Title: Carriage Cushion Cover (Two Eight-pointed Medallions with Facing Birds)
Date: first half of the 19th century
Location: Sweden, South-east Scania
Materials: interlocked tapestry
Dimensions: 52 x 88.5 cm
Accession Number: SW 88
Other Notes:
The design is composed of two large eight-pointed star medallions, at the centre of which birds face each other across a large flower or tree surmounted by a cross. This variation is quite rare. As illustrated here, the upper medallion is the right way up when viewed from the lower end, and the lower one is the right way up when viewed from the upper end, thus giving no clear direction to the design. Adjoining the corners of the medallions are squares, each containing a single bird: four of the birds stand with their heads towards one end, and two with their heads towards the other end.
Bibliography:
V. Hansen, Swedish Textile Art: Traditional Marriage Weavings from Scania: The Khalili Collection, London 1996, cat. 39, pp. 112–13.
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