Nude Female Dancers from a Tunic (700s): Art, History and Details

Nude Female Dancers from a Tunic (700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Voluptuous females in sheer attire were not only depicted in contemporary wall paintings but also woven in lengths of silk fabric that were cut into squares to decorate linen tunics. These symmetrical female dancers, with anklets and long scarves draped around their shoulders, hold branches and pomegranates.

Object facts

• Title: Nude Female Dancers from a Tunic
• Date: 700s
• Culture: Egypt or Syria, Umayyad period (661–750) or Abbasid period (750–1258)
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Silk; complementary weft-faced twill weave with inner warps (samite)
• Dimensions: Overall: 15.5 x 14 cm (6 1/8 x 5 1/2 in.); Mounted: 21.6 x 14 cm (8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.)
• Collection: T - Islamic
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1953.332

A detail from the museum

Four or six squares of this luxurious two-color silk were originally sewn on a linen tunic, two positioned above the hemline in the front and two in the back, and possibly two more at the shoulder. The folded edges are still visible, including a silk sewing thread on the right side. The brittle condition is evident in the numerous crisp breaks.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

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.