A linen hanging embroidered with silk, Turkey, 17th century

Hanging. Linen embroidered with silk in atma, chain and Cretan stitch (stems) and double running in a line (at the tops of the crescents).
Made from three widths of black linen: that on the right was joined before being embroidered; that on the left was joined after being embroidered.
The black border is a floral meander with a thick green stem which joines red flowers with a white centre. A blue tulip with white cresecent chintamani alternate between the flowers with a yellow leaf and white crescent chintamani.
The black field is decorated with green zigzagged parallel stems. These bear pairs of leaves: one red containing a small sprig with a pair of flowers and a tulip, a one yellow containing a similar small flower above and below a tulip.The pairs of leaves alternate in direction along the stem. the stem also bears a small yellow stem with a blue spiky leaf and a red leaf with three white petals.

Given by Lady Church

The oldest Ottoman embroideries in the V&A date from the 16th or 17th centuries. They are either whole covers and wall hangings or fragments of them. They are decorated with large-scale, bold designs in red, blue, green and yellow, with some white and black. In the 17th century the main designs were based on wavy parallel stems which run along the length of the fabric. The black ground of this embroidery is very unusual.

T.62-1916