The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 16, 2022

Fragment of a wood-block print on linen

1200s–1300s

Egypt, Mamluk period, 1200s-1300s

Block printing on linen tabby ground

Overall: 11.5 x 19.1 cm (4 1/2 x 7 1/2 in.)

Gift of George D. Pratt 1929.907

Location

not on view

Description

The design of this printed textile was probably copied from a patterned silk. The Arabic inscription ("the sultan") in the center of each rosette was an abbreviation of an official Mamluk formula. The Buddhist knots in the petals of the rosettes and between the stars as well as the Chinese lotus flowers in the petals of the rosettes are indictive of how strong Mongol influence was in Egypt during the Mamluk period.

Inscriptions

Inscription

al-sultan (the sultan)

Provenance
–1929
(Paul Mallon [1884–1975], Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1929–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Pfister, Rudoph. Les toiles imprimées de Fostat et l'Hindoustan. Paris: Les Éditions d'art et d'histoire, 1938. Reproduced: p. 75, pl. XXIXd
Exhibition history

Techniques of Textile Printing. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 11, 1948-May 29, 1949).

Design in Printed Textiles. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 4-September 3, 1961).

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

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.907