Cleveland Museum of Art

Curtain panel (sitara)

Date

1800s

Medium

Linen, silk, gold, silver, dye

Culture

Africa, North Africa, Algeria, Algerian weaver and embroiderer

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

During the 1700s, stunning large embroidered door curtains such as these hung across doorways onto interior courtyards of multistoried residences. Light entered through their loosely woven linen ground while the reversible embroidered decoration provided beauty and privacy. Such curtains have three embroidered widths, the third missing here, joined by colorful plain silk ribbons flanking a French floral ribbon in the center.

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