The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 30, 2023

Roundel from a Curtain

AD 300s

Egypt, Byzantine period, 4th-5th century

Plain weave ground with tapestry weave and supplementary weft wrapping; undyed linen and dyed wool

Overall: 45.2 x 47.7 cm (17 13/16 x 18 3/4 in.); Mounted: 64.1 x 64.1 x 2.5 cm (25 1/4 x 25 1/4 x 1 in.)

Gift of Henry Hunt Clark 1946.412

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The purple color was achieved with kermes, a dye derived from the dried bodies of insects of the same name.

Description

This circular element called a roundel that originally decorated a curtain displays a perfectly interlaced knot, a design believed to provide protection from harm. Curtains were often used as modular walls in houses, theaters, and Christian churches during the late Roman and early Christian periods.

Citations
Sims, Lowery Stokes. The persistence of geometry: form, content, and culture in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. p. 21, 31, 116
Thomas, Thelma K. "Making Textiles and Assessing Their Value." In Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. Thelma K. Thomas, ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. Reproduced: P. 79, 81, fig. 1-4.3
Exhibition history

Gallery 210 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11, 2000-October 21, 2001); (October 29, 2004-July 18, 2005).

Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 12, 2000-October 25, 2001).

Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 29, 2004-July 18, 2005).

The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).

Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 4, 2011-May 21, 2012).

Designing Identity: The Power of Textiles in Late Antiquity. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, NY, New York, NY (February 25-May 22, 2016).

Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 23, 2017-May 14, 2018).

Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 21, 2022-November 12, 2023).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1946.412