Plain weave silk embroidered with silk in straight stitches; whitework; backed with roller-printed plain weave cotton and faced with woollen twill. There is a cotton interlining. The central area has a pointed mihrab arch form outlined in small pendant reciprocal trefoil shapes, and small touching squares. The spandrels are decorated with six diagonal lines of inscription not fully vowelled. A large pendant rectangle containing three lines of inscription is placed at the apex of the arch, and between this are two lines of small lozenges (representing the rosary) and a bowl shaped motif (which might represent the comb?) holding two lines of inscription. The rest of the central field is decorated with a regular pattern of intersecting lozenge forms, each holding a stylized flowering stem, or the small lozenges and eight-pointed star/flowerhead. This central area is framed by a row of lozenges, each containing eight triangles of straight stitch so forming a smaller lozenge form; the remaining spaces in between are filled with stylized plant motifs. This leads into another inscription band on all four sides, containing the date. Silk Thread: cannot determine twist. Embroidery Thread: white silk; 2S Backing: roller printed plain weave cotton; white ground with a grid of large curved rectangles alternating with small rectangles, each framed with a chevron stripe of red, purple and yellow, and each holding a flowering spray in blue, green, red, yellow and black. Facing: bias cut, woollen twill with narrow stripes of white, dark blue, yellow, pink, green and red, holding either a ribbon meander or an isolated stylized form in the other colours. Prayer mat, silk backed with cotton, Iran, Qajar period, 1859