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Source Description
This textile preserves six ovals aligned in two vertical columns; the top two ovals are fragmentary. Columns are separated by two guard lines that are interrupted by smaller vertical almond-shaped motifs; these are tangent to the large ovals at the widest point. Each large oval, bordered by a band of floriated Kufic, has a central ogival medallion, also bordered with floriated Kufic, with palmettes at each end. The medallions are placed on a ground of white on white with small aligned circles. Interspaces between large ovals are filled with pairs of opposed palmette trees flanked at each end with confronting birds in flight.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
144226
label
Medallions with confronting peacocks
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
144226
contentType
object
title
Medallions with confronting peacocks
description
This textile preserves six ovals aligned in two vertical columns; the top two ovals are fragmentary. Columns are separated by two guard lines that are interrupted by smaller vertical almond-shaped motifs; these are tangent to the large ovals at the widest point. Each large oval, bordered by a band of floriated Kufic, has a central ogival medallion, also bordered with floriated Kufic, with palmettes at each end. The medallions are placed on a ground of white on white with small aligned circles. Interspaces between large ovals are filled with pairs of opposed palmette trees flanked at each end with confronting birds in flight.
date
1660–1955 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability)
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79921157
genreSpecific
Textile
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 59 x 57.4 cm (23 1/4 x 22 5/8 in.)
cul
Iran ?, in the style of the Buyid period (945–1055)
accession
1968.73
Source extras
tec
Silk: lampas weave
tombstone
Medallions with confronting peacocks, 1660–1955 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability). Iran ?, in the style of the Buyid period (945–1055). Silk: lampas weave; overall: 59 x 57.4 cm (23 1/4 x 22 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mallon, 1968.73
collection
T - Islamic
inscriptions
inscription
Inscription in border of oval, orthograde on the left and retrograde on the right, reads:
hasha' dafiyah bayda' safiyah kan rawnaquha fi sarim dhakar; yuzayyin atrafaha turuz kama ruqimat 'alá al-majarrah turuq al-anjum alzuhr
inscription_translation
Beautiful, ample, white, and limpid, whose brilliance is that of a tempered blade; embroideries embellish its edges, as the paths of the brilliant stars have been traced on the Milky Way.
inscription
Inscription on the inner medallion, orthograde on the left and retrograde on the right, reads:
ma al-fakhr illa li-ahl al-'ilm innahum 'alá al-hudá li-man istahdá adilla'
inscription_translation
Only people of knowledge possess excellence. They are guides to the way for those who seek guidance.
citations
citation
Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1968.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>, vol. 56, no. 1, 1969, pp. 3–50.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 7, no. 125 (detail); Mentioned: p. 48, no. 125
url
www.jstor.org/stable/25152250
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 273
citation
Blair, Sheila S., Jonathan M. Bloom, and Anne E. Wardwell. "Reevaluating the Date of the "Buyid" Silks by Epigraphic and Radiocarbon Analysis." <em>Ars Orientalis</em> 22 (1992): 1-41.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 39; Mentioned: p. 15
citation
Mackie, Louise W. <em>Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century</em>. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015.
page_number
Reproduced: P. 154, fig. 4e; Mentioned: P. 154-155
creditline
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mallon
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:24:13.359000
sourceId
144226
dept
Textiles
coll
T - Islamic
med
Silk: lampas weave
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
3ef012830c1b7890