Book Cover (Coptic Flower Goblet)

Egypt is, so to speak, the oldest treasure-house of artistic textiles in the world. The original of this brocade is a fragment of a famous tapestry supposed to have been woven during the Ptolemies, the period which started with the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great (3rd Century B.C.) and ended in the dramatic death of Cleopatra Ⅶ (1st Century B.C.) The design consists of a Coptic goblet surrounded with laurel l eaves, symbolizing a Greek custom of celebration to fill a silver goblet with flowers and bestow a laurel on a victor.