The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 24, 2020

Fragment with musicians

1200s

Spain, probably Almeria

Lampas with areas of double cloth: silk and gold thread

Overall: 16.8 x 14 cm (6 5/8 x 5 1/2 in.); Mounted: 27.3 x 24.1 cm (10 3/4 x 9 1/2 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1932.137

Location

116 Islamic

Description

The repeating pattern features female musicians playing tambourines. They wear long blue and blue-green robes in alternate rows. A lamp hangs between them, suggesting an evening setting. Traces of their black hair peek out from under red headdresses.

This textile, along with several other fragments, was found within the pages of a Christian manuscript in the Cathedral of Vich, near Barcelona in northeastern Spain.

Provenance
said to have come from binding of 13th century manuscript at Vich. (H. A. Elsberg, New York).
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 125 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 218 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 218 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 275 archive.org
Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Reproduced: p. 185; Mentioned: p. 184-185
Exhibition history

Winnepeg, Art Gallery, "Medieval Art" [Jan. 3-28, 1952].

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).

Source URL: https://cmaweb23-bbn-2.clevelandart.org/art/1932.137