Silk Velvet with Gold in Pomegranate Pattern
Unknown Artist
1450–1500
Medium
silk, gold thread; velvet: cut pile in two heights, uncut pile loops, gold-thread loops
Dimensions
118.7 × 60.6 cm · mounted: 130.8 × 71.1 cm
Classification
Velvet
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Bequest of James Parmelee
Accession Number
1940.596
About this artwork
Luxurious silk velvets with expensive gold thread were symbols of wealth and power. The finest velvets during the 1400s have two, or even three, heights of lush projecting pile. This fashionably large pomegranate pattern features exorbitant gold-thread loops enriching the lower level and a plain higher level. The curved upper and lower contours suggest this was the back of a sleeveless ecclesiastical vestment known as a chasuble. The striped green and ivory selvage was the equivalent of a label,...