The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 23, 2024
Curtain or bedcover
early 1800s
Average: 216.5 x 188.6 cm (85 1/4 x 74 1/4 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1311
Location: not on view
Description
Known as suzani, embroideries with elaborate floral decoration from Central Asia were a significant part of a bride’s dowry and were ceremoniously displayed on special occasions. Women embroidered suzani, mothers passing their skills on to their daughters. Floral and foliate motifs generally dominate, emboldened with several shades of red and multiple borders, perhaps conveying cosmological, medicinal, or fertility associations. However, few display a more bountiful blossoming garden than seen here. Flora radiates from the central fanlike bouquet, a design echoed in the corners of the field and in the wide border, characteristic of work from Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Patterns were drawn on several loosely joined cotton cloths and then embroidered in chain stitch.- ?-1916Mr. Jeptha Homer Wade II [1857-1926] and Mrs. Ellen Garretson Wade [1859-1917], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art1916-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland, OH; New Haven, CT: The Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Mentioned: p. 402; Reproduced: fig. 9.62, p. 403
- Floral Delight: Textiles from Islamic Lands. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 9, 2014-May 4, 2015).
- {{cite web|title=Curtain or bedcover|url=false|author=|year=early 1800s|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1311