Antique Coptic Textiles in McMullen Museum

The McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College received a generous gift of thirty four Late Antique Coptic textiles from the Newton collectors Donald and Barbara Tellalian.   The textiles range in time from the IV to VIII centuries. In prior years these pieces were exhibited at the MFA Boston, RISD, and other venues as well as appearing in the McMullen Museum’s  “Roman in the Provinces: Art on the Periphery of Empire” exhibit in 2015.

As part of the gift, there is also an accompanying collection of 129 books and folios that will be added to Boston College Libraries.  In addition to books on Coptic art and textiles, there are titles on a variety of subjects such as art, architecture, textiles and costumes of ancient Egypt, Armenia, Greece, Rome, Islamic and Byzantine civilizations, and more.  The collection also includes books on the restoration and conservation of textiles, as well as several museum catalogs and catalogs of private collections that hold Coptic Textiles.  Some of the books, such as “Nouveaux Textiles de Palmyre”, cover geographic areas that are sadly out of reach to researches for now.  The depth and breadth of this book collection is amazing and makes it a unique and precious source for the study of Late Antique Coptic Textiles.  We are very fortunate and grateful to Donald and Barbara Tellalian that we received this wonderful gift.