Prayer Mat thumbnail 1
Prayer Mat thumbnail 2
Not on display

Prayer Mat

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

Silk and cotton satin embroidered with silk in stem, running and straight stitches, quilted, backed with resist and block printed cotton and faced with silk and cotton twill.
Blue satin ground with narrow outer border with a green double meander, circular red carnations, orange and red spiky flowers and small yellow flowers. This is repeated on 3 sides of the central panel and in between is a wider band on 3 sides containing a fine green meandering stem, larger orange carnations outlined in red with yellow and blue centres, bracketed by a pair of serrated leaves and alternating with a small 3-part flower outlined in golden brown which was originally a shade of red [the light yellow in the same motif seems to have originally been an orange]. The ground of this border was quilted with cream silk to form irregular scale-like patterns around the embroidery. The central panel is divided into a lobed arch by lines of green, pink and [now] pale orange. The outer lines form a serrated edge around the upper part of the arch and are linked to the other lines by a circle at either side. The field of the arch contains rows of two types of floral sprig: a red petalled flower with a sweeping stem of leaves on the right and a small yellow sprig. In the lower part of the arch these are in off-set rows, but in the upper part the spacing becomes irregular suggesting that each motif was printed separately. There is a roundel within the top of the arch; it has a red embroidered ground and an inscription in dark green. The spandrels are divided into a diamond grid by small faded orange and green leaves and green circles. Each compartment contains a 3-petalled red and faded orange flower on a short curing stem.
Embroidery Thread: red, orange, yellow, blue, cream, green and pink silk; 2S
Backing: pieced; pink plain weave cotton printed with off set rows of a small white blossom with black outlines and brown and yellow details; it has 2 brown buds and 2 green leaves.
Facing: bias-cut, pink silk and cotton twill.

Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
cotton yarn, silk thread, weaving, embroidering, resist and block printing, sewing, quilting
Brief description
embroidered & quilted, 1800-1860, Persian
Physical description
Silk and cotton satin embroidered with silk in stem, running and straight stitches, quilted, backed with resist and block printed cotton and faced with silk and cotton twill.
Blue satin ground with narrow outer border with a green double meander, circular red carnations, orange and red spiky flowers and small yellow flowers. This is repeated on 3 sides of the central panel and in between is a wider band on 3 sides containing a fine green meandering stem, larger orange carnations outlined in red with yellow and blue centres, bracketed by a pair of serrated leaves and alternating with a small 3-part flower outlined in golden brown which was originally a shade of red [the light yellow in the same motif seems to have originally been an orange]. The ground of this border was quilted with cream silk to form irregular scale-like patterns around the embroidery. The central panel is divided into a lobed arch by lines of green, pink and [now] pale orange. The outer lines form a serrated edge around the upper part of the arch and are linked to the other lines by a circle at either side. The field of the arch contains rows of two types of floral sprig: a red petalled flower with a sweeping stem of leaves on the right and a small yellow sprig. In the lower part of the arch these are in off-set rows, but in the upper part the spacing becomes irregular suggesting that each motif was printed separately. There is a roundel within the top of the arch; it has a red embroidered ground and an inscription in dark green. The spandrels are divided into a diamond grid by small faded orange and green leaves and green circles. Each compartment contains a 3-petalled red and faded orange flower on a short curing stem.
Embroidery Thread: red, orange, yellow, blue, cream, green and pink silk; 2S
Backing: pieced; pink plain weave cotton printed with off set rows of a small white blossom with black outlines and brown and yellow details; it has 2 brown buds and 2 green leaves.
Facing: bias-cut, pink silk and cotton twill.
Dimensions
  • Length: 138cm
  • Width: 90.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
([1] embroidered in silk in the roundel.Part of the daily prayer or salat. [2] ink letters on the facing in the lower right hand corner.)
Translation
Glory to my exalted Lord and praise belong to Him.
Bibliographic references
  • the backing was published as plate 6 in Jennifer Wearden's Persian Printed Cottons, Webb & Bower, 1989
  • Printed cotton backing published in 'Iranian Textiles' by Jennifer Wearden and Patricia L Baker (V&A Publishing, 2010) Plate 101 (detail).
Collection
Accession number
852-1876

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Record createdJune 4, 2008
Record URL
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