Description
This lustrous cushion cover is one of the earliest and highest quality examples that has survived. The vibrant field pattern displays large crescents inscribed with smaller crescents and elegant rosebuds on a leafy vine. Harmonious smaller crescents and roses decorate the six pointed lappet designs across each end that identify its function as a cover for a cushion on a divan, the equivalent of a Western sofa. The elegant yet lively quality of the drawing, velvet weave, and dense metal thread indicate that it was made near the height of Ottoman silk textile production in the middle of the 1500s.
Provenance
Probably acquired from Dikran Kelekian, Paris and New York (c. 1910); Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, by descent to his great-grandson Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild, Geneva (Baron Edmond James de Rothschild (1845-1934) married Adelheid von Rothschild in 1877. Their son lived at Waddesdon Manor, England: James Armand Edmond de Rothschild (1878-1957) married Dorothy Mathilde Pinto (1896-1988) in 1913. Their son Maurice de Rothschild (1881-1957), married Noémie Halphen (1888-1968) in 1909. Their son Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild (1926-1997), second marriage to Nadine L'Hopitalier (1932-) in 1963. Their son, Benjamin de Rothschild (1963-), is President of Groupe LCF); Colnaghi, London, 1977; The Textile Gallery, London, 1977; Wher Collection, to Jan 1986.
Accession Number
2009.282
Medium
velvet, brocaded: silk, gilt- and silver-metal thread, and cotton
Dimensions
Overall: 138.4 x 65.4 cm (54 1/2 x 25 3/4 in.); Mounted: 134.6 x 63.5 cm (53 x 25 in.)
Classification
Velvet
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund