Cleveland Museum of Art

Fragment, probably from a Chasuble

Date

1400s

Medium

Silk with cut and voided velvet

Culture

Italy

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Luxurious velvet fabrics were woven in several different grades based on the quality and quantity of the raw materials. Those with extensive gold thread and plush silk pile were the most luxurious. This green velvet is of a lower grade. The popular 15th-century pattern of five-lobed palmettes displaying pomegranates or blossoms is arranged in staggered rows. Velvet pile was omitted in areas to create the pattern, known as "voided" velvet. Since projecting pile required quantities of silk thread, voided velvet was less expensive to manufacture than solid-pile velvet or brocaded velvet.

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