Textile fragment with squares and interlacing knots
Details
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Title
Textile fragment with squares and interlacing knots
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Associated place
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Date
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Material and technique
linen, embroidered with blue silk; with a hem in flax
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Material index
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Technique index
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Object type
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Dimensions
26.5 x 15 cm (length x width)
along length/width 20 / 21 threads/cm (thread count)
ground fabric 0.05 cm max. (thread diameter)
ground fabric 0.03 cm min. (thread diameter)
additional fibre, embroidery 0.05 cm (thread diameter) -
No. of items
1
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Credit line
Presented by Professor Percy Newberry, 1941.
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Museum location
Museum department
Eastern Art
Accession no.
EA1984.547
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Catalogue text
A wide band is completely filled with a continuous design of squares linked by an interlace knot or spiral. Each square contains a diamond with four hook motifs attached. A single knot or spiral is at the centre of the star-shaped space between the linked grid.
Along both sides of the band is a hem. The fragment may have been a sash or turban cover.In: Ellis, Marianne, Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, in association with Greenville: Curious Works Press, 2001)
This detail is one of a number of fascinating geometric patterns embroidered entirely in double running stitch; the shapes can be read either as eight-pointed stars or linked squares and diamonds. All are worked on fragments and it is impossible to know what kind of textile the embroidery once decorated. This pattern travelled to Europe, and a version of it was subsequently published by Johann Sibmacher in 1601 as a pattern for a border or rug. The details have been changed slightly and the charming little rosettes omitted, but the essential lines of the pattern remain.
In: Barnes, Ruth and Marianne Ellis, ‘The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries’, 4 vols, 2001, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum
Further reading
Barnes, Ruth and Marianne Ellis, ‘The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries’, 4 vols, 2001, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, vol. iii, vol. i
Ellis, Marianne, Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, in association with Greenville: Curious Works Press, 2001), no. 32 on p. 50, illus. p. 50
Reference URL
