The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 23, 2025

Border of Heads and Palmettes from a Large Hanging

500s CE

Egypt, Antinoë, Byzantine period

Dyed wool, undyed linen; slit-tapestry weave
Overall: 76.2 x 26 cm (30 x 10 1/4 in.); Mounted: 89.2 x 34.3 cm (35 1/8 x 13 1/2 in.)
Gift of The Textile Arts Club 1960.273
Location: Not on view

Description

Heads with caps facing front alternate with palmette (fan-shaped) leaves on a rich blue ground—a popular border design for luxurious woolen hangings whose field patterns often incorporated Iranian artistic features. An alternating red and white foliate (leaflike) design forms the secondary border.
  • (acquired on the Cairo market, 11/1960, by Dorothy Shepherd).
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 31 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. 31 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. 37 archive.org
    Wardwell, Anne E. Material Matters: Fifty Years of Gifts from the Textile Arts Club, 1934-1984 : [Exhibition] 21 November-30 December 1984, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum, 1984. p. 10-11
  • Coptic Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 11, 2024-October 26, 2025).
    Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 3, 2015-April 11, 2016).
    Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 31, 2010-April 1, 2011).
    Material Matters: Fifty Years of Gifts from the Textile Arts Club. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 21-December 30, 1984).
    Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).
  • {{cite web|title=Border of Heads and Palmettes from a Large Hanging |url=false|author=|year=500s CE|access-date=23 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.273