The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Velvet with gold discs

Velvet with gold discs

late 1200s or earlier
silk, gilt-metal thread; brocaded velvet
Overall: 30.5 x 20.6 cm (12 x 8 1/8 in.); Mounted: 34.9 x 25.4 cm (13 3/4 x 10 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1918.225
Location: not on view

Description

Silk velvet with rich pile is one of the most opulent and prestigious fabrics, especially when embellished with gold thread. This is one of the earliest known velvets. A 1295 inventory of Pope Boniface VIII includes "a piece of red Tartar velvet with gold discs," which probably refers to this velvet pattern. It is attributed to Iran, possibly in Tabriz where Italian agents resided and could have provided the transfer of silk-velvet technology to Italy. Although the origin of velvet is uncertain, silk velvet with an extra silk pile warp was probably developed in a silk weaving country such as Iran. Inventive Iranian weavers may have developed it during the 1200s or earlier; they are acclaimed for producing the most colorful velvets ever during the 1500s and 1600s.
  • ?–1918
    (Bacri Freres, Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1918–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Wardwell, Anne E. "Panni Tartarici: Eastern Islamic Silks Woven with Gold and Silver (13th and 14th Centuries)." In Islamic Art III, 95-173. New York: The Islamic Art Foundation, 1989. Mentioned: pp. 95-173; Reproduced: Fig. 57, 77
    Hoeniger, Cathleen S. “Cloth of Gold and Silver: Simone Martini's Techniques for Representing Luxury Textiles.” Gesta 30 (2): 154–62. p. 160
    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. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 228, fig. 6.13
  • Luxuriance: Silks from Islamic Lands, 1250-1900. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 14, 2013-June 23, 2014).
    2000 Years of Silk Weaving. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 18-April 16, 1944).
  • {{cite web|title=Velvet with gold discs|url=false|author=|year=late 1200s or earlier|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1918.225