Brocaded velvet with medallions in ogival lattice (late 1500s): Art, History and Details

Brocaded velvet with medallions in ogival lattice (late 1500s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This luxurious velvet is similar to fabrics worn by Turkish sultans on elaborate ceremonial occasions at the imperial Topkapi Palace in Istanbul during the 1500s. Such bold patterns and high quality served to symbolize the immense power and unfathomable wealth of the Ottoman Empire. The design in this velvet was adapted from Ottoman court art and assembled to create lively contrasts between large motifs seen from a distance—medallion and lattice—and small designs that can only be admired up close—flowers and crowns.

Object facts

• Title: Brocaded velvet with medallions in ogival lattice
• Date: late 1500s
• Culture: Turkey, Istanbul or Bursa
• Type: Velvet
• Technique: Silk: velvet, brocaded; gilt- and silver-metal thread
• Dimensions: Overall: 162.6 x 65.4 cm (64 x 25 3/4 in.); Mounted: 165.1 x 68.6 cm (65 x 27 in.)
• Collection: T - Islamic
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 2001.3

A detail from the museum

The velvet was probably used as an upholstery fabric, part of an opulent cover for a divan (sofa) at the palace.

Collection credit

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions Press Release,” April 4, 2001, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Mackie, Louise W., "Luxury and Hierarchy", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 42 no. 01, January 2002
• 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

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.