Fragment, probably from a large hanging (900s–1000s): Art, History and Details

Fragment, probably from a large hanging (900s–1000s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This fragment preserves the forepaws of what must have been a very large-scale lion. Beneath it is a bit of another motif which can no longer be identified. The ground is a soft grayish-blue, the design pale yellow and white, and the leaflike projections on the lower motif are aqua. The design is oriented in the warp direction. The technique is the usual tapestry weave with slit and dovetail joins. The weave is very fine; the wefts are tightly beaten up. There is limited use of eccentric weaving.

Object facts

• Title: Fragment, probably from a large hanging
• Date: 900s–1000s
• Culture: Iran or Iraq
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Wool: tapestry weave
• Dimensions: Overall: 17.5 x 16 cm (6 7/8 x 6 5/16 in.)
• Collection: T - Islamic
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1959.122

Collection credit

Gift of The Textile Arts Club

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 46, no. 10 (December 1959): 210–231.
• Wardwell, Anne E. Material Matters: Fifty Years of Gifts from the Textile Arts Club, 1934-1984 : [Exhibition] 21 November-30 December 1984, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum, 1984.

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.