Towel End
Unknown Artist
c 1700s- 1800s
Medium
plain weave linen (est.) with polychrome wool (est.) and metal thread chain stitch embroidery; applied silk (est.) ribbon and metal thread trim
Dimensions
38 × 43 cm
Classification
Embroidery
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1931.132
About this artwork
This Russian embroidered panel was likely used to embellish the end of a bathing towel. Textiles of this type are valuable for their fine embroidery of 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.