Cleveland Museum of Art

Cope

Date

1500s

Medium

Silk

Culture

China, Macao

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Silk fabric woven in China with European motifs was transported by European traders by the early 16th century. This popular pattern features a crowned double-headed eagle grasping arrows in its claws above a vase emitting blossoming vines. The eagle motif was derived from the Habsburg coat of arms, rulers of Spain and Austria during the 1500s and 1600s. Vertical borders with Chinese flora occur near the selvages of the five silk lengths forming the cope. The gilt-metal braided and fringed hood and broad orphrey band, or ornamental border, along the front edges feature fashionable small-scale floral sprigs.

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