The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Fragment with Inscription

early 900s

Iran, style of the Abbasid period

(750–1258) or Buyid period (945–1055)
Silk: lampas weave
Overall: 78.7 x 90.2 cm (31 x 35 1/2 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1982.24
Location: Not on view

Description

This fragment preserves a large-scale octagon enclosing a pair of peacocks which stand on recumbent griffins and flank a palmette tree. The inner edges of the octagon contain an inscription blessing its owner. The outer edges of the octagon are ornamented with abstract leaves. In the interspaces between octagons are floral roundels, each containing four birds; from the top, bottom, and sides of each roundel spring palmette trees, of which the top and bottom are flanked by birds.

According to recent analysis of the museum’s Buyid textile materials, some have been identified as modern reproductions.
  • ?-1982
    (Spink & Son, Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1982-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review for 1982.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 70, no. 1, 1983, pp. 3–55. Mentioned: pp. 52-53, no. 71 www.jstor.org
    Blair, Sheila S., et al. “Reevaluating the Date of the ‘Buyid’ Silks by Epigraphic and Radiocarbon Analysis.” Ars Orientalis, vol. 22, 1992, pp. 1–41. This article provides an overview of the Buyid textile debate, but this specific textile is not referenced. 4629423
  • The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).
  • {{cite web|title=Fragment with Inscription|url=false|author=|year=early 900s|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.24