Towel End

c. 1700s–1800s

Towel End, c. 1700s–1800s. Russia, Nizhny-Novgorod province, 18th-19th century. Cotton or linen (est.); straight (continuous) bobbin lace (Vologda tape lace). The tape forms figural or plant motifs outlined with gimp (heavy cord) with a polychrome plaited ground linking the tape; applied silk (est.) ribbon; overall: 26 x 37 cm (10 1/4 x 14 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1931.107 This lace was used to embellish a towel end. Textiles of this type are valuable for their lace work 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.