Textiles & Rugs
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Woollen “Shrub” carpet, the field of horizontal orientation, both the field and border with rows of a variety of flowering plants (those of the field
Textiles are one of the most diverse types of objects from the Islamic lands. They include some of the most valuable and refined luxury goods produced, highly prized by their owners at the time and among the most prestigious diplomatic gifts and rewards for service at court. Egypt, Iran, Turkey and India produced some of the most spectacular woven textiles for garments and cushions, using silk and metal threads to luxurious effect in figural as well as calligraphic, floral and other designs.
In the early mediaeval period, Egypt was famous for ‘tiraz’ textiles, a series of types which incorporated inscription bands. Whether integrally woven, embroidered or written with pen and ink, these inscriptions generally took the form of fine calligraphy and often included the name of the Caliph and the factory (tiraz) in which they were produced.
Knotted pile carpets have a history in Asia which goes back beyond the fourth century BC. The Iranian lands and Turkey are justly famous for their production of carpets, with The al-Sabah Collection holding some two dozen fragments of 2nd – 4th centuries carpets from the region. These are in addition to many examples from later Islamic centuries. Thr distinctive ‘Mamluk’ carpets from 15th and early 16th centuries CE, Cairo are also well represented in the collection.
Woollen “Shrub” carpet, the field of horizontal orientation, both the field and border with rows of a variety of flowering plants (those of the field
Pile carpet laid out as a four-section garden (Persian, chahar bagh) with representations of flowering trees and flower beds, divided by water channels, and with
Talismanic shirt with decorative roundels, escutcheons and a cartouche filled with pious inscriptions in naskhi and attenuated thuluth, square compartments with the complete text of
Fragmentary multiple-niche pile prayer carpet (saff), the lower fields of the niches with a dense composition of two systems of foliated scrolls, the spandrels of
Linen, silk and silver wire textile fragment with rows of affronted birds framing a human face, running hares and dotted rosettes
Two fragments from the same silk textile (from a garment or furnishings?), featuring a seated prince and an attendant in a landscape setting
Fragment from a linen robe with a tiraz inscription invoking God’s blessings on the caliph (probably the Abbasid caliph Ja‘far al-Muqtadir, (r. 295-317 AH/908-929 AD
Cotton shawl embroidered with vegetal designs and a lover’s lament in Persian language (naskhi script) mentioning the city of Bamyan, in Afghanistan
Silk panel from a garment with pairs of sphinxes, and a repetition of the word ‘glory’ in Kufic script along the upper edge
Fragmentary silk textile composed as a series of horizontal bands, alternating between naskhi inscriptions in cartouches (‘Everlasting happiness and steadfast glory [to its owner]’), quadrupeds,
Woollen carpet of geometric layout, featuring a large eight-pointed star, with borders of cartouches alternating with octagons, field and border incorporating myriads of geometric figures
Silk velvet textile fragment in a pattern of staggered rows of triangular groups of three circles (‘leopard spots’), separated by paired undulating ‘tiger’ stripes; ‘Chinese
Linen textile panel embroidered in a pattern of tulips and serrated lotuses, square plan of repetition; serrated leaves fill the interstices and the border
Silk velvet textile fragment in a pattern of staggered rows of carnation flower-heads, with serrated leaves and diminutive trees in the interstices
Woollen carpet, the field with staggered rows of ogival and stellate medallions, the interstices densely filled with foliate and floral motifs; border of half-palmette arabesque
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