The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 6, 2023

Fragment

1200s–1300s

Egypt, Mamluk sultanate

(1250–1517)

Block printing on plain weave cotton ground

Overall: 16.5 x 17.8 cm (6 1/2 x 7 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1929.845

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The break in the bodies of two of the fish reveals that two blocks were used to print each fish.

Description

The Indian technique of patterning a textile by printing with carved woodblocks came to the Mamluk world as a result of trade with India. At Fustat, outside of Cairo, numerous fragments of Indian and Mamluk printed textiles have been found. Fish, repeated to form the entire design of this textile, were an indigenous Egyptian motif.

Provenance
?–1929
(Paul Mallon [1884–1975], Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1929–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Pfister, R. Les toiles imprimées de Fostat et l'Hindoustan. Paris: Les Éditions d'art et d'histoire, 1938. p. 75, pl. XXIXc
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 270 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art., 1991. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 48 archive.org
Exhibition history

Techniques of Textile Printing. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 11, 1948-May 29, 1949).

Design in Printed Textiles. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 7-September 3, 1961).

Textiles from Egypt, Syria and Spain: 7th through 15th centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 26-June 6, 1991).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.845