Not currently on display at the V&A

Prayer Mat

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

Plain weave cotton, seamed along the lower edge, embroidered with silk in straight and chain stitches, backed with plain weave roller-printed cotton and faced with bias cut plain weave cotton.
The unbleached cotton field is printed or marked with highly visible brown lines [under drawing]. The arched field is embroidered with pink flowers on a ground of quilted scales in white. The area beneath the point of the arch has parrots around the prayer-stone roundel. The spandrels are covered with a dense ogival lattice in green with pink buds. The border is worked with pink floral sprays on a green stem against the quilted scales of the ground. The border is flanked by two narrow bands of meandering foliage with pink buds, with a single band along the bottom edge.
Backing: cotton printed in orange and green with flower-filled botehs within interlinked foliate hexagons against a dark blue ground.
Facing: dark blue cotton, bias cut, possibly added later.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
cotton yarn, silk thread, weaving, printing, embroidering, sewing
Brief description
embroidered & quilted, 1800s, Persian
Physical description
Plain weave cotton, seamed along the lower edge, embroidered with silk in straight and chain stitches, backed with plain weave roller-printed cotton and faced with bias cut plain weave cotton.
The unbleached cotton field is printed or marked with highly visible brown lines [under drawing]. The arched field is embroidered with pink flowers on a ground of quilted scales in white. The area beneath the point of the arch has parrots around the prayer-stone roundel. The spandrels are covered with a dense ogival lattice in green with pink buds. The border is worked with pink floral sprays on a green stem against the quilted scales of the ground. The border is flanked by two narrow bands of meandering foliage with pink buds, with a single band along the bottom edge.
Backing: cotton printed in orange and green with flower-filled botehs within interlinked foliate hexagons against a dark blue ground.
Facing: dark blue cotton, bias cut, possibly added later.
Dimensions
  • Length: 85cm
  • Width: 60.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
Glory be to my Exalted Lord and praise belong to Him. (Embroidered inscription from the daily prayer.)
Bibliographic reference
Illustrated in 'Iranian Textiles' by Jennifer Wearden and Patricia L Baker, V&A Publishing 2010 fig. 44 page 61 (whole) and page 6 (large detail).
Collection
Accession number
809-1876

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Record createdFebruary 24, 2009
Record URL
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