Textile fragment with band of chevrons and trefoil finials
Details
-
Title
Textile fragment with band of chevrons and trefoil finials
-
Associated place
-
Date
14th century (1301 - 1400)
Mamluk Period (1250 - 1517) -
Material and technique
linen, embroidered with silk
-
Material index
-
Technique index
-
Object type
-
Dimensions
42.5 x 8 cm max. (length x width)
along length/width 19 / 19 threads/cm (thread count)
ground fabric 0.05 cm (thread diameter)
additional fibre, embroidery 0.07 cm (thread diameter) -
No. of items
1
-
Credit line
Presented by Professor Percy Newberry, 1941.
-
Museum location
Museum department
Eastern Art
Accession no.
EA1993.156
Our online collection is being continually updated. Find out more
Know more about this object? Spotted an error? Contact us
-
Catalogue text
A band with chevrons and trefoil finials.
In: Ellis, Marianne, Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, in association with Greenville: Curious Works Press, 2001)
This type of decoration of zigzag counterchange patterns can still be seen in 14th and 15th century Cairo architectural decoration. Evidently it appealed to textile designers, for elegant repeating zigzag bands decorated with fleurs-de-lys and naskhi script appear on a Mamluk woven silk, now divided among four museums in Europe and North America. Here the embroidery is far less grand, with no calligraphy, but is nevertheless impressive. By choosing to work it in close counted herringbone stitch, the embroiderer has produced a dense, slightly raised effect that adds a textural quality to the work and increases the contrast between the embroidered areas and those left in reserve.
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, p. 117 (vol. iv), vol. iv p. 117
Ellis, Marianne, Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, in association with Greenville: Curious Works Press, 2001), no. 38 on p. 56, illus. p. 56
Reference URL
