Deep red velvet with offset repeat pattern of gold disks. The foundation is plain weave formed by a red silk warp and tan silk weft; the supplementary warp pile is red silk. The velvet pile is voided in the areas where the coin dots appear, and supplementary gold wefts are floated in pairs to the surface in these areas, bound in twill with the secondary ivory warp.

This object is currently resting in our storage facility. There are 5 other images of this object. This object has no known copyright, and as such we offer a high-resolution image of it. See our image rights statement.

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Object Timeline

-0001	We photographed this object. We photographed this object. We photographed this object.
1902	We acquired this object.
2001	We photographed this object. We photographed this object.
2013	This was an Object of the Day.
2014	We exhibited this object.
2016	You found it!

Textile (Italy), possibly 13th century

This is a textile. It is dated possibly 13th century and we acquired it in 1902. Its medium is silk, metallic and its technique is supplementary warp pile (velvet) in plain weave foundation, with continuous supplementary weft patterning. It is a part of the Textiles department.

This opulent velvet with a pattern of offset gold disks was most likely imported to Europe from a production center along the Silk Road like Tabriz, a city in Persia used as a capital by Mongol rulers. Chinggis Khan often spared artisans such as weavers during his conquest of Persia, relocating them closer to the Mongol homeland. When he reopened trade along the Silk Road in 1240, fine silks, often called Tartar silks, began pouring into Europe. They were used in garments and furniture, and were prized by aristocratic Mongols and Europeans alike because they proclaimed the affluence of the owner and acted as stores of wealth. A pattern similar to this one, with gold disks on a red ground, appears on the cope of St. Louis Toulouse in a 1317 painting by Simone Martini at the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte.

This object was featured in our Object of the Day series in a post titled Velvet with Gold Disks.

This object was donated by John Pierpont Morgan. It is credited Gift of John Pierpont Morgan.

Our curators have highlighted 12 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

Length of printed velvet with a pattern of curving artichoke forms in rows that alternate direction; inside each artichoke is a curvilinear flower and stem. Printed in silver metallic pigment on a soft, irregular pink ground.

Textile (Italy), 1900–30
foundation warp and weft: cotton; pile warp: silk.
Bequest of Erskine Hewitt.
1938-57-1226-a

Horizontal rectangular panel with a gold metallic ground and polychrome silk velvet figures of four women separated by large flowering plants. From left to right: a woman holding a long-necked jar in one hand while the other holds up her skirt, in which she has gathered fruits; a woman holding a pitcher in one hand and cradling a large bowl or basin in the other; a woman wearing gloves, holding a bird of prey in her left hand while about to hood the bird with her right; a woman with a long stick with which she is prodding a hound held by a lead in her right hand; the hound is straining the lead. Two of the flowering plants grow at the edge of ponds, one rests on a cloud form and the other grows among the rocks. The iris, carnation, and poppy are recognizable. Clouds and butterflies dot the sky. In shades of blue, green, yellow, reds, and neutral and flesh tones on a gold metallic ground. Slightly more than one unit of the repeat is present; the pattern fills the width of the fabric and is oriented perpendicular to the warp.

Panel (Iran), 1610–40
silk and metal-wrapped silk-core threads.
Gift of Anonymous Donor.
1977-119-1

Fragment of woven velvet with pomegranate pattern surrounded by a framework of branches, in red silk pile and gold supplementary weft patterning.

Panel (Italy), 15th century
silk, linen, wool, and metallic yarns.
Gift of John Pierpont Morgan.
1902-1-833-a/j

Its dimensions are

H x W: 53 × 26 cm (20 7/8 × 10 1/4 in.)

Cite this object as

Textile (Italy), possibly 13th century; silk, metallic; H x W: 53 × 26 cm (20 7/8 × 10 1/4 in.); Gift of John Pierpont Morgan; 1902-1-385

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Making Design.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2AVEr/
Accession Number 1902-1-385
Object ID 18130825