The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 7, 2023

Fragment

before 1952

Iraq or Iran, in the style of the Buyid period

(945–1055)

Silk: compound tabby

Overall: 43.8 x 36.8 cm (17 1/4 x 14 1/2 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1952.83

Location

not on view

Description

Large roundels with pearl borders enclose eight palmette trees radiating from a central abstract floral motif. The large roundels are linked to each other along their vertical and horizontal axes by small roundels, also having pearl borders, that enclose a square and four crescents. Between these links, the large roundels are interrupted by small roundels enclosing single recumbent ibexes. The pattern, which is completely reversible, appears in tan on a dark blue background, or vice versa.

Provenance
Originally reported as having been found in Bibi Shahr Banu, near Rayy, Iran
?-1952
(Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 678 archive.org
Lemberg, Mechthild. 1973. “The Buyid Silks of the Abegg Foundation, Berne.” Bulletin du CIETA. Centre international d'étude des textiles anciens. No. 37 1973 – I. p. 11-54 p. 52, no. 1105
Exhibition history

Persian Art: Before and After the Mongol Conquest. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI (April 6-May 17, 1959).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1952.83