Prayer Mat
1800-1860 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Silk satin embroidered with silk in running and straight stitches, running and chain stitches, quilted, backed with silk twill and with a silk fringe.
Light blue ground, pieced for the last 5.5 cm, with a framing band around the top and two sides of a thin dark green scrolling leafy meander carrying multi-coloured spiky flowerheads in mainly crimson red alternating with multi-budded heads in white, light blue, yellow, green and pink [faded from red]. This wide band is edged with a similar coloured small broken meander and flowers; this edging goes across the bottom end. The central panel has a lobed arch formed of green leaves edged in red. Inside it rows of offset small isolated flowering green plant with crimson red flowers with yellow, pink/red, light blue touches. At the 2 bottom corners a more elaborate flowering plant has been embroidered red. All [including the wide band] is patterned with an irregular lattice of quilting in yellow. Below the apex of the arch an embroidered roundel inscribed in dark green. The arch spandrels are patterned with an embroidered lattice in grey [purple faded], pink [faded from red] and yellow, each small lozenge containing a flowering stem in crimson and green.
The fringe is dark green with twisted loops 2.5 cm long.
Embroidery Thread: dark green, red, white, light blue, yellow, pink [faded from red], purple faded to grey; 2S
Backing: lavender silk twill.
Light blue ground, pieced for the last 5.5 cm, with a framing band around the top and two sides of a thin dark green scrolling leafy meander carrying multi-coloured spiky flowerheads in mainly crimson red alternating with multi-budded heads in white, light blue, yellow, green and pink [faded from red]. This wide band is edged with a similar coloured small broken meander and flowers; this edging goes across the bottom end. The central panel has a lobed arch formed of green leaves edged in red. Inside it rows of offset small isolated flowering green plant with crimson red flowers with yellow, pink/red, light blue touches. At the 2 bottom corners a more elaborate flowering plant has been embroidered red. All [including the wide band] is patterned with an irregular lattice of quilting in yellow. Below the apex of the arch an embroidered roundel inscribed in dark green. The arch spandrels are patterned with an embroidered lattice in grey [purple faded], pink [faded from red] and yellow, each small lozenge containing a flowering stem in crimson and green.
The fringe is dark green with twisted loops 2.5 cm long.
Embroidery Thread: dark green, red, white, light blue, yellow, pink [faded from red], purple faded to grey; 2S
Backing: lavender silk twill.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | silk thread, weaving, embroidering, sewing, quilting |
| Brief description | embroidered & quilted, 1800-1860, Persian |
| Physical description | Silk satin embroidered with silk in running and straight stitches, running and chain stitches, quilted, backed with silk twill and with a silk fringe. Light blue ground, pieced for the last 5.5 cm, with a framing band around the top and two sides of a thin dark green scrolling leafy meander carrying multi-coloured spiky flowerheads in mainly crimson red alternating with multi-budded heads in white, light blue, yellow, green and pink [faded from red]. This wide band is edged with a similar coloured small broken meander and flowers; this edging goes across the bottom end. The central panel has a lobed arch formed of green leaves edged in red. Inside it rows of offset small isolated flowering green plant with crimson red flowers with yellow, pink/red, light blue touches. At the 2 bottom corners a more elaborate flowering plant has been embroidered red. All [including the wide band] is patterned with an irregular lattice of quilting in yellow. Below the apex of the arch an embroidered roundel inscribed in dark green. The arch spandrels are patterned with an embroidered lattice in grey [purple faded], pink [faded from red] and yellow, each small lozenge containing a flowering stem in crimson and green. The fringe is dark green with twisted loops 2.5 cm long. Embroidery Thread: dark green, red, white, light blue, yellow, pink [faded from red], purple faded to grey; 2S Backing: lavender silk twill. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | (Inscription embroidered in the roundel: part of the daily prayer.)
|
| Association | |
| Bibliographic reference | Published in 'Iranian Textiles' by Jennifer Wearden and Patricia L Baker (V&A Publishing, 2010) Plate 58 and detail of inscription on the end paper. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 16-1877 |
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| Record created | June 11, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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