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Bringing the Holy Land Home: The Crusades, Chertsey Abbey, and the Reconstruction of a Medieval Masterpiece

"Hero and Lion" Silk

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Man Subduing Lion/"Hero and Lion" Silk (DO BZ.1934.1) By Christopher Smith

The textile depicts a man repeatedly subduing a lion. The well-known strength of lions suggests that this man, dressed in a classical short toga and sandals, must be even stronger. His long hair and action of tearing open the lion's jaws suggest that he may represent the Old Testament hero Samson. Being a religious hero from the Old Testament, people from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths could have appreciated him, making this textile a highly valuable item and highly sought after during the Crusades. Viewers might also understand him instead to be another strong man who fought a lion, like Hercules. Regardless of the man's identity, he represents sheer physical strength and the domination of enemies.
How was this made? By Finley Cassidy '22

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.
How was this made?
By Christopher Smith

Weft-faced means that it was made by crosswise threads rather than lengthwise yarns. Here is a video of how a weft-faced textile like this was made:

Narration of video clip: The threads are pulled taut. Then the vertical threads that are to be behind the horizontal threads are pulled back and separated. Then, the horizontal thread is passed through the gap. This process is then repeated.

Repetition is common in textiles because of the technology used. Here is the repeating unit used for this textile. This repeating unit is made up of a mirrored image of the man subduing a lion.

Polychrome means many colors. This effect was obtained by using coloring agents on silks. For example, copper was used for green and cobalt for blue. Polychrome silks originated in China in the 1st to 4th centuries during the Han and Jin dynasties, so they are also known as Jin silks.

This textile exhibits the Chinese five-color scheme, again showing us its Chinese influences. The five colors are red, black, blue, yellow, and white. However, what we see here is the Jin silk variation of the five-color scheme, which colors are red, dark blue, dark green, dark yellow, and tan. Since this is an older textile, some of the darker colors have faded more to a blackish color.
Where was this produced? By Christopher Smith

The textile is assumed to have been made between the 7th and 9th centuries, and from Constantinople, Egypt, or Syria. Depending on who was in control of the region, we may be able to localize where the textile was produced. From the 7th to 9th centuries, some important Eastern Mediterranean power shifts include the shift from the Byzantines to the Syrians at the years 634 to 644, the Syrians to the Iraqis at 750, and the Iraqis to the Egyptians at 868. Here is a map of these three locations.

These three places are thought to be where the textile is from because this textile is high-end and complicated, so the maker must have needed complicated technology. This technology could only have been found at these three locations where the largest textile industries were at the time.