Garments, Tapestry, and Textile Items

Cécile Michel

Inscribed textiles have been attested since the time of pharaonic Egypt. Linen strips used to wrap the mummies sometimes bear text written in ink. Many textiles preserved around the world dating to the first millennium CE and originating from Egypt have inscriptions written in Greek, Coptic and Arabic letters (Fluck 2012; Fluck and Helmecke 2006; McWilliams and Sokoly 2022). Romans wrote on textiles, religious texts as well as records (Fluck and Helmecke 2006). In China colourful textiles with figures, animals and woven inscriptions have been produced since the beginning of our era (Schäfer 2013; Shea 2018).

Taking its origin within the Sassanian empire (third to seventh centuries CE) during which symbolic numbers could be inscribed on textiles, the ṭirāz consist in mediaeval Islamic embroidery made on turbans and bands sewn to luxurious costumes or to textiles for furniture and offered to high-ranking officials and distinguished guests. Between the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries, inspired by the ṭirāz tradition, textiles are produced all through Asia decorated with inscriptions, or pseudo-writing, and widely exchanged (Walker and Froom 1992; Ekhtiar and Cohen 2015). In China, since the tenth century CE, inscriptions have been used on silk  to manage its production and consumption. 

Linen, and textiles in general, have been extensively used in European and Islamic book-bindings, for components such as covers and linings. Textile bags and wraps were, and still are, commonly used to protect Persian and Indian manuscripts.

Nowadays, as there is a huge trend towards personalising objects, those made from textiles are no exception. Clothes, T-shirts, sweatshirts and conference bags are inscribed by transfer, screen printing, or with woven or embroidered inscriptions.