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Embroidered quilt with pomegranates and tulips
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
In Turkey, embroidered motifs were often adapted from Ottoman court art, especially luxury silks. Even the same six colors of silk thread were used: crimson or red, blue, green, and brown/black, plus yellow and white that replaced costly gilt- and silver-metal thread. In a typically bold style, pomegranates are framed by serrated leaves. Most of the original dark brown silk thread of the floral stems has disintegrated, revealing black ink outlines on the linen ground.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineEmbroidered quilt with pomegranates and tulips, 1600s-1700s. Turkey. Plain weave: linen; embroidery, running stitch: silk; average: 194.3 x 137.2 cm (76 1/2 x 54 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade, 1916.1300