The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2024

Tomb Cover

Tomb Cover

1640–1950 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)
Overall: 210.2 x 102.5 cm (82 3/4 x 40 3/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

This complete loom piece was woven to cover a human corpse: at the top, a circle to cover the head; below, a long tapering shape for the body. The only decoration on the dark brown ground consists of Kufic inscriptions reserved in beige on bands. The text which was undoubtedly composed for the decoration of a funeral pall gives the name of the deceased in the circle around the top. Other inscriptions refer to the part of the body over which the decoration lies.
  • Originally reported as having been found in Bibi Shahr Banu, near Rayy, Iran
    ?-1954
    (Adolph Loewi [1888-1977], Los Angeles, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1954-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 676 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. 215 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. 215 archive.org
    Jones, Dalu and George Michell. The Arts of Islam: Hayward Gallery, 8 April-4 July 1976. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1976. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 7, p. 76
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 272 archive.org
    Thomson, Nancy. The Heritage of Islam: Notes. London: PCET, 1982. Mentioned: no. 32, p. 50
    Blair, Sheila S., Jonathan M. Bloom, and Anne E. Wardwell. "Reevaluating the Date of the "Buyid" Silks by Epigraphic and Radiocarbon Analysis." Ars Orientalis 22 (1992): 1-41. Reproduced: p. 35; Mentioned: p. 15 www.jstor.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. 154, fig. 4c; Mentioned: P. 154-155
  • Arts of Islam. Hayward Gallery, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (April 8-July 4, 1976).
    Sept mille ans d'art en Iran. Petit Palais, Paris, France (October 1-December 31, 1961).
    The Arts of Islam. The Arts Council of Great Britain, Hayward Gallery, London, UK (April 8-July 4, 1976).
    The Heritage of Islam. Houston, TX; Pittsburgh, PA; San Francisco, CA; Washington, DC (March 10, 1982-September 5, 1983).
    The Exhibition of Persian Art: 7000 Years of Art in Iran. Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France (organizer) (October 19, 1961-January 31, 1962).
  • {{cite web|title=Tomb Cover|url=false|author=|year=1640–1950 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)|access-date=25 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.780