Length of velvet with tulips and butterflies, Iran (probably Isfahan), 1600-1700.

Silk velvet with a repeat pattern of tulip plants, butterflies and cloud scroll motifs on a yellow ground. The motifs are executed in blue, yellow and white.

Technical analysis

Foundation weave: 5 end satin, decochement 3, by 1 and 2 wefts.

Warp: 2 warps: 1 foundation warp and 1 pile warp.
Proportion: 6 foundation warps to 1 pile warp.
Foundation warp:
Material: silk, Z twist, gold, 2 filaments.
Thread count: 90 warps per cm
Velvet Warp:
Material: silk, Z twist, doubled, sometimes tripled. Multiple colours: navy blue, beige, white predominate whilst pink is introduced in stripes. Green, peach and yellow are introduced using the pile warp substitution method.
Thread count: 15 pile warps per cm.

Weft: 3 wefts: 1 foundation weft, 1 supplementary weft, 1 supplementary metal weft
Proportion: 3 wefts, 1 rod, 1 supplementary weft, 2 metal threads.
Foundation weft:
Material: silk, Z twist, gold
Thread count: 48 foundation wefts per cm
Supplementary wefts:
Material: silk, white, Z twist, supporting the velvet pile warps.
Thread count: 16 supplementary wefts per cm
Supplementary Metal Wefts: These run from selvedge to selvedge. Where the butterfly wings are white, the gold metal weft threads are substituted for silver wrapped white silk core threads. The metal threads are paired between each pile unit and bound in a 1/4 twill in S direction.
Material: yellow silk core, gold wrapped and white silk core, silver wrapped
Thread count: 32 supplementary metal wefts per cm
Selvedge: None

This floral-patterned silk velvet was produced in Isfahan as dress fabric. When Shah Abbas I made the city his capital shortly before 1600, he developed it as a centre of luxury textile production. Silk velvets were made there in abundance, both for local use and for export. Many had floral patterns. Some were composed of fantastic blossoms, others (like this piece) of flowers closer to nature.

717-1899