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ALTAR CLOTH (POKROVETS)

Creator(s): Unknown (Manufacturer)

Currently in storage


About this object

This set of two pokrovets (chalice cover) is made from a deep orange velvet embroidered in gold and silver stumpwork. Oak leaves and acorns in gold stumpwork form the basis for a decorative pattern including latticework. Rosettes and flower buds in silver stumpwork grow from some of the gold vines. The largest leaves have sewn down their center a line of spangles suggesting veining. In the center, an ornate equal armed cross is formed from ornate pattern rendered in gold stumpwork. The center is decorated with small rosettes with spangles in the center and lines of spangles are sewn on the rays extending out from the cross. A twisting, s-shaped border embroidered with a wavy thread divides the sections. The entire piece is edged with fringed with gold-wrapped, light yellow silk gold fringe and the reverse is lined with a brownish-rose silk sewn down with beige thread.

Object name:
ALTAR CLOTH (POKROVETS)
Made from:
Velvet -- silk -- cotton -- gold- and silver- wrapped silk thread -- gilt spangles
Made in:
Russia
Date made:
ca. 1850
Size:
50.2 × 50.2 cm (19 3/4 × 19 3/4 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
43.29.2
Class:
NEEDLEWORK
Signature marks:
LABEL paper tag attached to back / No longer extant (01-07-2003) INSCRIPTIONS 263 Handwritten in purple ink on lining, reverse. Inscription is smeared. It is located on the same arm as that on which the Hillwood accession tag is sewn. ИСТ. ХУД. БЫТ. МУЗЕЙ / XVIII В. / в Донской Монастырь / ИНВ. Н. 468b [Stamp in Cyrillic: Историко-художественный и бытовой музей XVIII века в Донской Монастырь / Historical Museum of Artistic and Daily Life of the Eighteenth Century at the Donskoy Monastery] Stamped in black ink on reverse. Trans: "Historical Museum of Artistic and Daily Life of the Eighteenth Century at the Donskoi Monastery. Inventory no. 468a." The inventory number (468b) is handwritten in a lighter black ink. [Cyrillic:] Za upokoi otrok Sergiia Handwritten in blank ink on lining, reverse. Trans: "For the repose of Father Sergei['s soul]." It is spelled slightly differently and written in a different hand than the dedication note on the reverse of 43.29.1. Note: It is located on the same arm as that on which the Hillwood accession tag is sewn. G No. 5 Handwritten in ink on lining, reverse. Cyrillic capital G followed by "No. 5" E-14939 4/ S Handwritten and crossed out in ink on lining, reverse. Letters are Cyrillic.
Credit line:
Gift of Dina Merrill Robertson, 1977