Silk hanging with embroidered tree of life (1800s): Art, History and Details

Silk hanging with embroidered tree of life (1800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This resplendent tree of life embroidery integrates Turkish traditions with new European styles that became increasingly fashionable during the mid-18th century. The fanciful tree projects lavish bouquets of Turkish flowers while the tree trunk is wrapped with an elaborate European-style bow, as are the meandering vines in the floral border. A professional draftsman drew the pattern with ink on the radiant yellow silk taffeta embroidered with at least 12 vibrant colors in chain stitch. It was most likely made in a professional workshop as a hanging for special occasions, a conspicuous symbol of beauty and wealth.

Object facts

• Title: Silk hanging with embroidered tree of life
• Date: 1800s
• Culture: Turkey, Ottoman period
• Type: Embroidery
• Technique: Silk: plain weave; embroidery, chain stitch
• Dimensions: Average: 228.6 x 172.7 cm (90 x 68 in.)
• Collection: T - Islamic
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1916.1358

Collection credit

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

Further reading listed by the museum

• Mackie, Louise. "Luxuriance." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 53, no. 4 (July/August 2013): 12-14.
• 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.
• Highet, Juliet. "Silks from Islamic Lands." The Asian Art Newspaper: Monthly for Collectors, Dealers, Museums and Galleries 17, issue 5 (March 2014):16-18.

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.