The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 20, 2023

Border of Heads and Palmettes from a Large Hanging

500s

Egypt, Antinoë, Byzantine period, 6th century

Dyed wool, undyed linen; slit-tapestry weave

Overall: 76.2 x 26 cm (30 x 10 1/4 in.); Mounted: 89.2 x 34.3 cm (35 1/8 x 13 1/2 in.)

Gift of The Textile Arts Club 1960.273

Location

not on view

Description

Frontal heads with caps alternating with palmette leaves on a rich blue ground was a popular border design for luxurious woolen hangings whose field patterns often incorporated Iranian artistic features. A reciprocal red and white foliate design forms the secondary border. The field pattern possibly began on the left on the red ground.

Provenance
(acquired on the Cairo market, 11/1960, by Dorothy Shepherd).
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 31 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 31 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 37 archive.org
Wardwell, Anne E. Material Matters: Fifty Years of Gifts from the Textile Arts Club, 1934-1984 : [Exhibition] 21 November-30 December 1984, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum, 1984. p. 10-11
Exhibition history

Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).

Material Matters: Fifty Years of Gifts from the Textile Arts Club. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 21-December 30, 1984).

Coptic Textile Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 31, 2010-April 1, 2011).

Coptic Textile Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 3, 2015-April 11, 2016).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.273