Bidspirit auction | [Imperial Period. Beadwork Embroidered Oklad].

[Imperial Period. Beadwork Embroidered Oklad]. Oklad from an Icon of the Mother of God ”The Burning Bush” (Neopalimaya Kupina). Russia, 18th – early 19th century. Materials and technique: glass, seed beads, bugle beads, foil over fabric, linen and paper lining; needlework. Dimensions: 30.5 × 25.5 cm. Condition: fair. The decoration is executed in embroidery over gold foil stretched on a fabric ground and backed with paper. The central part forms the large silhouette of the Mother of God with the Christ Child within the characteristic diamond-shaped mandorla of the ”Burning Bush”; surrounding it is a dense, ”carpet-like” filling of elaborate floral and foliate ornament embroidered in seed beads, bugle beads and coloured glass. A wide border runs along the perimeter of the oklad with a continuous garland of scrolls and flowers, analogous to embroidered oklads on Russian icons of the 18th century in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum. The cut-outs for the faces and part of the garments, as well as the rectangular openings on the four sides of the oklad, indicate its original use with an icon of the Mother of God ”The Burning Bush”. The reverse retains the original paper lining with characteristic darkening and small tears at the corners of the cut-outs.