Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
This Russian lace panel was likely used to embellish the end of a bathing towel. Textiles of this type are valuable for their fine embroidery or lacemaking that included ancient folk motifs, ritual significance, exemplification of the role of textiles in their society, and in this case, connection to a prominent woman collector, Natalia de Shabelsky, without whom this textile and others like it might have been lost.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
112478
label
Lace Towel End
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
112478
contentType
object
title
Lace Towel End
description
This Russian lace panel was likely used to embellish the end of a bathing towel. Textiles of this type are valuable for their fine embroidery or lacemaking that included ancient folk motifs, ritual significance, exemplification of the role of textiles in their society, and in this case, connection to a prominent woman collector, Natalia de Shabelsky, without whom this textile and others like it might have been lost.
date
c. 1700s–1800s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79877684
genreSpecific
Lace
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 35.5 x 46 cm (14 x 18 1/8 in.)
cul
Russia, Nizhny-Novgorod province
accession
1931.104
Source extras
tec
cotton or linen (est.) straight (continuous) bobbin lace (Vologda tape lace). The tape forms figural or plant motifs outlined with gimp (heavy cord) with a monochrome plaited ground (metal thread or linen (est.) linking the tape; applied silk (est.) and metal thread ribbon
tombstone
Lace Towel End, c. 1700s–1800s. Russia, Nizhny-Novgorod province. Cotton or linen (est.) straight (continuous) bobbin lace (Vologda tape lace). The tape forms figural or plant motifs outlined with gimp (heavy cord) with a monochrome plaited ground (metal thread or linen (est.) linking the tape; applied silk (est.) and metal thread ribbon; overall: 35.5 x 46 cm (14 x 18 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1931.104
collection
T - Lace
didYouKnow
Embellishing the ends of everyday towels was a common folk tradition in many cultures because it displayed the skill of the mother or daughter who stitched them.
citations
citation
Pushkin, B. M, B. M Pushkin, N. de Shabelsky, and N. de Shabelsky. <em>Exhibition of National Russian Art, 17th, 18th and Early 19th Centuries: Peasant Embroideries, Costumes, Headdresses, Hand-Woven Materials, Laces, Ikons, Articles of Silver, Copper, Etc.: Shown by Count and Countess B.m.-Pushkin</em>. Place of publication not identified: publisher not identified, 1900.
citation
Valance, Aymer. "Russian Peasant Industries." <em>The studio: an illustrated magazine of fine and applied art</em><strong>. </strong>London: Offices of the Studio, 1893-1964. volume 37, 1906.
page_number
p. 241-248
citation
Sidamon-Eristoff, V. P., Princess. <em>Sobranīe russkoĭ stariny Kn. V.P. Sidamon-Ėristovoĭ i N.P. Shabelʹskoĭ: vypusk I-ĭ, vyshivki i kruzheva = Antiquités russes, collection princesse Sidamon-Eristoff et Mlle. N. de Schabelskoi</em>. Moskva, 1910.
citation
Holme, Charles, and Studio. <em>Peasant Art in Russia</em>. The Studio, 1912. Special No. London: "The Studio", 1912.
page_number
p. 3-11
citation
Gostelow, Mary. <em>Embroidery of All Russia</em>. New York: Scribner, 1977.
citation
Efimova, L. V., R. M. Belogorskai︠a︡, and Santina M. Levey. <em>Russian Embroidery and Lace</em>. Translated by A. I. Ilʹf. 1st English-language ed. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1982.
citation
Schwoeffermann, Catherine, Peter Klosky, and Merrill Oliver. <em>Goddesses and Their Offspring: 19th and 20th Century Eastern European Embroideries</em>. Binghamton, N.Y.: Roberson Center for the Arts & Sciences, 1986.
citation
Kelly, Mary B. "Embroidery for the Goddess." <em>Threads Magazine</em> 11 (June/July 1987).
page_number
p. 26-9
citation
Kelly, Mary B. <em>Goddess Embroideries of Eastern Europe</em>. Winona, MN: Northland Press of Winona, 1989.
citation
Cook, Bridget M. <em>Russian Lace Making</em>. London: Batsford, 1993.
citation
Grusman, V. M., Elena Madlevskai︠a︡, and Karina Solovʹeva. <em>Collection Chabelskaya: une Russie fin de siècle: portrait de femmes en costume traditionne</em>l. 2010.
citation
Lovings-Gomez, Lauren. “The Lost Narrative of Natalia Shabelsky’s Collection of Russian Textiles.” In <em>Hidden Stories/Human Lives: Proceedings of the Textile Society of America 17th Biennial Symposium</em>, October 15-17, 2020. UNL Commons. Accessed 10/20/2021 from <a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/">https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/</a>. doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.tsasp.0117
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:56:22.390000
sourceId
112478
dept
Textiles
coll
T - Lace
med
cotton or linen (est.) straight (continuous) bobbin lace (Vologda tape lace). The tape forms figural or plant motifs outlined with gimp (heavy cord) with a monochrome plaited ground (metal thread or linen (est.) linking the tape; applied silk (est.) and metal thread ribbon
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
12725a4e987ba516