The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 24, 2025

Roundels with Hunters

800s

Eastern Iran or Central Asia

Silk: samite weave
Overall: 26 x 29 cm (10 1/4 x 11 7/16 in.); Mounted: 46.4 x 74.3 cm (18 1/4 x 29 1/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1982.284
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This textile consists of two fragments mounted together (CMA 1982.284 and CMA 1959.124).

Description

This textile consists of two fragments mounted together. They are woven with floral roundels that enclose horsemen hunting lions. The theme of riders hunting with lances, the floral frames of the roundels, and the costumes of the hunters were all inspired by silks from the Byzantine world. The stiff, abstracted style, however, is characteristic of Sogdian silks, woven in Sogdiana in Central Asia and often traded to distant markets. These fragments were preserved in a grave in Egypt where they were found sewn as ornaments onto a tunic.
  • Mrs. Paul [Marguerite] Mallon [d. 1977], Paris, France
    ?-1982
    (Goumaronart, Inc, Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art).
    1982-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Shepherd, Dorothy G. “Medieval Persian Silks in Fact and Fancy: A Refutation of the Riggisberg Report.” Bulletin Du Cieta, Centre International D'étude Des Textiles Anciens 1974, no. 39-40 Reproduced and mentioned: p. 131, fig. 53
    Shepherd, Dorothy G. "Zandanījī Revisited." In Müller-Christensen, Sigrid, Mechthild Flury-Lemberg, and Karen Stolleis. Documenta textilia: Festschrift für Sigrid Müller-Christensen. München: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1981. Reproduced and mentioned: p. 122, fig. 4, cat. 98
    Wardwell, Anne E. Material Matters: Fifty Years of Gifts from the Textile Arts Club, 1934-1984. Cleveland: The Museum, 1984. Mentioned: p.24, cat. 16
    Neils, Jenifer. "The Twain Shall Meet." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 6 (1985): 326-59. Mentioned: p. 359, cat. 90 25159914
    Watt, James C. Y., Anne E. Wardwell, and Morris Rossabi. When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles. New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art in cooperation with the Cleveland Museum of Art : Distributed by H.N. Abrams, 1997. Reproduced and mentioned: p. 31, cat. 2 archive.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: P. 63, fig. 2.26; Mentioned: P. 61
  • Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 17, 2024-May 11, 2025).
    When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian & Chinese Textiles from the Cleveland and Metropolitan Museums of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 26, 1997-January 4, 1998); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (March 2-May 17, 1998).
  • {{cite web|title=Roundels with Hunters|url=false|author=|year=800s|access-date=24 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.284