The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 13, 2024

Resist-Dyed Hanging with Biblical Scenes

Resist-Dyed Hanging with Biblical Scenes

500–550
linen: resist-dyed, plain weave
Overall: 99.7 x 104.8 cm (39 1/4 x 41 1/4 in.); Mounted: 111.1 x 114.3 x 2.5 cm (43 3/4 x 45 x 1 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1951.400
Location: not on view

Description

This hanging belongs to an elite group featuring biblical scenes that early Christians would have recognized. The upper register on the left shows a cross-legged stool in a fragmentary Adoration of the Virgin; as a Coptic inscription indicates, the Magi approach from the right. The middle register on the left may depict the Baptism of Christ while the other three figures separated by columns appear to illustrate the Miracle of Loaves and Fishes. Old Testament scenes in the lower register include Jonah and the Whale. The scenes were created using a resist-dye technique. A substance that dyes cannot penetrate was applied to the linen cloth. After the cloth was immersed in an indigo dyebath, the resist was removed, revealing the design on the undyed linen against the blue-dyed ground.
  • said to have been brought to Paris from Egypt in the 1870s or 1880s
    ?–1951
    (Mrs. Paul [Marguerite] Mallon [d. 1977], New York, NY, and Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1951–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Shepherd, Dorothy G. "An Egyptian Textile from the Early Christian Period." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 39, no. 4 (1952): 66-75. p. 66-8 25141787.
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 73 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 32 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. 38 archive.org
    Katzenberg, Dena S. Blue Traditions; Indigo Dyed Textiles and Related Cobalt Glazed Ceramics from the 17th Through the 19th Century. [Baltimore]: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1973. Mentioned: cat. no. 1, p. 118; Reproduced: cat. no. 1, p. 49
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 39 archive.org
    Weitzmann, Kurt, and Hans-Georg Beck. Age of Spirituality: A Symposium. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980. cat. no. 390, p. 433
    Kajitani, Nobuko 梶谷宣子. Koputo gire [コプト裂 = Coptic Fabrics]. Kyōto: Kyōto Shoin, 1981. pl. 45, p. 35
    Williams, Elizabeth Dospěl. "Sacred Imagery." In Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt, 63-68. Washington: The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 67, fig.16
    Blessing, Patricia, Elizabeth Dospěl Williams, and Eiren L. Shea. Medieval Textiles Across Eurasia, C. 300-1400. Cambridge, United Kingdom; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2023. Mentioned: p. 12; Reproduced: p. 15, fig. 13
  • Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 13, 2019-May 11, 2020).
    Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 18, 2014-March 2, 2015).
    Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27, 2003-October 25, 2004).
    Age of Spirituality, Late Antique and Early Christian Art: Third to Seventh Century. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (November 1977-February 12, 1978).
    The Indigo Tradition in Textiles. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (December 2, 1973-January 20, 1974).
  • {{cite web|title=Resist-Dyed Hanging with Biblical Scenes|url=false|author=|year=500–550|access-date=13 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1951.400