The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 23, 2026

Ogives with Winged Quadrupeds and Peacocks

1517–1950 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)

Iran ?, in the style of the Buyid period

(945–1055)
Silk: lampas weave
Overall: 69.8 x 49.8 cm (27 1/2 x 19 5/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Werner Abegg 1966.134
Location: Not on view

Description

The design consists of aligned ogives in 4-1/2 rows and part or all of 6 columns; each ogive contains a running winged quadruped with an animal head. Floriated motifs emerge from the end of the tail and fill the interstices. The double border consists of an inner band with scrolling vine and an outer band of kufic inscription. Resulting columns of diamond-shaped interspaces are alternately ornamented with squares filled with diaper pattern on a foliate field and a pair of confronting, regardant peacocks flanking a tree of life.
  • ?-1966
    Werner [1903–1984] and Margaret Harrington Daniels Abegg [1901–1999], New York, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1966-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “Annual Report for 1966.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 54, no. 6, 1967, pp. 159–197. Mentioned: pp. 177-178 www.jstor.org
    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. Reprpoduced: p. 33; Mentioned: p. 15 www.jstor.org
  • Year in Review: 1967. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29-December 31, 1967).
  • {{cite web|title=Ogives with Winged Quadrupeds and Peacocks|url=false|author=|year=1517–1950 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)|access-date=23 February 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.134