Towel End

1700s–1800s

Towel End, 1700s–1800s. Russia, Orel province, 18th- 19th century. Cotton or linen (est.); straight (continuous) bobbin lace; ground with interspersed motifs of plant and animal forms in plain weave outlined with gimp (heavy cord); applied silk (est.) ribbon; overall: 30 x 39 cm (11 13/16 x 15 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1931.106 This lace was used to embellish a towel end. Textiles of this type are valuable for their lacework depicting ancient folk motifs, ritual significance, exemplification of the role of textiles in Russian society, and connection to a prominent woman collector, Natalia de Shabelsky, without whom this textile and others like it might have been lost. Lace making was a common tradition in many cultures because it displayed the skill of the mother or daughter who made the lace.