Silk and Linen Texture; ground, yellow; pattern, amid foliage, two cheetahs, face to face, all blue, but spotted yellow. Syrian, 14th century. 7¼ inches by 6½ inches. At the same time that the warp is of linen, the woof of silk is thin; and a bold design is almost wasted upon poor materials. The specimen, however, is so far valuable, as it shows us how, for ages, a Persian feeling went along with the workmen on the eastern shores of the Levant. 7084. Silk Damask; ground, tawny; pattern, birds, flowers, and heart-shaped figures, encircled with imitated Arabic letters, all mostly in green, very partially shaded white. Sicilian, 14th century. 19½ inches by 5½ inches. Above a heart-shaped ornament, bordered by a sham inscription in Arabic, and surrounded by a wreath, are two birds of the hoopoe kind, and beneath, two other birds, like eagles; and this design is placed amid the oval spaces made by garlands of flowers. All the component elements of the pattern are in small, though well-drawn figures. 7085. Silk and Gold Damask; ground, tawny; pattern, fruit, beasts, and birds. Sicilian, 14th century. 22¼ inches by 10 inches. This rich stuff has an elaborate pattern, consisting of three pieces of fruit, like oranges or apples, with a small pencil of sun-rays darting from them above, out of which springs a little bunch of trefoils, which separate two lions, in gold, that are looking down, and with open langued mouths; below is another and larger pencil of beams, shining upon two perched eagles, with wings half spread out for flight. Between such groups is a large flower like an artichoke, with two blue flowers, like the centaurea, at the stalk itself; above which is, as it were, the feathering of an arch with a bunch of three white flowers, for its cusp. With the exception of the lions and flowers, the rest of the pattern is in green. 7086. Silk and Gold Brocade; ground, dark purple; pattern, all in gold, floriations, birds and beasts. Oriental, 13th century. 18¼ inches by 7 inches. When new, this rich stuff must have been very effective, either for liturgical use or personal wear. There is a broad border, formed by the shallow sections of circles, inscribed with imitated Arabic characters. Out of the points or featherings made by the junctions of the circular sections spring forth bunches of wheat-ears, separating two collared cheetahs with heads reversed; and from other featherings, a large oval well-filled floriation, upon the branches of which are perched two crested birds, may be hoopoes, at which the cheetahs seem to be gazing. Over the wheat-ears, drops are falling from a pencil of sunbeams above them; below are two flowers in silk, once crimson. 7087. Silk Damask; ground, blue; pattern, birds, animals, and flowers, in gold, and different coloured silks. Oriental, late 13th century. 17½ inches by 7½ inches.