Towel End
Unknown Artist
18th-19th century
Medium
cotton or linen (est.) straight (continuous) bobbin lace; ground with interspersed motifs of plant and animal forms in plain weave outlined with metal thread; applied silk (est.) ribbons
Dimensions
32.5 × 48.5 cm
Classification
Lace
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1931.109
About this artwork
This Russian lace panel was likely used to embellish the end of a bathing towel. Textiles of this type are valuable for their fine lace making including ancient folk motifs, ritual significance, exemplification of the role of textiles in their society, and in this case, connection to a prominent woman collector, Natalia de Shabelsky, without whom this textile and others like it might have been lost.