Mirror-image printed cottons
V&A image: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
These copperplate-printed cottons share the same Chinese-style scenes: a pavilion with two seated men, ladies at a table beneath a gnarled tree, a pagoda on an arched rock bridge. Every scene on one is the mirror image of the other, so they were printed from different plates. Both museums attribute theirs to Oberkampf's factory at Jouy. Tracing a print onto a new plate reverses it, so one may be a copy.
Museum records
- Maker: Christophe Philippe Oberkampf. France, c. 1785.
- Titled Pagoda on a Rock Bridge. Jouy-en-Josas, Oberkampf, c. 1775–92.
A hunting silk in three museums
A crowned rider on a fantastic mount spears an ibex beside a tree. Silks at the Met, Cleveland, and Chicago show the same scene, even the rows of imitation lettering on the saddle cloth. The Met dates its piece to the 10th–11th century. Chicago calls its own a 20th-century imitation, and Cleveland gives only “before 1982.” This group of “Buyid” silks is well studied, so the link may be well known.
Museum records
- 10th–11th century, attributed to Iran. Private collection until 1970.
- Before 1982; Iran, style of the Abbasid or Buyid period. Lampas weave. Spink & Son, London, 1982.
- About 1930–50, imitation of a 10th- or 11th-century pattern. Twill compound weave. Woodruff, Los Angeles; Adolph Loewi; bought 1983.
Two leaves from a Book of Hours
Chicago's page shows the Visitation; Cleveland's, the Nativity. Both measure about 17 by 12.5 cm. Each has an arched painting above the words “Deus in adiutorium” (“O God, come to my aid”), with the same blue-and-gold initial and flowered ivy borders. In a Book of Hours these two scenes open neighboring sections. Chicago dates its page to the 1440s and Cleveland to about 1430; they may come from one book.
Museum records
- France, possibly Paris or Brittany, 1440s. 17 × 12.6 cm.
- Northeastern France, c. 1430. 17 × 12.5 cm. From the dealer Bruce Ferrini. Published by Fliegel (1999).
Two leaves from a law book
Both pages come from copies of the same 13th-century textbook of church law, and each is dominated by a painted figure holding a diagram. In Cleveland a crowned king holds a chart of family relationships; in Chicago a haloed figure holds a chain of roundels between heaven and a hell-mouth. The page size, layout, and faces agree, though the frames differ. Cleveland says Paris; Chicago says England, by a French artist. A 2018 census of these diagrams (Duba and Flüeler, in Fragmentology) lists Cleveland's leaf but does not connect it to Chicago's. They may come from one book.
Museum records
Cleveland Museum of Art
1954.1 - Paris, c. 1280. 44.2 × 27.5 cm. Published by Milliken (1954).
- 1275–99. Place: England; artist: French (likely Toulouse). 44.5 × 28 cm.
Tunic ornaments from Egypt
V&A image: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
These late-antique ornaments from Egypt are tapestry-woven in purple wool. In each, a warrior raises a double axe inside a ring of vases and vines, framed by an eight-pointed star. Even the gesture matches. They reached London and New York through different dealers in the late 1880s. Ornaments like these were woven in pairs for a tunic, but also to standard designs.
Museum records
- Akhmim, 4th–5th century. Bought from the Rev. Greville John Chester.
- Egypt, 4th–6th century. Theodor Graf, Vienna, 1887–89. Published by Stauffer (1995) and Thomas (2016).
One pattern, two colorways
Cleveland
V&A, mirrored The same area of each object, aligned to the same scale.
V&A image: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Both silks carry a lattice of scrolling stems around pomegranates and fleurs-de-lis, drawn identically: green on gold in Cleveland, rose on gold at the V&A. A loom set up for one pattern could weave it in any colors.
Museum records
- Italy or Spain, 1500s. From José Viñas, Barcelona.
- Italian lampas, 16th century.
Two Chimú cloths from Peru
Both cloths show a frontal figure with a heart on its chest, its stepped arms ending in reed boats ridden by crested birds. The composition matches, but the details are drawn differently, so these are two cloths made from one model. Both passed through the New York dealer John Wise. Cleveland's is radiocarbon-dated to 1460–1632; the Met dates its own to the 12th–15th century.
Museum records
- Radiocarbon date 1460–1632. Chimú-Inka, brocaded. Gift of John Wise.
- Chimú, 12th–15th century; described as embroidered. John Wise Ltd. until 1956. Published by Rowe (1984).
Prodigal Son cushion covers
V&A image: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Each tapestry cushion cover shows a different scene from the story of the Prodigal Son, inside the same border of standing figures, baskets of fruit, and huntsmen chasing deer. The weavers may have worked from the same drawing, or in the same workshop. The Met's belongs to a set of six that it attributes to London; the V&A attributes its own to the Sheldon workshops in Warwickshire.
Museum records
- Sheldon workshops, Warwickshire, 1600–1610.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
54.7.7 - From a set of six. British, probably London, early 17th century.
Chicago
V&A, mirrored The same area of each object, aligned to the same scale.
V&A image: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Both silks have large leafy rosettes on a ringed stem, crimson and gold in Chicago, gold and red at the V&A. They match only when one is mirrored and its colors swapped, which is how the two faces of a damask look. Chicago says France, 1601–25; the V&A says Italy, 1500–1699.
Museum records
- France, 1601–25. Satin weave self-patterned by reversing of faces.
- Damask, Italian, 1500–1699.
V&A image: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
These decorated initials, cut from choir books, are painted on gold grounds, with letters edged in pearl-like dots and sprays of five-petaled flowers. Chicago catalogs its set as “14th century or modern, c. 1920.” The V&A has initials in the same style, dated to the late 15th century, which entered the museum in 1864. So Chicago's follow a genuine 15th-century model, whatever their own date.
Museum records
- 14th century or modern, c. 1920. Given in 1924.
Victoria and Albert Museum
4003 - Late 15th century. One of eleven initials transferred to the museum in 1864.
Ottoman embroidered covers
Chicago
V&A, mirrored The same area of each object, aligned to the same scale.
V&A image: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Both Ottoman embroideries follow one pattern: leafy ribbons meeting at crowns around large serrated carnations. One looks much paler than the other. Chicago dates its cover anywhere from 1601 to 1875; the V&A dates its own to the 1500s.
Museum records
- Turkey, 1601–1875. Gift of Burton Y. Berry.
- Turkey, 1500–1599. Published by Ellis and Wearden (2001).
Danish Palm Sunday cloths
Both cloths are double-woven in blue and white, at the same loom width, with rows of Christ riding into Jerusalem, palm-wavers, trees full of birds, and towered churches. The Met's piece, over eleven meters long, is photographed from its other side. Both museums say 17th-century Denmark.
Museum records
- Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, 17th century. Linen and wool.
- Danish, Jutland, 17th century. Wool and cotton.