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Tapestry wall hanging
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Water in Garden
Tapestry wall hanging
Mouhamed Moussa (Egyptian, born in 1945)
Designed for: Wissa Wassef Art Center (Egyptian, founded in 1951)
Designed for: Wissa Wassef Art Center (Egyptian, founded in 1951)
Egyptian
ca. 1980
Medium/Technique
wool slit tapestry
Dimensions
Length x width: 167.6 × 157.5 cm (66 × 62 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Emanuel Balkin
Accession Number2018.3830
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionSquare tapestry-woven wall hanging depicting Egyptian garden scene in sunset landscape; against yellow sky with large red/orange sun at left, a hillside or garden from which grow three conical green cyprus trees in which white birds perch, with group of four palm trees to right; body of blue rippled water from left edge following curve of hillside, with two mauve-leafed shrubs at right edge; dense green garden foliage with white flowers, amongst which are seated white birds and a dog in center foreground; white woven signature in Arabic at lower right recto corner, and "W.W" mark of atelier; long undyed brown wool warps ending in self knotted fringe at top and bottom (4-inches long at top, 3-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 [Mouhamed Moussa] / Eleve de l'ecole / Ramses Wissa Wassef / sous la direction de Sophie Habib Gorgi" with two additional (blank?) muslin tags directly beneath.
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.
NOTE: Emanuel and Lorraine Balkin founded and operated the gallery Décor International from 1962 until 1989.