1801 / 1825, Russia

1801 / 1825, Russia

Identifier
2009.300.3440
Transfer of custody
Victoria and Albert Museum
Acquisition
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
Collection
Material
Technique
Depiction
Dimension
41.9 cm (height)
40.6 cm (width)
Production time
Production place
Type of object

Description

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.This towel end is unique in that it represents an aspect of everyday life rather than mythology. Russian bed curtains and towels were not only used for decorative purposes, but also provided an important role in ceremony. Bed curtains often adorned sleighs for weddings or carnival processions. Towels were draped over mirrors, trees, and temples, hung on walls, or used as offerings to the church in addition to their traditional uses.