Towel End

c. 1700s–1800s

Towel End, c. 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: 26.5 x 41 cm (10 7/16 x 16 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1931.111 This Russian lace panel was likely used to embellish the end of a bathing towel. Textiles of this type are valuable for their fine lace work including ancient folk motifs, ritual significance, exemplification of the role of textiles in their society, and in this case, connection to a prominent woman collector, Natalia de Shabelsky, without whom this textile and others like it might have been lost. Embellishing the ends of everyday towels was a common folk tradition in many cultures because it displayed the skill of the mother or daughter who created them.