Cleveland Museum of Art

Silk Sleeve Decoration with Hunters

Date

700s

Medium

Silk: complementary weft-faced twill with inner warps (samit)

Culture

Egypt or Syria, Umayyad period (661–750) or Abbasid period (750–1258)

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This silk sleeve blends technical and stylistic elements that occurred in early Islamic art. The sides of the sleeve are decorated with a lotus flower design, an ancient Egyptian motif that was absorbed into Hellenistic and Byzantine art. The upper panel displays a large medallion composed of leaves and palmettes, common vegetal motifs in Islamic art of this period. Below, the mace-wielding horseman is identified in Coptic inscriptions as Joseph, father of Jesus and saint within the Coptic faith. The image is likely derived from the Byzantine representation of the victorious emperor. At the bottom, men with spears hunt ostrich.

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