The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 26, 2023

Two Parts of a Curtain

1700s

Algeria

Silk, gold, and silver on linen; embroidery

Overall: 295.3 x 135.9 cm (116 1/4 x 53 1/2 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1229

Location

not on view

Description

During the 1700s, stunning large embroidered door curtains such as these hung across doorways onto interior courtyards of multistoried residences. Light entered through their loosely woven linen ground while the reversible embroidered decoration provided beauty and privacy. Such curtains have three embroidered widths, the third missing here, joined by colorful plain silk ribbons flanking a French floral ribbon in the center.

Citations
Victoria and Albert Museum, and A. J. B. Wace. Catalogue of Algerian Embroideries. London: Published under the authority of the Board of Education, 1935. plate 2., no. 5
Stone, Caroline. The Embroideries of North Africa. Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex: Longman, 1985. p. 88-89, 99,inside front cover
Exhibition history

Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 2015-December 19, 2016).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1229