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ALTAR CLOTH (POKROVETS)

Creator(s): Unknown (Manufacturer)

Currently in storage


About this object

In the Russian Orthodox Church, altar cloths cover chalices and dishes used for Holy Communion. Covering these vessels emphasizes the sacredness of the consecrated Eucharistic gifts of wine and bread. The four flaps on this altar cloth make it easy to drape over the vessels.

This set of two pokrovets (chalice cover) is made from a deep orange velvet embroidered in gold and silver stumpwork. Oak leaves and acorns in gold stumpwork form the basis for a decorative pattern including latticework. Rosettes and flower buds in silver stumpwork grow from some of the gold vines. The largest leaves have sewn down their center a line of spangles suggesting veining. In the center, an ornate equal armed cross is formed from ornate pattern rendered in gold stumpwork. The center is decorated with small rosettes with spangles in the center and lines of spangles are sewn on the rays extending out from the cross. A twisting, s-shaped border embroidered with a wavy thread divides the sections. The entire piece is edged with fringed with gold-wrapped, light yellow silk gold fringe and the reverse is lined with a brownish-rose silk sewn down with beige thread.

Object name:
ALTAR CLOTH (POKROVETS)
Made from:
Velvet -- silk -- cotton -- gold-wrapped silk thread -- silver-wrapped silk thread -- gilt spangles
Made in:
Russia
Date made:
ca. 1850
Size:
50.2 × 50.2 cm (19 3/4 × 19 3/4 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
43.29.1
Class:
NEEDLEWORK
Signature marks:
LABEL paper tag attached to back / tag no longer extant INSCRIPTIONS 263 Handwritten in ink on lining, reverse. Mark is slightly smeared. Note: all marks written or stamped in ink appear on the same arm as that on which the accession number is sewn. ИСТ. ХУД. БЫТ. МУЗЕЙ / XVIII В. [illegible] ИНВ. Н. 468a [Stamp in Cyrillic: Историко-художественный и бытовой музей XVIII века в Донской Монастырь / Historical Museum of Artistic and Daily Life of the Eighteenth Century at the Donskoy Monastery] Stamped in black ink on reverse. The inventory number (468a) is handwritten in a lighter black ink. Note: all marks written or stamped in ink appear on the same arm as that on which the accession number is sewn. [illegible] Handwritten in black ink on lining, at left of museum stamp. Note: all marks written or stamped in ink appear on the same arm as that on which the accession number is sewn. [Cyrillic:] Za upokoi Otroka Sergiia Handwritten in black ink on lining, reverse. Trans: "For the rest of Father Sergei's [soul]." Orthography is that of the 19thc. Note: all marks written or stamped in ink appear on the same arm as that on which the accession number is sewn.
Credit line:
Gift of Dina Merrill Robertson, 1977