Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 27. (Budapest, 2009)

Katalin E. NAGY - Ádám BÍRÓ - Ádám BOLLÓK - László KÖLTŐ Péter LANGÓ - Attila Antal TÜRK: Byzantine Silk Fragments from a Tenth-century Grave at Fonyód

The largest measurable length of the whole fragment is 19.5 cm, its width 13.5 cm. The measurable length of the fold is 6 cm, its width 0.5 cm. The fragment has two recognizable holes with a diameter of 0.2 cm each. Owing to the conditions in the grave, there are several defective spots in the cloth: the three largest are (length x width): (1) 1 x 2.5 cm; (2) 2 x 2 cm, (3) 4 x 2 cm. Fragment 2 The most intact fragment has three original edges and a fragmented one (fig. 6). The largest measurable length of the fragment is 5.5 cm, its width 5 cm. The measurable fold at the borders is 5 cm, its width 0.5 cm. The largest of the defects measures 4x2 cm. Fragment 3 The piece has a single intact edge (the sewn one) and three fragmented ones (fig. 6). The largest measurable length is 4 cm, the width 2.2 cm. The fold at the edge is 4 cm long and 0.5 cm wide. Fragment 4 Similarly to fragments 1 and 3, the smallest piece also has a single intact edge (the hemmed one), the rest being fragmented (fig. 6). The largest measurable length is 0.4 cm, its width 1.5 cm. The fold at the side is 0.4 cm at a width of 0.5 cm. Silk yarn The slightly Z-twisted yarn has a length of 10 mm, but its state of preservation does not allow for the measuring of its diameter (fig. 7.2). The studied silk fragments belong to the samite group of silk fabrics (figs 7.3-4). The fragments have two main and one binding warps of slight Z-twist and untwisted wefts of two different hues. This is the first textile relic found so far the colour of one of whose wefts could be identified. Depending on the thread's degree of decomposition, at places a distinct blue colour could be observed, suggestive of the indigo dye prevalent in the given age. The density of the fabric can be determined despite its relatively bad state of preservation: there are 30-36 main warps, 15-18 binding warps and 38-48 wefts per centimetre. These parameters are comparable to the proportions of tighdy-woven Byzantine samites. The binding warp and one weft bind in Vi S filling twill on the face. The extremely brittle state of the silk threads did not allow for the determination of the sequence of the shooting of the wefts, thus its place within the broad group of samites could not be identified. The Fonyód silk in context The Fonyód find has outstanding significance in three regards. These will be discussed below. 1) Determining the tailoring of the garment Earlier archaeological research tried to make some inferences regarding the tailoring of tenth-century garments, chiefly from the unearthed durable materials (non-ferrous and precious metals, antlers, glass) that survived under the climatic conditions of the Carpathian Basin, and were examined with varying accuracy, documented and published. More precisely, the position of these objects in the grave provided some information for the inferences to be made with respect to the patterns of the garments. Our find is one of the first to allow for the reconstruction of a garment - or at least a part of it - from the surviving rem25