Towel with Border of Figures of Men and Animals (1700s–1800s): Art, History and Details

Towel with Border of Figures of Men and Animals (1700s–1800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

On each end of this cloth is a lace border depicting a man walking with his mule and two birds flying above. The man and his mule are approached by a large feline, perhaps a panther, which is a common motif in Russian textiles. Metallic and colored silk threads are used to render the figures and create individualized details.

Object facts

• Title: Towel with Border of Figures of Men and Animals
• Date: 1700s–1800s
• Culture: Russia
• Type: Lace
• Technique: Linen: needle lace (cutwork and drawnwork), straight (continuous) bobbin lace, tape lace edging
• Dimensions: Overall: 48.4 x 154.1 cm (19 1/16 x 60 11/16 in.)
• Collection: T - Lace
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1921.1140

A detail from the museum

Handmade lace for marriage dowries was produced in large quantities in Russia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Collection credit

Gift of J. H. Wade

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.