{
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"tombstone": "Rumal with Rama and Krishna scenes, 1700s. Northern India, Pahari Kingdom of Chamba. Silk and silver wire on cotton; embroidery; overall: 64.5 x 114 cm (25 3/8 x 44 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward, 1996.349",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Rumal with Rama and Krishna scenes",
"creation_date": "1700s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1700,
"creation_date_latest": 1799,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Northern India, Pahari Kingdom of Chamba"
],
"technique": "Silk and silver wire on cotton; embroidery",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Textiles",
"collection": "Textiles",
"type": "Embroidery",
"measurements": "Overall: 64.5 x 114 cm (25 3/8 x 44 7/8 in.)",
"dimensions": {
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"height": 0.645,
"height_inch": 25,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.375,
"width": 1.14,
"width_inch": 44,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.875
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},
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"inscriptions": [],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 680516,
"title": "Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories",
"description": "Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 18-August 23, 2026).",
"opening_date": "2026-01-18T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 707773,
"title": "Art of Pahari India",
"description": "Art of Pahari India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 30, 2026-February 21, 2027).",
"opening_date": "2026-08-30T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "George P. Bickford [1901\u20131991], Cleveland Heights, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": null,
"sortorder": 1
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{
"description": "William E. Ward [1922\u20132004], Solon, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "?\u20131996",
"sortorder": 2
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1996\u2013",
"sortorder": 3
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"did_you_know": "Especially in the borders, some of the embroidery has fallen away, revealing the brushwork of the designer.",
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"description": "Rumal refers to a double-sided embroidery technique perfected by women in the Pahari region of the northwest Himalayas. Unlike other forms of embroidery, no knots or loose strings are visible. Rumals were intended to look like paintings on cloth. An artist who was skilled in making Pahari paintings drew outlines of the composition with a brush on hand-loomed cotton muslin fabric and noted the colors to be used. Women then used a type of stitch called \u201cdouble satin stitch\u201d to create flat planes of color on both sides of the fabric. Girls were responsible for winding the silk threads into multistrand embroidery floss. Rumals were treasured as objects of wealth and given as gifts during weddings or state ceremonies.
Many rumals depict subjects drawn from Hindu devotional literature. In the center, the semidivine monkey general Hanuman pays his respects to his lord Rama, Rama\u2019s wife Sita, and Rama\u2019s brother Lakshmana. Surrounding them above and to the right are bucolic rural scenes from the life of Krishna, another human incarnation of the god Vishnu. Krishna with his flute serenades the gopis (women of the cow herding community) and entertains his friends the cowherd boys (gopas). Flowering plants, vines, and wild animals populate the remaining space and borders. With such scenes, the painstaking act of double-sided embroidery becomes a devotional endeavor that generates religious merit.",
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"updated_at": "2026-08-30 05:02:13.366000"
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