Brocaded silk and metal thread, satin ground, faced with roller printed cotton and plain weave silk with a cord button.
Six panels seamed to form a loose T-shaped robe with gussets under the arms. Cream satin ground with a small leafy lozenge lattice delineated in white; alternate compartments contain a simple rosette in silver-gilt or a short  four-line inscription in blue, red or silver-gilt, so forming vertical stripes.
The sleeve ends, neck band and front chest opening are faced with one or more roller-printed plain weave cottons: around the neck a rust red ground with a large chevron repeat of brown and white with brown and dark brown bands.  Also, but possibly from another fabric, a predominantly white roller-printed plain weave cotton bearing a rust red Greek Key band with a light brown 4-petalled rosette and down one side a series of thin red lines.  The sleeve cuffs, again roller-printed plain weave cotton in same colouring but patterned with a series of white diagonal stripes carrying small stylised floral elements.  On the left upper front there is an attached band/facing of dark blue plain weave silk with a series of narrow stripes, one plain, the others with a yellow chevron pattern with crimson red and light blue edging.  This carries a silk loop embellished with silver strip, while a conical button worked in silver thread is on the opposite side.
Originally the front panels from below the neck opening was decorated with tuck embroidered with  silver-gilt [31 cm long], of which only 8 cm survives.  This section is faced with roller-printed plain weave cotton in same colouring but patterned with a series of white diagonal stripes carrying small stylised floral elements [see sleeve cuffs].
Warp: white silk
Weft: white silk, Z-twist, red S-twist and blue Z-twist.
Metal Thread: silver-gilt close Z-wound on yellow silk core.  The metal thread embroidered in the centre panel is silver-gilt strip on a bronze coloured silk core. The metal thread on the button is silver Z-wound on light beige silk.
There is one selvedge: one cord with two white stripes.
Some panels at the sides are upside down.
Inside, at the level of the underarm gussets is a narrow white cotton tape which runs down the seams.

Cap, plain weave cotton quilted, lined with plain weave resist and block printed and glazed cotton, faced with woven wool and embroidered with silk in running and chain stitches.
Four conical curved sections sewn together.  Each section is cut from two layers of the same white cotton fabric and is quilted using white cotton and also some white silk.  Sections of the quilting have been stuffed with indigo dyed cotton thread, creating corded quilting in a series of broken longitudinal lines, zigzags and intersecting reciprocal curved elongated lozenges on each section.  A composite band of decorative stitching in black silk delineates the contours of each section in a series of triangles, stepped and interlaced lozenges.

Lining: red cotton printed with an offset pattern of rows of a tri-stemmed flowering plant in yellow and white outlined in black.
Facing: pieced; bias-cut wool, possibly twill tapestry, in alternate wide toothed stripes of pink, red, pale blue and white; possibly not from one but from two or more fabrics. The stripes contain stylized floral or stemmed motifs in pink, white, dark blue, green, yellow and red.
Embroidery Thread: black silk; 2S.

Silk satin embroidered with couched metal thread and coloured silk in a flat stitch, faced with cotton twill and backed with plain weave cotton.
The central panel [50 x 52.5 cm] has a red satin ground with signs of a bright green selvedge on both sides; the embroidery goes over these selvedges. The design is repeated in each quarter.  In the centre is a large lobed circular form embroidered with silver-gilt thread couched with a pattern of small and larger lozenges.  From around this forms come 8 curving leaves, facing in an anti-clockwise direction, alternately silver and silver-gilt, couched in a twill and chevron pattern. Framing this is a 16 pointed star form in silver-gilt.  Alternate points terminate in a 3-petalled flower with two small leaves with a silver thread centre and details in coloured silk; other points move upwards and split to form half palmettes which in turn join to create an 8-lobed rosette frame.  
This is framed by a thin embroidered leafy stem forming a 16 pointed star shape in silver-gilt.  At the axis points this leads into a large exotic blossom with two flowering and leafy stems in silver and silver-gilt with chevron couching.
In between a composite form of leaves, buds, flowering stems and small roundels point into each corner.  In between these, from the remaining star points, a small lily form in silver-gilt and silver emerges, worked mainly in a twill pattern. The corner motifs repeat part of the central pattern but then lead directly into a corner medallion of silver-gilt with chevron couching. 
Around the major motifs and frames, there is a multi-thread 'coil' of silver couched down as an outline.
Metal thread: silver-gilt strip very closely S-twisted on Z-twisted cream silk and silver strip open S-wound on a Z-twisted white silk core.
Embroidery thread: light green, dark green, light blue, dark blue, pink, white and yellow. Couching with white, pink, beige and light green silk.
A 2 cm wide woven braid separates the red field from the black border.  A silver strip edges the braid.  Much of the black silk ground has corroded and has been replaced with crude embroidery.  The pattern is a thin silver-gilt meander with four variations of exotic blossoms including a carnation. The 'peacock eyes' in the corner motif is particularly pretty.
It is possible to see an cotton interlining.
Metal thread: silver-gilt strip very closely S-twisted on Z-twisted cream silk and silver strip open S-wound on a Z-twisted white silk core.
Embroidery thread: red, pink, white, dark green, light green, light brown silk.  Cream and faded red silk is used for couching.
Facing: bias-cut cotton, fine stripes in light blue, red, white, green, yellow and brown.
Backing: pieced, undecorated  plain weave blue cotton.

Patchwork of woven silk, silk and metal thread, cut voided silk velvet, some with metal thread, bordered with woven silk, backed with cotton twill and faced with woven silk.
In the centre is a relatively large panel of woven silk with pink/yellow ground and a pattern of lobed compartments forming groups of four with a larger one top and bottom and a pair of smaller ones side-by-side in the middle. There are small floral motifs and this panel is edged with the woven silk which includes a small animal in the design [a deer?]. 
The patches: bottom row from the left: red silk ground, part of a loom end, pair of green birds forming a lattice. Upside down blue ground with bird perched on flower. Seven patches of velvet two of which are seamed diagonally: voided cut velvet with a metal strip used as weft. Small floral sprigs in light brown or green. Blue ground with bird perched on flower and in right hand corner, same fabric as centre. 2nd row:  three patches same fabric as centre. Two patches with red satin ground and part of a floral design in metal thread. Two other panels with a red satin ground but the pattern is woven in coloured silks and metal thread. Two panels of purple voided velvet; two panels of polychrome voided velvet; one section of a striped, border-like textile. 3rd row: four patches [two joined] of blue satin with largish floral motif and a similar patch with small-scale floral pattern. Two pink ribbed silk panels [one with seams] with floral sprigs in brown or blue. A similar coloured patch in the centre but with different design. On the left is a brown voided velvet patch; on the right is a woven silk with green ground, bunch of flowers and curving leaves forming a broken lattice [European].
This brings us to the base of the central panel.  All the other patches are like the ones mentioned with the addition of a dark blue ground with botehs in blue and orange, a yellow ground with large and small botehs in pink, green and blue, red voided velvet with metal strip in the ground and a diamond lattice, a yellow ground fabric in the top row with a velvet stripe in red, grey, white and green, red satin with the lower half of a segmented boteh in orange and, in the top row, a small patch of brown velvet with white flowers. Most, or all, of the velvets are probably Ottoman and/or European.
Border: pieced together from about 5 different patterns. Some of these strips are bias-cut, some are not. The bias cut ones tend to be better quality. With the Museum Number in the bottom right hand corner, the border along the top and down the left hand side are superior quality.  All have a yellow or metal thread ground, with a floral meander. Birds are included in the pattern down the right hand side, a parrot in the section along the left hand side of the lower border and there is a cockerel in the lower left hand border. Where there is metal thread it is silver strip open S-wound on a yellow silk core.
Backing: pieced; pink cotton twill.  Facing: bias cut black silk.

1800 / 1899, Iran

1800 / 1899, Iran

Description