The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 16, 2025

Panel

c. 1780–1840
Linen: plain weave; silk; embroidery
Overall: 14.6 x 46 cm (5 3/4 x 18 1/8 in.)
Gift of Kathleen Van Meter 1931.72
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Embroidering the ends of everyday towels was a common folk tradition in many cultures because it displayed the skill of the mother or daughter who stitched them.

Description

This Russian embroidered panel was likely used to embellish the end of a bathing towel. Textiles of this type are valuable for their fine embroidery of ancient folk motifs, ritual significance, exemplification of the role of textiles in their society, and in this case, 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
    1904/05-1931
    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, Cleveland, OH)
    1931-2006
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, deaccessioned and sold to Kathleen van Meter
    2006–2020
    Kathleen van Meter, Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • 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.
    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. "Embroidery for the Goddess." Threads Magazine 11 (June/July 1987). p. 26-9
    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
  • Goddesses and their Offspring: 19th and 20th century Eastern European Embroideries. Roberson Center for the Arts, Binghamton, NY (February 10-April 19, 1987); Beck Center for the Arts, Lakewood, OH (September 11-October 25, 1987).
  • {{cite web|title=Panel|url=false|author=|year=c. 1780–1840|access-date=16 May 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1931.72