Plastron (Collar) from a Tunic

In the pictureA U-shaped collar, densely embroidered with metal thread laid over a black wool ground, lies spread out. There are four roundels on each wing and one at the curve at the bottom, nine in all, and each has a small flower shape worked in red thread at its center. Scalloped ornament runs around the outer edge, and along the inner neckline a thick cord of twisted gold thread is wrapped here and there with red wool thread to form knots. Small disc spangles are scattered over the surface, and the edges of the black cloth are fraying. Between the roundels, thin bands of metal-thread loops woven like a net link them together.

BackgroundThe Met's record gives the place of manufacture as Tunisia and the date as the 19th century, and it measures 53.3cm long and 36.2cm wide. The materials are metal-wrapped thread, wool and glass. Metal-wrapped thread is hard to pass in and out through cloth, so it was commonly laid on the surface and tacked down with another thread, and the thick gold lines of this collar appear to have been attached that way. As the title says, it was originally attached at the front neck of a tunic, and the garment itself is not in the collection. A length of 53.3cm is enough to cover from the neck to below the chest. It was given by Mrs. Ormond Riblet in 1948.

Puzzle tipThe white background is wide and the collar's outline is clear, so it is good to start with the outer border. If you find the white pieces of the empty U-shaped space in the middle and the red knot pieces of the neckline first, the height of the left and right wings is set. Order the roundels from top to bottom using their red centers, and tell the scalloped border pieces apart by the black cloth on their outer side. The nine roundels look almost identical and are easy to swap, so it is safer to finish the border first. 48 pieces is recommended.