INVESTIGATION OF THE COLOURING MATERIALS OF FUSTAT CARPET FRAGMENTS

The Benaki Museum (Athens, Greece) possesses 50 fragments that, according to its archives, are recorded as having a provenance in the Fustat area. The objects are divided into three groups on the basis of the techniques employed. Most (eight) of the objects included in the present study belong to group A (8th–11th centuries). A few (five) fragments belong to groups B and C, which include objects dated up to the 18th century. The goal is to identify the colouring compounds contained in microsamples removed from the selected Fustat carpet fragments. Identifications are achieved using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with photodiode array detection (PDA). The following compounds are identified repeatedly in many samples: laccaic acid A and other laccaic acids (components of Kerria lacca, Kerr), alizarin, purpurin and rubiadin (madder components), luteolin, apigenin and chrysoeriol (components of Reseda luteola L.), and indigotin and indirubin (components of indigoid dyes). In one sample, the type C compound (marker compound for the identification of soluble redwoods, Caesalpinia trees) is identified. The HPLC profiles collected for the samples in which madder components are detected suggest that most probably Rubia tinctorum L. (and not Rubia peregrina L.) was used during dyeing.