The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 30, 2023

Fragment with gold leaf lions

1000s - 1100s

Iran or Iraq, Seljuk period

Plain weave: silk warp and cotton weft (mulham); block printed and gold leaf

Overall: 32.1 x 40 cm (12 5/8 x 15 3/4 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1950.558

Location

not on view

Inscriptions

Inscription

This textile belongs to a small group of printed and/or painted textiles made in Iran and Iraq during the 11th - 12th centuries. The design was printed on "mulham" (cloth having silk warps and cotton wefts) using several wooden blocks that were applied in at least seven steps. The lions, a popular motif in Seljuk art, are very similar to the lion incense burner exhibited in the case next to the carpet. Their long toes, typical of lions in works of art made in the eastern parts of Iran, suggest that this printed textile may have been made in the province of Khurasan.

Provenance
(Dr. Emil Delmar, Budapest and 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. 693 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. 214 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. 214 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. 271 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. 161, fig. 4.34; Mentioned: P. 158
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.558