Middle East, Textile; woven silk, 1700s, Persian Brocaded silk and metal thread. The border is dominated by a band of four 8-pointed stars, each made of outward facing floral motifs. There are six half-stars and four quarter stars in the corners. Between these are large X-motifs which create a disjointed diamond shaped grid on the red/pink ground. The X-motifs are woven with a chequered pattern using metal thread. Metal Thread: silver strip open S-wound on a white silk core. One of the stars is woven completely with dark blue silk; the others have half their pattern woven with beige silk. There are other irregularities in the colouring with a light blue band at the bottom of the main panel changed to darker blue. The border is woven in red/pink silk and metal thread with a bold pattern of pairs of silver split palmettes, alternately inward and outward facing on a red/pink ground. There is a very narrow band of reciprocal brown and silver trefoils. Materials and Techniques: silk thread, metal thread, weaving