Tiraz thumbnail 1
Tiraz thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Tiraz

Tiraz
Unknown (made), 1000-1199 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This fragment consists of a band tapesty-woven in coluored silks of fine linen warps. In the middle is a winged animal in yellow, red and white on a blue oval medallion; above and below are fragments of an Arabic inscription in green on a red ground.

Technical analysis: woven tiraz in slit and dovetailed tapestry; silk and linen. Warp: undyed linen, S-twist, 23-4 per cm. Weft: undyed linen and silk, no noticeable spin, 46 ribs per cm. Wefts in undyed linen and silks in red, yellow and blue inscription in green.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleTiraz (generic title)
Materials and techniques
woven silk and linen
Brief description
Tiraz of woven silk and linen with a winged animal in the centre, and Arabic inscriptions above and below.
Physical description
This fragment consists of a band tapesty-woven in coluored silks of fine linen warps. In the middle is a winged animal in yellow, red and white on a blue oval medallion; above and below are fragments of an Arabic inscription in green on a red ground.

Technical analysis: woven tiraz in slit and dovetailed tapestry; silk and linen. Warp: undyed linen, S-twist, 23-4 per cm. Weft: undyed linen and silk, no noticeable spin, 46 ribs per cm. Wefts in undyed linen and silks in red, yellow and blue inscription in green.
Dimensions
  • Length: 4cm
  • Width: 6.2cm
  • Max height of inscription height: 1.6cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
al-mu'(minin) (?); sl . . . (?). (A larger piece belonging to the same textile is in the Musee du Cluny in Paris (cl.21.871). It shows the winged animal three times between two lines of inscriptions. The inscriptions read as: (top) bismallah al-rahman "in the name of God the Merciful"; (bottom) thaman wa aarba'in wa arba'mi'a "four hundred and forty-eight2 (al-Munstansir, 1056/448).)
Translation
no translation given
Object history
From al-Kharjah (Egypt)
Production
Al-Munstansir, Fatimid Egypt
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic reference
Contadini, Anna, Fatimid Art at the Victoria & Albert Museum. London: V&A Publications, 1998, p.67, plate 23
Collection
Accession number
2117-1900

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Record createdMay 26, 2004
Record URL
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