Two Tabulae with Birds Egypt ca. 300–700 CE Wool Jefferson University, T&CC 1978.19, T&CC 1978.20
Although the depiction of a bird in each of these textiles is quite different, their similarities in color and external border design made students Alexandra Stern (HC ’20) and Miranda Johnson (HC ’19) wonder if they were cut from the same original textile. Both fragments come from Jefferson University’s Textiles and Costumes Collection, but limited documentation required further analysis to substantiate the connection. Stern and Johnson worked together to perform scientific analysis on these textiles over the course of the fall 2018 semester. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectra from both textiles showed high iron levels in the beige and purple decorative design, while the darker, orange borders showed high levels of bromine. Liquid-Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) was also performed, and the spectra of the orange backgrounds displayed peaks corresponding to madder and weld dyes. Based on scientific tests such as these, Stern and Johnson were able to conclude that these textiles were likely “cut from the same cloth."