Fragments of a compound weft-faced silk twill with an incomplete portion of a complex pattern. The left third of the fragments is in worse condition than the righthand two-thirds. The upper half of a roundel remains of the repeat pattern, with tangent sections of adjoining roundels. These adjoining roundels are linked at the cardinal points by superimposed small ovals which contain crescent or anchor-shaped motifs against a golden tan background. Within the roundel, a frontal, crowned figure, his hair in symmetrical curls, grasps the trunks of two elephants which flank him. Thompson (see bibliography) believes these elephants to have been winged, for the tips of two extended wings appear at the waist of the figure. The figure's flesh is white, the background of the roundel is dark blue, and medium blue green is used for the elephants and the garments. Intricate patterning appears in the fine outer borders and the intersecting ovals of the roundels, where small beads appear as crosses from a close distance. This pattern is repeated on the narrow armbands of the figure. Within the roundel border, a continuous vine scroll motif features alternating, trilobed palmettes or buds. Fragmentary bird and animal motifs are discernible in the intervening field spaces. Colors used: dark tan, dark blue, medium blue green, white, golden tan (all silk). For technical description, see Thompson, Cat. no. 173.

Exposition d'art Byzantin (Paris, 1931), 105, cat. no. 273.

International Exhibition of Persian Art (London, 1931), Gallery II, Case 38, 0, Cat. 2nd ed., p. 27.

Schmidt, H. in Belvedere (1931), pl. 49, I, p. 8 (reference from Volbach, Spätantike..see below).

Volbach, W.F., G. Salles, G. Duthuit, Art byzantin; cent planches reproduisant un grand nombre de pièces choisies parmi les plus représentatives des diverses tendances, accompagnées d'exposés techniques par Georges Duthuit et de notices descriptives et bibliographiques par dr. F. Volbach (Paris, 1931), 74, pl. 88.

Volbach, W.F. Spätantike und Frühmittelalterliche Stoffe (Katalog des Römisch-Germanisches Zentral Museums, Mainz, 1932), 74, no. 45A.

Catalogue of Textile Fabrics, The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, compiled by Frances Morris, 1940 (unpublished), vol. III, 101.

Peirce, Hayford and Tyler, Royall, "Three Byzantine Works of Art," Dumbarton Oaks Papers 2.

Weitzmann, K., book review of Dumbarton Oaks Papers 2, in Art Bulletin XXV.2 (June 1943).

Two Thousand Years of Silk Weaving, exh. cat. Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and Art (Jan.-Feb. 1944) and Detroit Institute of Arts (to June 1944), cat. no. 19, pl. 6.

A.C. Weibel, 2,000 Years of Textiles (New York, 1952) no. 97.

W. F. Volbach, Il Tessuto nell'arte antica (Milan, 1966), no. 58.

Handbook of the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Harvard University (Washington, DC, 1967), no. 374.

D. Shepherd, "Medieval Persian Silks in Fact and Fancy," Bulletin de Liasion du Centre International d'Etude des Textiles Anciens, vols. I and II (1974), 156, note: pp. 158-159 (mentioned in a letter of Leigh Ashton): 161, no. 3

D. Thompson, Catalogue of Textiles in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (unpublished manuscript), (1976), no. 173.

C. Stavrakos, "The Elephant: A Rare Motif on the Byzantine Lead Seal," Proceedings of the 1st International Congress for Sino-Greek Studies (Ioannina, Cyprus 2008), 291, 299 pl. 5.

London, International Exhibition of Persian Art , 1931.

Paris, Exposition d'art Byzantin, 1931.

Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Museum of Art, November 10-December 29, 1941.

Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and Art, "Two Thousand Years of Silk Weaving," Jan.-Feb. 1944 and Detroit Institute of Arts, to June 1944.

Probably found at Rayy, Iran (with group of textiles excavated in 1925);

Purchased from Rowland Read by the dealer Paul Mallon (1884-1975), Paris;

Purchased from the dealer Paul Mallon (1884-1975), Paris, by Mildred Barnes and Robert Woods Bliss, October 1927;

Collection of Mildred Barnes and Robert Woods Bliss, Washington, DC, 1927 - November 29, 1940;

Gifted to Harvard University, November 29, 1940;

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Byzantine Collection, Washington, D.C.