The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 5, 2023

Brocaded velvet cushion cover with crescents

1525–75

Turkey, Istanbul or Bursa

Velvet, brocaded: silk, gilt- and silver-metal thread, and cotton

Overall: 138.4 x 65.4 cm (54 1/2 x 25 3/4 in.); Mounted: 134.6 x 63.5 cm (53 x 25 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2009.282

Location

not on view

Description

This lustrous cushion cover is one of the earliest and highest quality examples that has survived. The vibrant field pattern displays large crescents inscribed with smaller crescents and elegant rosebuds on a leafy vine. Harmonious smaller crescents and roses decorate the six pointed lappet designs across each end that identify its function as a cover for a cushion on a divan, the equivalent of a Western sofa. The elegant yet lively quality of the drawing, velvet weave, and dense metal thread indicate that it was made near the height of Ottoman silk textile production in the middle of the 1500s.

Provenance
Probably acquired from Dikran Kelekian, Paris and New York (c. 1910); Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, by descent to his great-grandson Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild, Geneva (Baron Edmond James de Rothschild (1845-1934) married Adelheid von Rothschild in 1877. Their son lived at Waddesdon Manor, England: James Armand Edmond de Rothschild (1878-1957) married Dorothy Mathilde Pinto (1896-1988) in 1913. Their son Maurice de Rothschild (1881-1957), married Noémie Halphen (1888-1968) in 1909. Their son Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild (1926-1997), second marriage to Nadine L'Hopitalier (1932-) in 1963. Their son, Benjamin de Rothschild (1963-), is President of Groupe LCF); Colnaghi, London, 1977; The Textile Gallery, London, 1977; Wher Collection, to Jan 1986.
Citations
Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Reproduced: Frontspiece, P. 37, 292-293, fig. 8.12; Mentioned: P. 294
Rustem, Unver. "From Auspicious Ornament to State Symbol: The Crescent Moon in Ottoman Art and Architecture." In The Moon: A Voyage through Time. Christiane Gruber, ed. Toronto, Ontario: Aga Khan Museum, 2019. Reproduced: P. 46, fig. 2
Exhibition history

Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 3, 2012-December 9, 2013).

Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 21, 2016-December 4, 2017).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2009.282