I'm actually thinking maybe quilt it to a backing (very carefully. With, I supposed, special acid-free thread) and then hang it on the inside of a closet door, as a sort of compromise between display and not-display. Maybe.

See update for update on provenance! I do have some reprints of old egyptology books, so I shall be looking at them to see if I can at least get an idea what would have been known. But yes, trip to DC to museums is looking like very good possibility.

RE: dude-without-beard: it looks like sometimes women are paler, sometimes not, and sometimes it's faded enough that it's hard to tell? Women are usually more shapely than that, but again, could be maker's inaccuracy...