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Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.

Bride


Tapestry wall hanging
Garya Mahmoud (Egyptian, born ca. 1947)
Designed for: Wissa Wassef Art Center (Egyptian, founded in 1951)
Egypt
ca. 1980

Medium/Technique wool slit tapestry
Dimensions Length x width: 204.5 × 121.9 cm (80 1/2 × 48 in.)
Credit Line Gift of Emanuel Balkin
Accession Number2018.3829
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsTextiles

DescriptionRectangular tapestry-woven wall hanging ostensibly depicting a wedding scene; pink step-roofed house just right of center background surrounded by dense foliage atop which four black/brown birds fly and perch; at left, two cows are led by a man seated on a white horse accompanied by a female figure in a mauve patterned dress; to the right, directly in front of the house, men and women surround a seated woman dressed in white with long dark hair and a gold necklace, who clasps [a book?] held by a standing male figure wearing a black robe and white cap; the woman in white is accompanied by a young girl to her right in a red dress and blue cap, and an additional female figure sitting in front of the standing man holding a white object in her hands; a blue river of pond in the foreground supports two white birds and is surrounded by flowering plants; to the left in the foreground is ostensibly another family grouping of man and white with their young children, the woman standing with a child, the man sitting with two adolescents around a fire; woven blue signature in Arabic at lower right recto corner, with "W.W." mark of atelier; long undyed brown wool warps ending in self knotted fringe at short ends, cut in graduated curve (11-inches long at top, 2-inches at bottom); large printed muslin tag sewn to lower left verso corner: "Ecole Ramses Wissa Wassef / Cette tapisserie est une oeuvre d'art originale realisee / directement sur le metier sans carton. / Un exemplaire unique / par [Garya Mahmoud] / Eleve de l'ecole / Ramses Wissa Wassef / sous la direction de Sophie Habib Gorgi" with two additional smaller printed muslin tags below, with stamp of Art Center and similar information.
ProvenanceBetween about 1962 and 1989, acquired by Emanuel Balkin and Lorraine Balkin (b. 1930 - d. 2017) for Décor International, Boston; 2018, gift of Emanuel Balkin to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 12, 2018)

NOTE: Emanuel and Lorraine Balkin founded and operated the gallery Décor International from 1962 until 1989.