Curtain Fragment with Panthers

Description

Luxurious tapestry-woven curtains decorated with colorful figures and flora were hung in religious, palatial, and theatrical settings. Often, as here, red forms the background of the main field framed by a blue border. Lively cheetahs or panthers wearing collars appear among alternating stylized rosettes and floral roundels that frame birds on the red ground. In the border, pairs of masks and birds alternate. Cheetahs were favored for hunting, suggested here by the collars and, in one case, a harness. Panthers, on the other hand, were associated with Dionysus, Greek god of wine, who was admired by Egyptian people of all religions through the 500s CE.

Provenance

Mrs. Paul Mallon, Paris.

Curtain Fragment with Panthers

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500s

Accession Number

1980.31

Medium

Dyed wool, undyed linen: slit-tapestry weave

Dimensions

Overall: 76.2 x 54.9 cm (30 x 21 5/8 in.); Mounted: 87.6 x 66 x 2.5 cm (34 1/2 x 26 x 1 in.)

Classification

Textile

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund