The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 7, 2022

Alhambra hanging fragment with decorated bands

1300s

Spain, Granada

Silk: lampas and taqueté weave

Overall: 37.8 x 25.1 cm (14 7/8 x 9 7/8 in.); Mounted: 46.7 x 28.9 cm (18 3/8 x 11 3/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1927.378

Location

not on view

Description

The ability to harmoniously combine intricate designs and varied colors was one of the unparalleled achievements of Islamic art. This silk curtain fragment reveals juxtapositions of large- and small-scaled patterns, woven with bold contrasting colors in bands of varying widths.

Segments of Arabic text have been woven into the design. The repeated phrase good fortune and prosperity is woven in ivory silk in one of the narrow bands. In the wide band at the bottom, Kufic script in yellow silk extends the word beatitude.

Inscriptions

Inscription

the principal field of geometric laceria forming stars and squares is bordered by a broad composite band (incomplete) consisting of central wide band with knotted Kufic inscription ("beatitude"), framed by narrower bands with knotwork, Naskhi inscriptions ("success and prosperity") in cartouches and crenallations.

Provenance
?-1927
(Adolph Loewi [1888-1977], Venice, Italy, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1927-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Underhill, Gertrude. "A Group of Hispano-Moresque Silks." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 3 (1928): 68-74. p. 68, 74 www.jstor.org
Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Reproduced: P. 197, fig. 529; P. 203, fig. 5.36; Mentioned: P. 198, 200
Exhibition history

Gallery 207 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 19, 2001-June 3, 2002).

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

2000 Years of Silk Weaving. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 18-April 16, 1944).

Textiles from Egypt, Syria and Spain: 7th through 15th centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 26-June 6, 1991).

Islamic Gallery 207 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 19, 2001-June 3, 2002).

Al-Andalus: Art from Islamic Spain (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 29, 2019-October 25, 2020).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1927.378