Eight pointed star with meander patterned center and grape leaf border
4th-7th century CE
Early Byzantine Egypt
Notes
For full citations see page for object accession number 1951.2.75.a. Striking comparisons for weaving and motif detail can be found in a number of fragments, most importantly for the meander pattern, grape leaves with stems, and thick black inner borders is Metropolitan Museum of Art fragment (89.18.60) , which was purchased “by subscription” in 1889, dated 4th to 7th century illustrated in Evans, “Continuity,” pages 66 and 75. Figures on 66 and 1-3.9. A similar grapevine pattern appears in Egger, from the collection of the museum of applied arts in Vienna, plate 29, and plates 10 and 11, two different fragments with the combination of meander center and grapevines around the exterior, along with thick black borders. The patterns of both are dated to the 4th century, but described as likely produced at a later time. Plate 35 illustrates a similar eight-pointed star, similarly not formed from intersecting squares as some others are. This is dated to the early 6th or 7th century, p. 19 - Rebecca Corrie, August 18, 2020