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https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=BFFC78F053CD72D892FFF68B2CC0B88F322C8DA04C3981431BA14A5D237C7B47&s=24247294&se=1128270358&v=1&f=%5Cd4670%5Cu2646706%5C1931.133_o2.jpg

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Apr 27, 2018

Towel End

c. 1800–1825

Russia, Nizhny-Novgorod province, early 19th century

Linen: plain weave ground; wool; metal thread: embroidery, chain stitch; silk: ribbon

Overall: 37 x 43 cm (14 9/16 x 16 15/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1931.133

Location

not on view

Did you know?

Embroidering the ends of everyday towels was a common folk tradition in many cultures because it displayed the skill of the mother or daughter who stitched them.

Description

This Russian embroidered panel was likely used to embellish the end of a bathing towel. Textiles of this type are valuable for their fine embroidery of ancient folk motifs, ritual significance, exemplification of the role of textiles in their society, and in this case, connection to a prominent woman collector, Natalia de Shabelsky, without whom this textile and others like it might have been lost.

Provenance

-1904/5

Collection of Natalia Leonidovna Shabelsky, Moscow, Russia (1841-1904/5), by inheritance to her daughters

1904/5-1931

Princess Alexandre Sidamon-Eristoff and Mlle. N. de Chabelskoy, sold through B.M. Pushkin

1931

Count B. M. Pushkin sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1931-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Citations

Pushkin, B. M, B. M Pushkin, N. de Shabelsky, and N. de Shabelsky. Exhibition of National Russian Art, 17th, 18th and Early 19th Centuries: Peasant Embroideries, Costumes, Headdresses, Hand-Woven Materials, Laces, Ikons, Articles of Silver, Copper, Etc.: Shown by Count and Countess B.m.-Pushkin. Place of publication not identified: publisher not identified, 1900.

Sidamon-Eristoff, V. P., Princess. Sobranīe russkoĭ stariny Kn. V.P. Sidamon-Ėristovoĭ i N.P. Shabelʹskoĭ: vypusk I-ĭ, vyshivki i kruzheva = Antiquités russes, collection princesse Sidamon-Eristoff et Mlle. N. de Schabelskoi. Moskva, 1910.

Holme, Charles, and Studio. Peasant Art in Russia. The Studio, 1912. Special No. London: "The Studio", 1912. p. 3-11

Schwoeffermann, Catherine, Peter Klosky, and Merrill Oliver. Goddesses and Their Offspring: 19th and 20th Century Eastern European Embroideries. Binghamton, N.Y.: Roberson Center for the Arts & Sciences, 1986.

Kelly, Mary B. "Embroidery for the Goddess." Threads Magazine 11 (June/July 1987). p. 26-9

Kelly, Mary B. Goddess Embroideries of Eastern Europe. Winona, MN: Northland Press of Winona, 1989.

Grusman, V. M., Elena Madlevskai︠a︡, and Karina Solovʹeva. Collection Chabelskaya: une Russie fin de siècle: portrait de femmes en costume traditionnel. 2010.

Lovings-Gomez, Lauren. “The Lost Narrative of Natalia Shabelsky’s Collection of Russian Textiles.” In Hidden Stories/Human Lives: Proceedings of the Textile Society of America 17th Biennial Symposium, October 15-17, 2020. UNL Commons. Accessed 10/20/2021 from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/. doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.tsasp.0117 digitalcommons.unl.edu

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Towel End|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1931.133|year=c. 1800–1825|access-date=10 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Towel End

Towel End

Russia, Nizhny-Novgorod province, early 19th century

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