The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

Brocaded Velvet Panel with Italianate Pattern

1575–1625

Turkey, Istanbul or Bursa

Silk: velvet, brocaded; gilt-metal thread and cotton
Overall: 173 x 241.5 cm (68 1/8 x 95 1/16 in.); Mounted: 175.3 x 245.7 x 8.9 cm (69 x 96 3/4 x 3 1/2 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 2003.3
Location: Not on view

Description

Rarely are four fabric widths preserved together from any culture. This gilt-metal thread pattern combines Turkish and Italian features: the large ogival (curved) lattice clasped by crowns and the velvet structure are Turkish, and the two so-called artichoke designs are enlarged adaptations of Italian motifs. A symbol of wealth and power, this velvet panel was woven during the artistic height of the Ottoman Empire in the late 1500s. It may have covered a divan (sofa) or possibly enhanced a wall during cold winters in the imperial Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.
  • Bacri Freres, Paris, France
    October 9, 2002
    (Rossini at Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, France, sold to Francesca Galloway, London).
    2002–2003
    (Francesca Galloway, Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2003–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • 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. 276, 298-299, fig. 8.16; Mentioned: P. 294
  • Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 3, 2012-December 9, 2013).
    Islamic Gallery 207 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 7, 2004-May 31, 2005).
  • {{cite web|title=Brocaded Velvet Panel with Italianate Pattern|url=false|author=|year=1575–1625|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2003.3