Middle East, Textile. Textile, woven silk satin, design of red and white stripes with tiny floral detail, probably Kashan, Qajar Iran, 1876

Woven silk, satin ground
Warp:

Weft:
Loom length: ends of the loom piece have been marked at one end by [a] on the back can be seen 1 cm of pink weft followed by 4 bands of light blue weft, regularly spaced and at the other end [b] 1 cm of light blue weft. The repeating pattern is based on two main stripes in red or white both edged with yellow and black lines.
There are colour variations along the length. From the lower end upwards: There is a narrow weft pattern formed by a three line chequered border of red and white with a black infill line either side of a band carrying across the red or white warp stripes an indeterminable motif in grey. This is followed by a narrow weft pattern band in red, dark green and black which starts the main decorative stripe pattern.
[1] Red ground stripe with a meander in green bearing a simple flower in green with black details. After 48 cm the black is replaced by grey and after a further 28.5 cm a darker green is introduced with occasional light red details and after a further 14 cm the light red is replaced with pink; this colour combination continues for the rest of the length.
[2] white ground stripe with a similar meander to that described in [1] but the flowers are more dominant: there is a green stem with red flowers and black details. After 48 cm the black details are replaced by grey; after a further 28.5 cm the green details are replaced by a darker green and grey and then after a further 13.5 cm the red disappears and is replaced with pink. this colour combination continues for the rest of the length.
Selvedge: one orange and one black silk thread.
Very similar to 819-1877 and 892-1877

Given by Nasir al-Din Shah

In 1877, Nasruddin Shah, the Qajar ruler of Iran, approved a donation of contemporary textiles and carpets to the South Kensington Museum. Organised via Robert Murdoch Smith and Qajar minister Emin al-Mulk, the donation consisted of 14 carpets and 60 other examples of textiles, and was directly intended to advertise Iran's textile industry to British consumers. The accompanying letter to the Museum's Lords of Committee outlined the strategy "We have no doubt whatever that the English Nation has always viewed our manufactures in a kind and friendly manner; and although the Persian Arts have not attained a high rank, nevertheless they have been viewed with a friendly eye and examined in a partial spirit. Such being the case, H.I.M. the Shah resolved that a small quantity of the produce of this country - manufactures by Persian workmen of the present day - should be presented to the said Museum."

The impetus to form a collection of Persian textiles in South Kensington was generated by the fear that modernization might weaken Iran's artistic traditions. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the building of an international telegraph system, the introduction of steam navigation on the Caspian Sea and improved transportation within Iran opened the country to foreign merchants who negotiated trade treaties which were seldom favourable to their hosts. Imported goods, especially textiles, were cheaper than those produced locally. In the 1850s cotton, woollen and silk cloth brought from Britain accounted for 66% of Iran's total imports; in the 1880s this had dropped a little to 63%.
The competition from cheap imported goods coupled with a change in taste prompted the preference for foreign styles and had a severe effect on Iranian textile production. Several years of drought and famine, which resulted in as many as 2 million people dying in 1871-72, compounded the problems and many textile crafts almost ceased to exist.

In 1876, to increase the presence of Iranian arts and crafts in London and to encourage the British to buy Iranian goods, the Shah instructed his Minister, Amin al-Mulk, to organise a gift of textiles to the Museum, including this example, which was delivered in March 1877.

893-1877