The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Fragment with falconer riding a bull in a rondel

1000s–1100s (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)

Iran, Rayy, Seljuk period

Silk: double cloth
Overall: 28 x 25.4 cm (11 x 10 in.)
Gift of Ayyub Rabenou 1968.246
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The falconer's round face with delicate features represents the ideal Iranian beauty, complemented by the chic round hairballs beside his cheeks.

Description

The princely sport of falconry was frequently represented in medieval luxury silks. Here, the falconer wears a jeweled turban, the most significant item of men’s dress, and rides sidesaddle on a bull. His tunic displays two small designs: overlapping octagons and the conventional star and cross motif. On his gloved hand, he probably supports a coveted gyrfalcon, a large, superior bird.

The border displays an inner inscription and an outer animal procession, an ancient Near Eastern theme, of real and mythical creatures. This double cloth has two distinct layers that exchange position according to the pattern. The crisply broken edges and scattered brittle threads are typical of the fragility of authentic medieval Iranian silks.
  • ?–1968
    Mr. Ayyub Rabenou [1902–1984], Paris, France, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1968–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1968.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 56, no. 1 (January 1969): 3–50. Mentioned: p. 48, no. 126; Reproduced: p. 7, no. 126 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. Reproduced: p. 27; 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: pp. 37, 144, fig. 4.14; Mentioned: pp. 33, 145
  • Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 18, 2014-December 14, 2015).
    Year in Review for 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969).
  • {{cite web|title=Fragment with falconer riding a bull in a rondel|url=false|author=|year=1000s–1100s (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.246