The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 20, 2025
Fragment of Silk Taffeta with “Rose and Nightingale” Motif
1700s
(1501–1722)
Overall: 38.1 x 40.6 cm (15 x 16 in.); Mounted: 48.3 x 50.8 cm (19 x 20 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Fred R. White 1943.91
Location: Not on view
Description
A luxurious textile like this would have been used for courtly robes or coats in Safavid Iran. The bird-and-flower motif is known as gul-u-bulbul in Persian, meaning “rose and nightingale.” The motif references the poetic image of a nightingale plaintively singing to an indifferent rose as a metaphor for unrequited human love as well as the soul’s desire for mystical union with the divine.- Arts of Iran (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 2018-October 28, 2019).
- {{cite web|title=Fragment of Silk Taffeta with “Rose and Nightingale” Motif|url=false|author=|year=1700s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1943.91