Featured Is this curious looking Egyptian(?) needlework lady modern or vintage?

Hello all! I am definitely out of my comfort zone with needlework/embroidery and am hoping you can help. I picked her up for a mere $5 in an auction because I thought she was interesting and no-one else wanted her. I am curious to know if she is very modern or possible vintage? She has a mid century look to me but the colours are very vibrant which makes me lean toward modern. Is she Egyptian? I should note that the piece is unfinished and on linen. It measures 44"L x 16"W. Any info appreciated, thanks!

 

Her head is framed by a Gothic arch so I'd assume she's meant to be Medieval.

Debora

 

Ahh, ok thank you! I had my doubts about Egyptian-that was how it was listed in the auction

 

Unfinished but... It appears she's wearing a wimple underneath her crown.

Debora

 

"Coptic" was the word that immediately sprang to my mind. But that doesn't mean I know anything about it.

 

I was thinking Byzantine influence Virgin Mary figure, maybe. Sacred hearts have flames behind them.

 

The Byzantine's used rounded arches in their architecture.

Debora

 

On the other hand, the headdress and the gilding behind her scream Orthodox. Russian Arts and Crafts maybe? I'd have bagged her too and worried about it later.

 

Yes! For $5 I'm not losing out on anything. Appreciate all the thoughts thanks! she's interesting

 

I thought the figure has an overall sarcophagus shape, and the face looked like an encaustic funeral mask.

 

I just went down a rabbit hole figuring out the symbolism of a flaming chalice. A logo with a flaming chalice is currently a symbol of the Unitarian Universalist movement. It has its origin in symbols related to Jan Hus, a 14th-15th century theologian. One explanation here: https://www.uufayetteville.org/about/our-faith/the-flaming-chalice/

Of course, it might have nothing to do with this embroidery piece. I would have bought it, too! At first I was going to joke that she was holding an Olympic torch... then found the information above.

 

Thanks for this, interesting read!

 

Beautiful piece! I’m almost positive it isn’t Unitarian, but cool article! The UU chalice is more flattened. I think I know why someone thought it was Egyptian. Do a Google image search and all you get are sarcophagus images

I often have pretty good luck with image search, but it was an epic fail this time. No matter what I did to the image or how I cropped it, I never got anything even remotely similar

 

Same here, but thanks for trying I appreciate it!