Description
1800s, Persian; Whitework
Plain weave cotton, probably hand woven, embroidered with silk in straight stitches and pulled thread work; whitework; backed with block printed cotton
Pieced. The central panel has four corner units, and so has a double mihrab/arch form of lozenges formed of straight stitch triangles placed within narrow pulled thread diagonal bands - all four edged with a row of reciprocal trefoils in straight stitch. At the junction of the top 2 corner units is a pendant rectangle using the same pattern [for the mohr tablet], followed by 2 rows of small straight stitch lozenges [for the rosary]. Then with a frame of touching 8-pointed stars/flowerheads, individual stylized motifs of stars, plants, long-legged birds and 2 human figures and an inverted water jog [ablutions completed, the empty jug is turned upside down], all in straight stitches. Below this is a tall plant motif decorated with more bird forms. This area is framed with a composite border, showing spacing inaccuracies top and bottom of the inner frame of the left hand pieced section - suggesting either the embroidery was worked in sections and the design wasn't matched correctly, or more than one person was involved.
The border consists of:
[a] a row of tiny lozenges in straight stitches
[b] pulled thread work in a basket weave pattern
[c] a row of lozenges
[d] 4 rows of small lozenges in straight stitch on a pulled thread lattice
[e] as [c]
[f] a row of squares either side of a diagonal pulled thread section in basket weave pattern
[g] as [c]
[h] a row of fan-shaped leaves in straight stitch, pointing outwards.
Cotton thread: Z-spun
Embroidery Thread: white silk; 2S
Backing: white ground printed with a dense pattern of fine curving black stems bearing a variety of exotic blossoms and buds in red, purple and blue. There is inaccurate block registration along one side.