The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Fragment of a Woodblock Print on Linen

1200s–1300s

Mamluk Sultanate

(Egypt)
pigment, linen
Overall: 20.5 x 11.9 cm (8 1/16 x 4 11/16 in.)
Gift of George D. Pratt 1929.907
Location: Not on view

Description

Egypt remained an active hub of textile production and trade under the rule of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), a Muslim dynasty. In the block-print technology used on this textile, multiple carved wooden blocks impress patterns on cotton or linen fabrics. Artisans used separate blocks to transfer the round medallions, create the stars, and apply the interlocking motif at the fragment’s center. The inner medallion inscription reads “the sultan” in an abbreviated Arabic spelling. Block-printed textiles were in high demand around the Mediterranean and Red Sea regions, with many produced in Egypt and others imported from western India.
  • Fiber microscopy was performed on this object and on 1929.845, a very similar fragment that is also from the Mamluk period of Egypt. This object's fiber type has previously been identified as linen through visual analysis, but fiber microscopy provides confirmation of this identification. Polarized light microscopy is a form of testing that requires a very small sample to be removed from the object for the test to be performed. A polarized light microscope can be used to identify fibers; each fiber type has its own unique structure that is visible under magnification. This textile’s fibers were identified as a bast fiber, likely linen, because they have striations perpendicular to the length of the fiber that are characteristic of bast fibers.
  • –1929
    (Paul Mallon [1884–1975], Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1929–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Pfister, Rudoph. Les toiles imprimées de Fostat et l'Hindoustan. Paris: Les Éditions d'art et d'histoire, 1938. Reproduced: p. 75, pl. XXIXd
  • Africa & Byzantium. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (co-organizer) (April 14-July 21, 2024).
    Textiles from Egypt, Syria and Spain: 7th through 15th centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 26-June 6, 1991).
    Design in Printed Textiles. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 7-September 3, 1961).
    Techniques of Textile Printing. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 11, 1948-May 29, 1949).
  • {{cite web|title=Fragment of a Woodblock Print on Linen|url=false|author=|year=1200s–1300s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.907