The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 23, 2025

Scarf

1800s

Africa, North Africa, Algeria, Algerian embroiderer

Linen, silk, dye
Overall: 173.4 x 46 cm (68 1/4 x 18 1/8 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Charles William Wason 1921.920
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This example was displayed in one of the CMA’s earliest exhibitions, 1923’s Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Oriental Embroideries in 1923.

Description

This woven linen textile is embroidered with a cascading pattern of dusty pink, mauve, and navy blue flowers. The embroiderer created this design with dyed silk thread, outlining the shapes in black and then filling in the designs with dense stitches. Textiles with this composition were made across the Mediterranean Sea in the 1800s, and were used as scarves or towels.
  • ?–1921
    Mrs. Charles William [Mabel Breckenridge] Wason [c. 1872–1958],
    1921–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 8, no. 9 (1921): 138-41. Mentioned: p. 139 www.jstor.org
    G. U. [Gertrude Underhill]. “An Exhibition of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Oriental Embroideries.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 10, no. 9 (1923). 157–58 www.jstor.org
  • 18th and 19th Century Oriental Embroideries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-December 15, 1923).
  • {{cite web|title=Scarf|url=false|author=|year=1800s|access-date=23 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1921.920