The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 3, 2023

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

116 Islamic

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.

Provenance
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
Citations
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
Exhibition history

Islamic Gallery 207 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 7, 2004-May 31, 2005).

Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 3, 2012-December 9, 2013).

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