The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 22, 2025

Fragmentary roundel with eagle in gold ground

1000s

Egypt, Fatimid period

linen, silk, and gold filé: plain weave with inwoven tapestry weave
Overall: 11.2 x 14 cm (4 7/16 x 5 1/2 in.)
Gift of Grace Rainey Rogers in memory of her father, William J. Rainey 1946.258
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The gold threads were not beaten up and therefore form loose, open weave in contrast to rest of the silk tapestry.

Description

This plain weave fragment contains an ornamental bird with outstretched wings encircled by a pearled frame.
  • ?–1946
    Grace Rainey Rogers [1867–1943], New York, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1946–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Miner, Dorothy Eugenia. Early Christian and Byzantine Art, An Exhibition Held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, April 25-June 22 [1947]. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1947. no. 786
    von Wilckens, Leonia. "Fatimidische Gewebe mit gewirktem dekor im Verglei mit spanischen und sizilischen." In Salīm, Muḥammad ʻAbbās Muḥammad. Islamische Textilkunst des Mittelalters: Aktuelle Probleme. Riggisberg [Switzerland]: Abegg-Stiftung, 1997. pp. 157–171
    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. 116, fig. 3.32; Mentioned: pp. 116, 215
  • Textiles from Egypt, Syria and Spain: 7th through 15th centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 26-June 6, 1991).
    Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (April 24-June 27, 1947)
  • {{cite web|title=Fragmentary roundel with eagle in gold ground|url=false|author=|year=1000s|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1946.258