How was this made?
It is hard to know precisely how this weft-faced compound twill (samite) polychrome silk was produced. Similar weaving can be done on fly shuttle pit looms, in which the weaver interlaces the threads of weft and warp. The shuttle then passes through the openings formed when the pedal is operated to interlock warp and weft threads. Once the shuttle is passed, the suspended sleigh is pulled to form the weave. Weft-faced silk is created by crosswise threads rather than length-wise yarns.
Here is a video showing how a weft-faced textile like this was made:
This medallion can be compared to the textile Man Subduing a Lion. Both of these textiles display the same weaving technique. However, the silk showing of Samson is more prestigious because of the use of multiple colors. Man subduing a lion displays the Jin Silk variation of the Chinese five-color scheme. These colors include red, dark blue, dark green, dark yellow, and tan, while Roundel with Amazons on Horseback only contains two colors, beige on a dark blue ground.
