Bed curtain border

first quarter 19th century
Not on view
This object is from the collection of Natalia de Shabelsky (1841-1905), a Russian noblewoman compelled to preserve what she perceived as the vanishing folk art traditions of her native country. Traveling extensively throughout Great Russia, she collected many fine examples of textile art of the wealthy peasant class. From the 1870s until moving to France in 1902, Shabelsky amassed a large collection of intricately embroidered hand-woven household textiles and opulent festival garments with rich decoration and elaborate motifs. The Brooklyn Museum holdings include many fine examples including the majority of the garments. Portions of Shabelsky's collection are also housed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Cleveland Art Museum, and the Russian Museum of Ethnography in St. Petersburg.

The animals are playful and somewhat naive in this charming piece of folk embroidery, though the rendering of the architecture and figures shows a marked degree of sophistication. Of particular interest is the design worked into the bobbin lace edging. The motif appears to be the goddess with arms lowered, wearing a floral headdress. The goddess motif is ubiquitous in Russian folk embroidery, a carryover from pre-Christian pagan religion.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bed curtain border
  • Date: first quarter 19th century
  • Culture: Russian
  • Medium: Linen
  • Dimensions: 29 x 72 in. (73.7 x 182.9 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Laces
  • Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Edward S. Harkness in memory of her mother, Elizabeth Greenman Stillman, 1931
  • Object Number: 2009.300.3448
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.