Pair of Needlework Bed Hangings in the Bizarre Style (1710–20): Art, History and Details

Pair of Needlework Bed Hangings in the Bizarre Style (1710–20) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

These panels would have hung originally around a bed post as part of a full set of hangings on a bedstead in the early 1700's. Elaborate textile hangings were a conspicuous display of wealth since many ladies received their friends within their bedchamber. A full set enveloped the entire bedstead and, when closed, helped retain warmth long after the fire had gone out. This particular pair of panels is remarkable in that they represent many hours of highly skilled needlework. Their design is known as a "bizarre" pattern, which mimicked woven silks of the same era that were asymmetrical, boldly stylized adaptations of Asian fabrics that were coming into the European market from the trading routes at the time.

Object facts

• Title: Pair of Needlework Bed Hangings in the Bizarre Style
• Date: 1710–20
• Culture: France
• Type: Embroidery
• Technique: Silk, wool: needlework, tent and cross-stitch embroidery on canvas
• Dimensions: Overall: 82.5 cm (32 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 2006.2

A detail from the museum

The design of this pair of needlework panels is known as a "bizarre" pattern.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 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.