Prayer Mat thumbnail 1
Prayer Mat thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Prayer Mat

1830-1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Resist dyed, block printed, plain weave cotton [probably hand-woven] with some painted detail, backed with printed cotton and faced with woven silk.
Colours: red, blue, mauve, yellow [some times faded to a grey], black.

White ground with a central panel 64 cm long with a cusped arch supported by two half cypress trees. The spandrels contain small red and blue floral sprays and the central field has alternate large and small flowering stems. The arch is surrounded by small square forms containing lozenges in reserve and is edged with a series of narrow bands.. Either side of the central frame is a tall cypress tree from a vase, terminating in a line of bud and bulb forms. Across the top is a decorative band with what appears to be an empty cartouche flanked by blocks with floral motifs echoing the blocks in an outer border, which has a deep lower band. Down the sides is a line of small ogival medallions with flower heads; there is a cypress tree at the base and across the top is a band of architectural 'onion' domes and decorative spikes beautifully infilled.
The mat is backed with block-printed, hand-woven cotton with a cream ground and a very small floral motif in red and mauve on a grey stem in closely packed off-set bands. It is faced with bias-cut dark blue silk.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
cotton yarn, silk thread, weaving, sewing, dyeing, resist dyeing, block printing, painting.
Brief description
printed cotton, 1830-1885, Persian
Physical description
Resist dyed, block printed, plain weave cotton [probably hand-woven] with some painted detail, backed with printed cotton and faced with woven silk.
Colours: red, blue, mauve, yellow [some times faded to a grey], black.

White ground with a central panel 64 cm long with a cusped arch supported by two half cypress trees. The spandrels contain small red and blue floral sprays and the central field has alternate large and small flowering stems. The arch is surrounded by small square forms containing lozenges in reserve and is edged with a series of narrow bands.. Either side of the central frame is a tall cypress tree from a vase, terminating in a line of bud and bulb forms. Across the top is a decorative band with what appears to be an empty cartouche flanked by blocks with floral motifs echoing the blocks in an outer border, which has a deep lower band. Down the sides is a line of small ogival medallions with flower heads; there is a cypress tree at the base and across the top is a band of architectural 'onion' domes and decorative spikes beautifully infilled.
The mat is backed with block-printed, hand-woven cotton with a cream ground and a very small floral motif in red and mauve on a grey stem in closely packed off-set bands. It is faced with bias-cut dark blue silk.
Dimensions
  • Length: 134cm
  • Width: 88cm
Object history
Purchased for £1 from the London firm Cardinal & Harford. Originally catalogued as prayer carpet or hanging.
Production
Possibly partially printed in India and completed in Iran.
Bibliographic reference
Published in 'Iranian Textiles' by Jennifer Wearden and Patricia L Baker (V&A Publishing, 2010) Plate 87 whole and detail.
Collection
Accession number
413-1888

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Record createdMarch 11, 2008
Record URL
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