Silk with Dogs and Arabic Script in Swaying Bands (1370–1400): Art, History and Details

Silk with Dogs and Arabic Script in Swaying Bands (1370–1400) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Arabic script was included in many Italian silk patterns during the 1300s and early 1400s. Usually a few unintelligible but decorative Arabic letters were repeated in the design, but here, the pseudo-Arabic script is prominently displayed in the scalloped bands that support trefoil palmettes. Dogs and birds are incorporated into the pattern in an Italian fashion. During the 1300s and 1400s, Arabic script was featured in luxurious silks woven in Islamic territories, where it symbolized royal power. Spain, Egypt, and to a lesser extent the former Islamic territory of Sicily all produced examples that could have influenced the international silk style created by Italian silk designers. In addition, weavers may also have reinforced the fashion; they migrated from Sicily to the silk-weaving city of Lucca and subsequently to Venice. In Italian painting, pseudo-Arabic script not only decorated the border of the Virgin's mantle, but it was also repeated in silks displayed in the backgrounds.

Object facts

• Title: Silk with Dogs and Arabic Script in Swaying Bands
• Date: 1370–1400
• Culture: Italy, last third of 14th century
• Type: Textile
• Technique: silk and silver thread; a combination of two weaves, 2/1 twill and 1/5 twill (lampas)
• Dimensions: Mounted: 46.4 x 69.2 cm (18 1/4 x 27 1/4 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1919.17

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 6, no. 2 (1919): 37-38.

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.