Cleveland Museum of Art

Fragments with Griffins in Roundels

Date

before 1966

Medium

Silk: lampas weave

Culture

Iran or Iraq, in the style of the Seljuq period (1037–1194)

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This fragment consists of two almost complete roundels in lower right and fragment of third one at the left, plus parts of other roundels. In the roundels are a pair of confronted, winged griffins either side of a "palm" tree. Heavy baroque floral motifs fill the spaces between the main motifs and the roundel frame. The palm grows out of a curious foliate device at the bottom. The roundel frame has pearl borders between which are little circles about 2 cm. in diameter with a series of elegant tiny motifs beginning with a star at the four cardinal points and repeated, left and right, from top to bottom, are a lion, reclining winged ibex, reclining horned animal (possibly a bull), then center star on side, then winged griffin or goat (?), peacock, and lion regardant. In the interspaces are large circular motifs filled with stylized floral motifs and pendant floral motifs growing out in the four angles.

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