Floral striped silk on a golden ground
Unknown Artist
1600–1650
Medium
silk, gilt- and silver-metal thread: samite
Dimensions
50.1 × 27.5 cm
Classification
Textile
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
2003.96
About this artwork
Twelve jewel-like colors of silk thread illustrate the vivacity of colors extolled in Iranian flowers on gilt- and silver-metal thread grounds. In a simplified seminaturalistic style, swaying branches support an exuberant array of blossoms in the Safavid tradition while the botanical accuracy of European prints inspired flora in varied angles and stages of maturity. Although celebrated in Iranian poetry for centuries, flowers were not featured in paintings and textiles until the 1640s, inspired ...