A Greek Island Textile Panel
Patmos, Dodecanese, 18th century
Polychrome silk embroidered on linen or cotton, decorated with birds and dogs surrounding stylized foliage, each segment divided by an intricate rhomboid border.
84 x 122 cm
The distinctive patterns attributed to Patmian embroidery shares similarities to Cycladic designs, with some arguing that the large population of monks and therefore the lack of women on the holy island of Patmos made it unlikely they could nurture their own style (see Taylor, 1998, p.70). However the attribution perseveres and has come to encapsulate textiles featuring these unique foliate patterns broadly described as broad leaf (platyphyllenio) and branch (spitha) motifs surrounded by birds and animals.
This fragment would have once been part of a bed covering, the horizontal design is similar to the hem of a bed curtain now in the V&A Museum, London (T.652-1950). A similar fragment with less intricate borders and deer instead of dogs can be seen in The Textile Museum, Washington DC (81.67)
References
Taylor, R., Embroidery of the Greek Islands, New York, 1998