Border of a Velvet Floorspread thumbnail 1
Border of a Velvet Floorspread thumbnail 2
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Border of a Velvet Floorspread

mid 17th century (made)
Place of origin

This elegant strip of woven silk velvet and silver-wrapped thread is a border from a large floorspread. The design is a classic Mughal one of flowering plants - depicted remarkably realistically - within floral meander borders. The field of the original floorspread would probably have been plain. The extreme fineness of the weaving and the lavishness of the materials used suggests that it was made for the Mughal court, either in the period of Shah Jahan or early in the reign of his successor Aurangzeb.


Object details

Category
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 4 parts.

  • Floorspread
  • Floorspread
  • Floorspread
  • Floorspread
Materials and techniques
Silk velvet, woven silver-wrapped thread
Brief description
Border of a velvet floorspread
Physical description
A long border of velvet flowers against a woven silver background, cut voided satin velvet.
Dimensions
  • Height: 35.5cm
  • Dimensions taken from arts of india caption width: 265cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • Transliteration
Gallery label
FLOWER BORDER Naturalistic flowers like the ones on this floor-spread border were popular under the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (ruled 1628-58). They appeared in all media, from architecture to manuscript decoration. On textile furnishings, they evoked the pleasures of a garden indoors. The style of the lilies and other flowers is largely derived from European botanical illustrations. Silk velvet with silver-wrapped thread Possibly Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 1640-50 V&A: 320-1898(03/10/2015-10/01/2016)
Summary
This elegant strip of woven silk velvet and silver-wrapped thread is a border from a large floorspread. The design is a classic Mughal one of flowering plants - depicted remarkably realistically - within floral meander borders. The field of the original floorspread would probably have been plain. The extreme fineness of the weaving and the lavishness of the materials used suggests that it was made for the Mughal court, either in the period of Shah Jahan or early in the reign of his successor Aurangzeb.
Bibliographic references
  • The Indian Heritage. Court life and Arts under Mughal Rule London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982 Number: ISBN 0 906969 26 3 p. 87, cat. no. 221a, Veronica Murphy
  • Stronge, S. Made for Mughal Emperors. Royal Treasures from Hindustan. London and New York, 2010 p.199, pl. 161
  • Swallow, D., Stronge, S., Crill, R., Koezuka, T., editor and translator, "The Art of the Indian Courts. Miniature Painting and Decorative Arts", Victoria & Albert Museum and NHK Kinki Media Plan, 1993. p. 61, cat. no. 41
  • Miller, Lesley Ellis, and Ana Cabrera Lafuente, with Claire Allen-Johnstone, eds. Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2021. ISBN 978-0-500-48065-6. This object features in the publication Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion (2021)
Collection
Accession number
320A-1898

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Record createdNovember 4, 2003
Record URL
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