The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Embroidered Armenian liturgical curtain
1763
(1299–1922)
Overall: 183 x 119.4 cm (72 1/16 x 47 in.)
Location: not on view
Description
This rare Ottoman embroidery features a floral bouquet that enriches the field under an elegant arch of gilt-metal thread. Flanked by vines of tulips and irises on a silver-metal-thread ground, vases of tulips and jonquils within cartouches adorn the main border and the well-turned corners, a sign of high quality. Dated 1763, the textile documents a mid-18th-century style and technique uncommon in Ottoman embroideries.The Armenian community commissioned this pattern for a liturgical curtain. Beneath the arch, Saint John the Baptist appears with a staff of victory, holding his own severed head in one arm and the Lamb of God in the other. The embroidered Armenian inscription reads: "This curtain is in memory of the people of Hassan Pasha Khan who gave it to the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist on the Armenian date 10 May 1212 [1763]."
- ?–2014(Francesca Galloway, Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)2014–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- 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. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 330–331, fig. 8.49
- Floral Delight: Textiles from Islamic Lands. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 9, 2014-May 4, 2015).
- {{cite web|title=Embroidered Armenian liturgical curtain|url=false|author=|year=1763|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2014.13