The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 16, 2022

Towel End

18th-19th century

Russia, Tver province, 18th- 19th century

Cotton or linen (est.) straight (continuous) bobbin lace; ground with interspersed motifs of plant and animal forms in plain weave outlined with metal thread; applied silk (est.) ribbons

Overall: 32.5 x 48.5 cm (12 13/16 x 19 1/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1931.109

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Embellishing the ends of everyday towels was a common folk tradition in many cultures because it displayed the skill of the mother or daughter who made this lace.

Description

This Russian lace panel was likely used to embellish the end of a bathing towel. Textiles of this type are valuable for their fine lace making including 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).
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
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1931.109