Middle East, Textile. Silk lampas with a geometric pattern, south-east Spain (perhaps Granada), 1300-1400.

Striped silk lampas textile with alternating bands of calligraphy and floral design. Woven with parallel bands alternatively decorated with repetitions of the Arabic inscription "Glory to our Lord the Sultan", in yellow on a red ground and with arabesque designs in yellow, red and white on a blue ground. These bands are separated from one another by narrow borders of interlaced ornament in red on a white ground.

Acquired as part of a collection of textile fragments, from M. Stanislas Baron, for the price of 800 francs. A portion of the collection was purchased by the Manchester School of Art.

Registered nos. 828 to 851-1894.

Price: £31.2.6. (From Register).

Neg. 67443.

Samples of coloured threads from this object have been taken and are being analysed as part of a collaboration between the V&A and the Spanish Research project "Caracterización de als producciones textiles de la Antigüedad Tardía y Edad Media temprana: tejidos coptos, sasánidas, bizantinos e hispanomusulmanes en las colecciones públicas españolas" ("Characterization of Late Antique and Early Medieval textile production: Coptic, Sasanian, Byzantine and Spanish Muslim textiles in Spanish national collections") (HAR2008-04161) directed by Dr Laura Rodríguez Peinado, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Dpt. de Historia del Arte I (Medieval).

The weaver of this silk from Muslim Spain has accurately reproduced the flowing lines of an inscription in Arabic, a task requiring enormous care. The phrase ‘Glory to our lord the sultan’ has been repeated within the widest band in the design, creating the illusion of a long frieze of calligraphy.

830-1894