Gold-Thread Embroidered Cover (1800s): Art, History and Details

Gold-Thread Embroidered Cover (1800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Silk fabrics embroidered with gold thread appear to have ranked second only to gemstone-embellished textiles. Both were more prestigious than brocaded silks, which are more numerous. Embroidery was an essential component of daily life because it served innumerable covering functions. In this vibrant example with European influence, blossoming plants and foliate motifs embellish the field and border. Gold, silver, and silk thread cover paper templates which are secured with thread raised from underneath, called couching. The padded blossoms are covered with several types of silver thread for dazzling effects in a style popular during the 18th and 19th centuries at the imperial Topkapi Palace in Istanbul as well as provincial centers.

Object facts

• Title: Gold-Thread Embroidered Cover
• Date: 1800s
• Culture: Turkey, Ottoman period
• Type: Embroidery
• Technique: silk, gilt-metal, silver-metal, paper, cotton padding; satin weave, embroidery
• Dimensions: Average: 194.3 x 157.5 cm (76 1/2 x 62 in.)
• Collection: T - Islamic
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1916.1288

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade

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.