Cover for a Jain Manuscript
Unknown Artist
c. 1800
Medium
Silk: satin weave; embroidery, polychrome silk, gold filé, flat metal strip
Dimensions
26.4 × 13.7 cm
Classification
Embroidery
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1925.494
About this artwork
When closed, the horizontal stack of Jain manuscript pages is protected by firm covers on the top and bottom. A donor may commission a luxurious textile to place over or wrap the sacred text to honor it. Textiles with repeated floral plant patterns—these appear to be roses—were popularized at the imperial Mughal court during the mid-1600s, after which they spread throughout India.