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Textile (possibly a cushion cover)
Los Angeles, United States of America
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
About Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles
Hegira mid-10th century / AD mid-16th century
M.85.237.8
Silk and metal foil-wrapped silk embroidered on compound satin ground
86.7 x 83.8cm
Ottoman
Turkey
Dating to the mid-10th/mid-16th century, this richly embellished textile gives a vivid sense of the multihued opulence of the court of the Ottoman Sultan Süleyman (Hegira 926–972 / AD 1520–65). Possibly a cushion cover for a throne or a sofa, the crimson satin fabric is embroidered with silk, gold and silver thread. The bold blossoms and spiky leaves that typify the Ottoman court style are arranged, along with a quartet of lively roosters, around a complex eight-lobed medallion. The quality of the design, the fine embroidery and the lavish use of silver and gold metallic thread demonstrate the unrivalled level of excellence of Ottoman imperial textiles.
The materials, technique and decoration are consonant with other textiles produced for the Ottoman court, particularly during the latter part of Sultan Süleyman’s reign.
Yanni Petsopoulos (1949 - ), until 1981 (sale, private sale, London, April 11, 1981, sold to); Edwin Binney, 3rd (1866-1934), Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd, Portland, ME, until 1985 (gifted to); LACMA, The Edwin Binney, 3rd, Collection of Turkish Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The radiating star motif at center relates to Ottoman manuscript illumination while the flowers and serrated leaf designs are found among a variety of Ottoman decorative arts including textiles.
Atil, Esin, The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, Washington: National Gallery of Art, New York; H. Abrams, 1987.
Komaroff, Linda, Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Rev. ed., Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005: 48, fig. 45.
Pal, Pratapaditya, Lentz, Thomas W., Canby, Sheila R., Binney, Edwin, 3rd, Denny, Walter B. and Markel, Stephen “Arts from Islamic Cultures: Los Angeles County Museum of Art,” Arts of Asia, 17 : 6 (1987): 111.
Pesopoulos, Yanni (ed), Tulips, Arabesques & Turbans: Decorative Arts from the Ottoman Empire, New York: Abbeville Press, 1982: cat. 150.
LACMA Staff "Textile (possibly a cushion cover)" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;us;Mus21;3;en
Prepared by: LACMA Staff
MWNF Working Number: US1 03
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