The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Star and Cross Pattern from a Tomb Cover(?)

800s–900s

Byzantium, Islamic or Byzantine periods, 9th -10th Century

complementary weft-faced plain weave with inner warps (samit); silk
Overall: 8.5 x 24.1 cm (3 3/8 x 9 1/2 in.); Mounted: 15.2 x 30.5 cm (6 x 12 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1977.17
Location: Not on view

Description

This fragment is one of several that may have come from a tomb in the Caucasus (the region between the Black and Caspian seas). The design displays rows of eight-pointed stars, here with a rooster on a blue ground, alternating with striped pointed crosses.
  • said to have been found in a tomb in the Caucasus in the late 19th century
    An anonymous French collection, to Loewi-Robertson
    ?–1977
    (Loewi-Robertson, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1977–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Shepherd, Dorothy G.. “Medieval Persian Silks in Fact and Fancy (A refutation of the Riggisberg report).” Bulletin de liaison du CIETA (Lyon), no. 39-40 (1974) pp. 1–239. fig. 18
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1977.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 65, no. 1 (January 1978): 2–42. Mentioned: p. 42, no. 123 www.jstor.org
  • Gallery 105 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (May 20, 2010-June 13, 2011).
    Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 12, 2000-October 25, 2001).
    Gallery 210 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11, 2000-October 21, 2001).
    Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978).
  • {{cite web|title=Star and Cross Pattern from a Tomb Cover(?)|url=false|author=|year=800s–900s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1977.17