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VESTMENT (FELON)

Creator(s): Unknown (Manufacturer)

Currently in storage


About this object

Although the felon' resembles older garments made from a variety of fabrics, the entire felon' (with the exception of the braid around the neck) was woven as a single piece and sewn in the front. The felon's bold ornament is created through the placement of large, generalized floral and vegetal motifs in a luminous gold set against the more matte surface of a deep wine-colored velvet. Elements of the floral pattern are outlined in a bright red, almost orange silk that causes them to stand out against the dark background. The pattern resembles the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italian velvets from which older Russian vestments were often made and is most likely meant to evoke these older prototypes. The gold floral elements are quite profuse throughout the main section of the body, while bands at the neck and hem are decorated with a sparser pattern composed of a chain of stylized flowers and leaves. Around the neck is sewn a thin decorative band ornamented with a scrolling, abstracted vine and leaf pattern. It is composed of silver-wrapped, gold-colored silk thread. Gold-colored silk has also been used to couch the threads. Wine-colored silk is used to outline the pattern. At the neck of the garment in the rear is a large decoration in gold that resembles a flowering pomegranate. Large scrolling leaves and generalized flowers resembling tulips grow out from the base of the pomegranate-like plant and extend around to the front of the garment. The leaves are rendered in silver-covered thread, while the floral and pomegranate forms are made of gold-wrapped, yellow silk threads. The gold threads are laid in pairs and couched onto an underlying yellow silk. As in other areas, the objects are outlined with a bright orange-red silk thread to give the ornament greater depth.

Object name:
VESTMENT (FELON)
Made from:
Silk -- velvet -- cotton -- gold-wrapped silk thread -- silver-wrapped silk thread
Made in:
Russia
Date made:
late 19th Century
Size:
143.5 x 198.1 cm (56 1/2 x 78 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
44.6
Class:
VESTMENT
Signature marks:
MARK [Cyrillic] S 6033 In purple ink on inside lining, bottom, near hem. This may be an inventory number similar to others stamped or written inside Russian vestments. TAGS 300 R [300 rubles] / 14 [in a circle] [Tags stapled to the garment's interior lining, removed in 1992]
Credit line:
Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973