The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Towel End

c. 1700s–1800s

Russia, Nizhny-Novgorod province, 18th-19th century

cotton or linen (est.); straight (continuous) bobbin lace (Vologda tape lace). The tape forms figural or plant motifs outlined with gimp (heavy cord) with a polychrome plaited ground linking the tape; applied silk (est.) ribbon
Overall: 26 x 37 cm (10 1/4 x 14 9/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1931.107
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Lace making was a common tradition in many cultures because it displayed the skill of the mother or daughter who made the lace.

Description

This lace was used to embellish a towel end. Textiles of this type are valuable for their lace work depicting ancient folk motifs, ritual significance, exemplification of the role of textiles in Russian society, and connection to a prominent woman collector, Natalia de Shabelsky, without whom this textile and others like it might have been lost.
  • -1904/5
    Collection of Natalia Leonidovna Shabelsky, Moscow, Russia (1841-1904/5), by inheritance to her daughters
    1904/5-1931
    Princess Alexandre Sidamon-Eristoff and Mlle. N. de Chabelskoy, sold through B.M. Pushkin
    1931
    Count B. M. Pushkin sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1931-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
  • Pushkin, B. M, B. M Pushkin, N. de Shabelsky, and N. de Shabelsky. Exhibition of National Russian Art, 17th, 18th and Early 19th Centuries: Peasant Embroideries, Costumes, Headdresses, Hand-Woven Materials, Laces, Ikons, Articles of Silver, Copper, Etc.: Shown by Count and Countess B.m.-Pushkin. Place of publication not identified: publisher not identified, 1900.
    Valance, Aymer. "Russian Peasant Industries." The studio: an illustrated magazine of fine and applied art. London: Offices of the Studio, 1893-1964. volume 37, 1906. p. 241-248
    Sidamon-Eristoff, V. P., Princess. Sobranīe russkoĭ stariny Kn. V.P. Sidamon-Ėristovoĭ i N.P. Shabelʹskoĭ: vypusk I-ĭ, vyshivki i kruzheva = Antiquités russes, collection princesse Sidamon-Eristoff et Mlle. N. de Schabelskoi. Moskva, 1910.
    Holme, Charles, and Studio. Peasant Art in Russia. The Studio, 1912. Special No. London: "The Studio", 1912. p. 3-11
    Gostelow, Mary. Embroidery of All Russia. New York: Scribner, 1977.
    Schwoeffermann, Catherine, Peter Klosky, and Merrill Oliver. Goddesses and Their Offspring: 19th and 20th Century Eastern European Embroideries. Binghamton, N.Y.: Roberson Center for the Arts & Sciences, 1986.
    Kelly, Mary B. "Embroidery for the Goddess." Threads Magazine 11 (June/July 1987). p. 26-9
    Efimova, L. V., R. M. Belogorskai︠a︡, and Santina M. Levey. Russian Embroidery and Lace. Translated by A. I. Ilʹf. 1st English-language ed. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1982.
    Kelly, Mary B. Goddess Embroideries of Eastern Europe. Winona, MN: Northland Press of Winona, 1989.
    Cook, Bridget M. Russian Lace Making. London: Batsford, 1993.
    Grusman, V. M., Elena Madlevskai︠a︡, and Karina Solovʹeva. Collection Chabelskaya: une Russie fin de siècle: portrait de femmes en costume traditionnel. 2010.
    Lovings-Gomez, Lauren. “The Lost Narrative of Natalia Shabelsky’s Collection of Russian Textiles.” In Hidden Stories/Human Lives: Proceedings of the Textile Society of America 17th Biennial Symposium, October 15-17, 2020. UNL Commons. Accessed 10/20/2021 from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/. doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.tsasp.0117 digitalcommons.unl.edu
  • {{cite web|title=Towel End|url=false|author=|year=c. 1700s–1800s|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1931.107