Fragment, probably from a Chasuble
Unknown Artist
1400s
Medium
Silk with cut and voided velvet
Dimensions
66 × 29.9 cm · mounted: 76.2 × 40.6 cm
Classification
Velvet
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession Number
1918.232
About this artwork
Luxurious velvet fabrics were woven in several different grades based on the quality and quantity of the raw materials. Those with extensive gold thread and plush silk pile were the most luxurious. This green velvet is of a lower grade. The popular 15th-century pattern of five-lobed palmettes displaying pomegranates or blossoms is arranged in staggered rows. Velvet pile was omitted in areas to create the pattern, known as "voided" velvet. Since projecting pile required quantities of silk thread,...