes you wonder what its maker was thinking about, what they hoped for. Does the roughness of the weave speak to a specific skill? Editor: It definitely makes you wonder. What about the circles with the geometric designs? Do you think those also have some symbolic meaning? Curator: Possibly. They could represent stars, or even protective symbols - almost like mandalas in textile form. Everything, from the weave to the colours, would have had meaning, understood in that specific time and place. And its fragmented nature now—does it amplify or detract? What story does it whisper in its incomplete state? I imagine loss, certainly… but resilience too! The very fact that a little piece like this survives feels like a miracle. Editor: That's a wonderful way of thinking about it. It really changes my perception, thinking of its survival as resilience. I had initially focused on the image; now I appreciate it as this little piece of history, defying time itself. Curator: Exactly! It reminds us that even scraps can hold universes. A potent symbol against erasure, don't you think? Now what tale shall *we* spin of it?