Cleveland Museum of Art

Towel End

Date

1700s–1800s

Medium

cotton or linen (est.); straight (continuous) bobbin lace; ground with interspersed motifs of plant and animal forms in plain weave outlined with gimp (heavy cord); applied silk (est.) ribbon

Culture

Russia, Orel province, 18th- 19th century

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This lace was used to embellish a towel end. Textiles of this type are valuable for their lacework depicting ancient folk motifs, ritual significance, exemplification of the role of textiles in Russian society, and connection to a prominent woman collector, Natalia de Shabelsky, without whom this textile and others like it might have been lost. Lace making was a common tradition in many cultures because it displayed the skill of the mother or daughter who made the lace.

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