{
"data": {
"id": 130419,
"accession_number": "1953.18",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Nereid (Sea-Nymph) from a Hanging, late 300s\u2013400s CE. Byzantine Empire (Egypt). Dyed wool, undyed linen; overall: 66.7 x 65.4 cm (26 1/4 x 25 3/4 in.); mounted: 76.8 x 75.6 x 2.9 cm (30 1/4 x 29 3/4 x 1 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1953.18",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Nereid (Sea-Nymph) from a Hanging",
"creation_date": "late 300s\u2013400s CE",
"creation_date_earliest": 375,
"creation_date_latest": 499,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Byzantine Empire (Egypt)"
],
"technique": "dyed wool, undyed linen",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Textiles",
"collection": "T - Coptic",
"type": "Textile",
"measurements": "Overall: 66.7 x 65.4 cm (26 1/4 x 25 3/4 in.); Mounted: 76.8 x 75.6 x 2.9 cm (30 1/4 x 29 3/4 x 1 1/8 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"overall": {
"height": 0.667,
"height_inch": 26,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.25,
"width": 0.654,
"width_inch": 25,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.75
},
"mounted": {
"height": 0.768,
"height_inch": 30,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.25,
"width": 0.756,
"width_inch": 29,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.75,
"depth": 0.029,
"depth_inch": 1,
"depth_inch_fraction": 0.125
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 518294,
"title": "Art and Anatomy",
"description": "Art and Anatomy. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (organizer) (May 8-June 6, 1960).",
"opening_date": "1960-05-08T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 519652,
"title": "Coptic Art",
"description": "Coptic Art. Villa H\u00fcgel, Essen, Germany (organizer) (April 1-July 31, 1963).",
"opening_date": "1963-04-01T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 437426,
"title": "Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation",
"description": "Byzantine Gallery 210 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 2, 2001-October 15, 2002).",
"opening_date": "2001-11-02T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 382998,
"title": "Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106",
"description": "Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 31, 2010-April 1, 2011).",
"opening_date": "2010-03-31T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 383057,
"title": "Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106",
"description": "Coptic Textile Rotation Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 3, 2015-April 11, 2016).",
"opening_date": "2015-03-03T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 374832,
"title": "Coptic Textile Rotation - Gallery 106",
"description": "Coptic Textile Rotation - Gallery 106. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 5, 2020-August 2, 2021).",
"opening_date": "2020-11-05T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 521317,
"title": "Africa & Byzantium",
"description": "Africa & Byzantium. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (co-organizer) (April 14-July 21, 2024).",
"opening_date": "2023-11-13T05:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Anatomy in Art. William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City. MO (May 8-June 6, 1960).",
"opening_date": "1960-05-08T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Koptische Kunst,Christentum am Nil, Villa H\u00fcgel, Essen, Germany (April 1-July 31, 1963); Kunsthaus, Z\u00fcrich (October 31, 1963-January, 15, 1964).",
"opening_date": "1963-04-01T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Fr\u00fcchristliche und koptische Kunst, Akademie der bildenden K\u00fcnste, Vienna, Austria (February 15-May 15, 1964).",
"opening_date": "1964-02-15T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "L'art Copte, Petit Palais, Paris, France (June 15-September 15, 1964).",
"opening_date": "1964-06-15T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Masterpieces of World Art from American Museums, From Ancient Egyptian to Contemporary Art, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan (September 11-October 17, 1976); The Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, Japan (November, 2-December 5, 1976).",
"opening_date": "1976-09-11T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "(Mme Paul [Marguerite] Mallon [d. 1977], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "?\u20131953",
"sortorder": null
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1953\u2013",
"sortorder": 2
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "Look closely at the eyeliner beneath the eye: it is formed by mixing two colors of thread, pink and blue.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "The brilliant colors and complex design of this panel, likely one of several forming a tapestry, testify to its makers\u2019 skill. Vines and birds frame a nereid, a mermaidlike mythological creature, against a dark blue ground. The weaver has aligned different-colored threads to create shading and special details. Blue threads representing water are integrated into the weaving of the glass bowl. Alternating pink and blue threads combine to create a smoky effect around the nereid\u2019s eyes. Small spots across the surface are stable organic spores and fortunately do not affect the condition of this millennia-old textile.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60757500"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1953.18-nereid-sea-nymph-fro"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "\"Art and Archaeology at the Cleveland Museum of Art.\" Archaeology 6, no. 4 (1953): 195-202.",
"page_number": "p. 199, cover illus",
"url": "www.jstor.org/stable/41663172."
},
{
"citation": "Shepherd, Dorothy G. \"A Late Hellenistic Tapestry from Egypt.\" The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 41, no. 1 (January 1954), pp. 4\u20136.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 4\u20136",
"url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/25141926"
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 65",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n26"
},
{
"citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art, and William Mathewson Milliken. The Cleveland Museum of Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1958.",
"page_number": "p. 7",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Kunsthaus Zu\u0308rich. Christentum am Nil; Koptische Kunst; Nachtrag. 1963.",
"page_number": "pl. VI, no. 242",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 30",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n54"
},
{
"citation": "Bourguet, R. du. 1966. \"La technique des e\u0301toffes coptes en rapport avec leur dotation\". Bulletin De Liaison Du Centre International D'e\u0301tudes Des Textiles Anciens. 17-30.",
"page_number": "p. 17",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 30",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n52"
},
{
"citation": "Volbach, Wolfgang Fritz, and Ju\u0308ri Gabriel. Early Decorative Textiles. London: Hamlyn, 1974.",
"page_number": "pl. 9",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "Kokuritsu Seiyo\u0304 Bijutsukan. Masterpieces of World Art from American Museums from Ancient Egyptian to Contemporary Art. Tokyo: National Museum of Western Art, 1976.",
"page_number": "Cat. No. 6",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 36",
"url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n56"
},
{
"citation": "Rutschowscaya, Marie-He\u0301le\u0300ne. Coptic Fabrics. Paris, France: Adam Biro, 1990.",
"page_number": "p. 71",
"url": null
}
],
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"creditline": "Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
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"updated_at": "2026-08-03 14:14:26.472000"
}
}