Tablecloth, Omar Khayyam

This colorful tablecloth was designed by Marion Dorn (American, 1896–1964), an accomplished designer whose industry and inventiveness allowed her career to flourish over many decades. What is significant about Dorn was her ability to design across different media for a variety of clients. Primarily known for her textiles and carpets, she also produced designs for several wallpaper companies. Book illustrations from early in her career display the high quality of her draftsmanship, and even her most commercial work retains the inherent integrity and vitality of her hand. Although the start of WWII forced Dorn and her husband to leave England at the height of their professional lives, she successfully restarted her career in the United States. Dorn's later designs may not have the same avant-garde appeal as her work from the 1930s, but she spiritedly embraced the commercial challenges and opportunities that post-WWII America presented to hard-working designers.

The pattern of this Leacock tablecloth is entitled Omar Khayyam after the talented Persian mathematician, astronomer and poet with the same name. Although his authorship of the poetic works is questioned by some scholars today, Omar Khayyam (Persian, 1048–1131) was celebrated in 1859 with an illustrated English translation of his poems by Edward FitzGerald who entitled the collection "The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám." The collected poems experienced a huge wave of popularity in the United States beginning in the early 20th century, becoming one of the most widely-read collections of poetry in the country. His poems experienced renewed popularity in the 1950s especially with college students.

Dorn employed a series of square and rectangular vignettes inspired by Mughal painted miniatures to design the tablecloth. These vignettes include: a musician seated on a carpet playing a sitar amongst flowering trees, three royal figures on horseback with parasols, figures seated in garden pavilions, and royal elephants carrying elaborate howdahs, the ornate covered pavilions used for the hunt or ceremonial processions. While rendered in a lighthearted whimsical manner, the scenes within these vignettes are closely derived from iconic Mughal paintings. The tablecloth was produced in at least two colorways, and was perhaps part of series inspired by Middle Eastern and Asian art as another tablecloth entitled Mikado was also available in at least two colorways. It shows two Japanese figures in a landscape of flowering trees and mountains.

Kimberly Randall is the Collections Manager for the Textile Department.

Tablecloth, Omar Khayyam; Designed by Marion Dorn Kauffer ((American, 1896–1964)); Manufactured by Leacock Quality Hand Prints; cotton; H x W: 130.2 × 124.5 cm (51 1/4 in. × 49 in.); Gift of Kimberly Randall Hess; 2018-47-1