Collection Online as of February 5, 2023

Velvet Fragment, Khusrau Sees Shirin Bathing

1550–99

Part of a set. See all set records

Iran, Kashan, Safavid period

(1501-1722)

Silk; velvet, cut, pile-warp substitution

Overall: 21 x 15.9 cm (8 1/4 x 6 1/4 in.); Mounted: 44.5 x 26.7 cm (17 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1944.499.a

Location

not on view

Description

These velvet fragments depict an episode from the Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami (1141–1209), in which the lovers Khusrau and Shirin first see each other. A pre-Islamic king of Iran, Khusrau has fallen in love with Shirin after seeing her portrait and is traveling to meet her when he happens across her bathing in a stream. Not yet realizing that she is Shirin, Khusrau is transfixed by the woman’s beauty and covets both her and her magnificent black horse. The horse’s mane is just visible here, and she has placed her crown and tunic atop a branch.

Provenance

?-1944

Purchased from the Dikran G. Kelekian Collection using income from the J.H. Wade Fund

1944-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Underhill, Gertrude. "Fragments of a Khusraw and Shirin Velvet." CMA Bulletin 32 (June 1945): 95-97.

Kendrick, F.A. "Persian Stuffs with Figural Subjects." Burlington Magazine 37 (Nov. 1920): 237.

Kendrick, A. F., and T. W. Arnold. "Persian Stuffs with Figure-Subjects-I." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 37, no. 212 (1920): 237-45. p. 237 www.jstor.org

Underhill, Gertrude. "Fragments of a Khusraw and Shīrīn Velvet." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 32, no. 6 (1945): 95-99. Mentioned: pp. 95-97 www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned: cat. no. 735 archive.org

Woven Treasures of Persian Art; Persian Textiles from the 6th to the 19th Century. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Museum, 1959. Mentioned: p. 38, cat no. 68

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 216 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. 216 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. 276 archive.org

Bier, Carol. Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart: Textile Arts of Safavid and Qajar Iran, 16. - 19. Centuries. Washington, DC: Textile Museum, 1987. 109-91 and 65

Exhibition history

Woven Treasures of Persian Art. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (April 1-May 23, 1959).

Arts of Iran (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 2018-October 28, 2019).