Velvet with gold discs
Unknown Artist
late 1200s or earlier
Medium
silk, gilt-metal thread; brocaded velvet
Dimensions
30.5 × 20.6 cm · mounted: 34.9 × 25.4 cm
Classification
Velvet
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession Number
1918.225
About this artwork
Silk velvet with rich pile is one of the most opulent and prestigious fabrics, especially when embellished with gold thread. This is one of the earliest known velvets. A 1295 inventory of Pope Boniface VIII includes "a piece of red Tartar velvet with gold discs," which probably refers to this velvet pattern. It is attributed to Iran, possibly in Tabriz where Italian agents resided and could have provided the transfer of silk-velvet technology to Italy. Although the origin of velvet is uncertain,...