The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 4, 2023

Ornamental Square from a Tunic

AD 400s

Egypt, Byzantine period

Undyed linen and dyed wool: tapestry weave with supplementary weft wrapping

Overall: 21 x 20 cm (8 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.); Mounted: 28.6 x 27.6 cm (11 1/4 x 10 7/8 in.)

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1916.1980

Location

not on view

Description

Riders dressed in hunting clothes and boots hurl rocks at fleeing lions. The man wears a short tunic and the woman has a fluttering skirt. The border consists of curved acanthus leaves that enclose a chase of alternating lions and hares. This square was sewn onto a tunic rather than woven in. Hunting was a popular artistic theme in pre-Islamic traditions, including Byzantine art, and was then adopted into Islamic art.

Provenance
?–1916
Mrs. Chauncey J. [Mary A. I. Mitchell] Blair [1856–1940], Chicago, IL, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1916–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Meyer-Reifstahl, Rudolf A.. First National Silk Convention: [Exhibition] City Hall, Paterson, N.J., October 12th, to 21st., 1915. [Paterson, NJ?]: [Chamber of Commerce?], 1915. no. 3, p. 19
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Reproduced: p. 65 archive.org
Wadsworth Atheneum, Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, and Charles Crehore Cunningham. 2000 Years of Tapestry Weaving: A Loan Exhibition : Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Dec. 7, 1951 to Jan. 27, 1952 ; the Baltimore Museum of Art, Feb. 27, 1952 to Mar. 25, 1952. Hartford, CT: Wardsworth Atheneum, 1951. no. 36, pl. III.
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 45 archive.org
Francovich, Géza de. 1963. "L' Egitto, la Siria e Costantinopoli: problemi di metodo". Rivista Dell'Istituto Nazionale D'Archeologia E Storia Dell'Arte / Istituto Nazionale D'Archeologia E Storia Dell'Arte . 83-229. 139, fig. 72
Thompson, Deborah. 1965. “A Fatimid Textile of Coptic Tradition with Arabic Inscription.” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 4: 145–50. fig. 8, pl. XXXVIII
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 30 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. 30 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 36 archive.org
Kajitani, Nobuko. Koputo gire. Kyōto: Kyōto Shoin, 1981. p. 48, pl. 63
Exhibition history

First National Silk Convention. Paterson City Hall, Paterson, NJ (October 12–21, 1915).

2000 Years of Tapestry Weaving. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT (December 7, 1951-January 27, 1952); Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (February 27-March 25, 1952).

Inaugural Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 6-September 20, 1916).

Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 2, 2001-October 15, 2002).

Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 4, 2011-May 21, 2012).

Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 12, 2016-May 22, 2017).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1980