Textile Panel
1550-1600 (Made), 1880-1896 (restored)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Cover of cotton embroidered with silk. The field has a black ground with, in each corner, a red ground lobed compartment containing a man on horseback with a hawk on his right hand. He has green boots, white trousers, a green and yellow top, and a turban with a Safavid taj and plumes. The horse is black. There are two other figures: a seated/kneeling figure by the horse's head and a seated figure by the rear. The compartment is filled with stylised animals and birds. Four smaller white ground cartouches contain a servant and possibly a woman separated by a cypress tree. The central medallion contains two figures on a red ground with three trees, and a square fish pond. The rest of the field is covered with isolated and stylised floral sprigs, human figures and animals, including large leopards. There is a yellow ground border decorated with lobed compartments, alternately containing a human figure or a stylised animal.
Some areas of the embroidery were re-worked in the late 19th Century using silk dyed with an aniline purple to replace the worn red. Much of the back has been replaced.
Colours (Embroidery thread, 2S silk): black, red, white, blue, green, yellow, purple; (Backing): orange, red and yellow silk; (Facing): orange silk satin [faded].
Some areas of the embroidery were re-worked in the late 19th Century using silk dyed with an aniline purple to replace the worn red. Much of the back has been replaced.
Colours (Embroidery thread, 2S silk): black, red, white, blue, green, yellow, purple; (Backing): orange, red and yellow silk; (Facing): orange silk satin [faded].
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Plainweave cotton embroidered with silk in surface darning and running stitch |
Brief description | Middle East, Textile; Panel, silk-embroidered cotton, design of lobed medallions with Safavid-style princely figures and animals on black ground, NW Iran, 1550-1600 |
Physical description | Cover of cotton embroidered with silk. The field has a black ground with, in each corner, a red ground lobed compartment containing a man on horseback with a hawk on his right hand. He has green boots, white trousers, a green and yellow top, and a turban with a Safavid taj and plumes. The horse is black. There are two other figures: a seated/kneeling figure by the horse's head and a seated figure by the rear. The compartment is filled with stylised animals and birds. Four smaller white ground cartouches contain a servant and possibly a woman separated by a cypress tree. The central medallion contains two figures on a red ground with three trees, and a square fish pond. The rest of the field is covered with isolated and stylised floral sprigs, human figures and animals, including large leopards. There is a yellow ground border decorated with lobed compartments, alternately containing a human figure or a stylised animal. Some areas of the embroidery were re-worked in the late 19th Century using silk dyed with an aniline purple to replace the worn red. Much of the back has been replaced. Colours (Embroidery thread, 2S silk): black, red, white, blue, green, yellow, purple; (Backing): orange, red and yellow silk; (Facing): orange silk satin [faded]. |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions | (Ink stamp on facing near museum number: 'V 1051'.) |
Object history | Purchased for £12 15s. from Vitall Benguiat, 11 Saville Row. |
Bibliographic reference | Jennifer Wearden, 'Azerbaijan Embroideries: A Synthesis of Contrasts', Hali 59 (October 1991) pp.102-111: Fig.9. |
Collection | |
Accession number | 192-1898 |
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Record created | May 17, 1999 |
Record URL |
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