Silk with lattice of animals in medallions (600s–800s): Art, History and Details

Silk with lattice of animals in medallions (600s–800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

In this fragile silk, vines bearing heart-shaped florets form a diamond grid that displays different motifs in alternate rows. Pairs of ducks with ribbons flying behind their necks flank a palmette tree, showing Iranian influence, and alternate with two birds in lobed medallions. The patterns in such expensive silks were copied in less costly wool tapestry weave by Coptic weavers in Egypt.

Object facts

• Title: Silk with lattice of animals in medallions
• Date: 600s–800s
• Culture: Egypt or Syria
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Silk: samite
• Dimensions: Overall: 25.7 x 34 cm (10 1/8 x 13 3/8 in.); Mounted: 32.4 x 40.6 cm (12 3/4 x 16 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1952.103

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• 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.

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.