Cleveland Museum of Art

Towel End

Date

c. 1700s–1800s

Medium

cotton or linen (est.); straight (continuous) bobbin lace (Vologda tape lace). The tape forms figural or plant motifs outlined with gimp (heavy cord) with a polychrome plaited ground linking the tape; applied silk (est.) ribbon

Culture

Russia, Nizhny-Novgorod 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 lace work 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.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.