Plain weave cotton embroidered with silk in surface darning and running stitch backed with plain weave cotton and faced with bias-cut plain weave silk. Directional design: a large 8-pointed star edged in white has a blue field which contains a stylised artichoke or tulip form in pink, beige, white and cream. It is surrounded by two pairs of serrated 'saz' leaves, white stemmed tulip buds and small artichoke forms echoing the colours. The four corners have pink ground partly edged in white, each containing a large green artichoke motif from which emerges a pair of light blue and white tulips. In between the corner motifs and the central star form, a wide angular black band infilled with a white and light blue artichoke with a pair of yellow and pink serrated leaves. Around all four sides is a border in yellow containing large stylised floral elements in essentially S-shapes [light blue with pink centre] or Z-shapes [pink with two dark red 'arms']. Embroidery threads: 2S silk; white, cream, faded pink, dark green, light blue, blue, dark blue, light beige, beige, yellow, dark red, black. Backing: light pink cotton. Facing: beige silk. NOTE: there are distinctly Ottoman elements in the design. See also Circ.746-1912 and 545-1897 for similar designs. Middle East, Textile; Panel, silk-embroidered cotton, design of blue eight-pointed star with stylised lotus flowers, roses and tulips, on heavily re-worked black ground, Azerbaijan or NW Iran, 1775-1800