The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 30, 2023

Fragment with Double-Headed "Simurgh"-Eagles

before 1953

Iran or Iraq

Silk: lampas weave

Overall: 47.6 x 49.5 cm (18 3/4 x 19 1/2 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1953.434

Location

not on view

Description

Rows of aligned double-headed simurgh (eagles), in tan on a white ground supporting little winged human figures are within a grid consisting of horizontal bands of inscription in floriated Kufic lettering and palmette trees.

Inscriptions

Inscription

man taba asluhu zakiya fi'luhu

Inscription Translation

He whose origin is good acts virtuously.

Inscription Remark

Each inscription repeats in orthograde and retrograde the phrase.

Inscription

man kabirat himmathuhu kathurat qimatuhu

Inscription Translation

He who occupies himself with great things--his value increases.

Inscription Remark

The inscription on the right and left wings of the simurgh, eagle.

Provenance
Originally reported as having been found in Bibi Shahr Banu, near Rayy, Iran
?-1953
(Mme. Paul [Margurerite] Mallon [d. 1977], Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1953-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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. 679 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. 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. 273 archive.org
Exhibition history

Persian Art: Before and After the Mongol Conquest. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI, (April 6-May 17, 1959).

East-West in Art. Indiana University Museum, Bloomington, IN (June 22-October 15, 1966).

East-West in Art. Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, IN.

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.434