Not currently on display at the V&A

Naqshe

Nakshe
1800-1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Plain weave cotton embroidered with silk in straight stitches.
Directional design with the top of the pattern at the bottom of the panel, so that the wearer saw the correct pattern.
Unusually there is a border along all four sides. The upper and lower borders are delineated by two chevron bands. The bottom border has downward pointing pink flowers. The top border has pink flower heads in profile alternating with pink and blue ones. The two side borders have pink-petalled flowers outlined in dark blue. There is a solid blue line either side of the side border. The top and the side borders include a green zigzagged line.
The main pattern is a series of diagonal lines from lower right to upper left. These are chevron lines in dark blue and yellow with details in pink and white. There are two sizes of stripes:
[1] narrow stripes: dark blue ground with pink cross within a dark blue octagon in the centre of a tear drop shaped flower, a three-petalled pink blossom outlined in blue and an iris-like flower in blue, dark blue, pink and mauve.
[2] wider stripes in two designs: [a] small flower heads pointing in every direction. At regular intervals there is a triangular pink flower with dark blue details on a thick upright stem. [b] diamond shaped section; floral spray in a small brown vase alternating with a spray in a small light blue and dark blue vase.
Threads: 2S silk: red, yellow, mauve, orange, white, green, light blue, blue, dark blue, pink, beige.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleNaqshe
Materials and techniques
cotton yarn, silk thread,weaving, embroidering
Brief description
Middle East, Textile; Fragment from women's trousers, silk-embroidered cotton panel or naqshe, design of diagonal stripes, Iran, 1800-1860
Physical description
Plain weave cotton embroidered with silk in straight stitches.
Directional design with the top of the pattern at the bottom of the panel, so that the wearer saw the correct pattern.
Unusually there is a border along all four sides. The upper and lower borders are delineated by two chevron bands. The bottom border has downward pointing pink flowers. The top border has pink flower heads in profile alternating with pink and blue ones. The two side borders have pink-petalled flowers outlined in dark blue. There is a solid blue line either side of the side border. The top and the side borders include a green zigzagged line.
The main pattern is a series of diagonal lines from lower right to upper left. These are chevron lines in dark blue and yellow with details in pink and white. There are two sizes of stripes:
[1] narrow stripes: dark blue ground with pink cross within a dark blue octagon in the centre of a tear drop shaped flower, a three-petalled pink blossom outlined in blue and an iris-like flower in blue, dark blue, pink and mauve.
[2] wider stripes in two designs: [a] small flower heads pointing in every direction. At regular intervals there is a triangular pink flower with dark blue details on a thick upright stem. [b] diamond shaped section; floral spray in a small brown vase alternating with a spray in a small light blue and dark blue vase.
Threads: 2S silk: red, yellow, mauve, orange, white, green, light blue, blue, dark blue, pink, beige.
Dimensions
  • Length: 72cm
  • Width: 62cm
Object history
Purchased for the Museum by Robert Murdoch Smith, from Sidney Churchill in Tehran, Iran.
Association
Collection
Accession number
1064-1883

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Record createdFebruary 26, 2008
Record URL
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