Pair of Ottoman Textile Panels
Ottoman Turkey, 19th century
Silk embroidered with metal threads
Each 18 cm square
Each 18 cm square
A4630
Further images
A pair of Ottoman textiles with calligraphic decoration. Split palmette arabesques, ornamented with sequins, surround a central cartouche inscribed with the Shahada. The righthand side expresses the oneness of God (tawhid), reading lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh [“There is no god but Allah”], and the lefthand side reads muḥammadun rasūlu llāh [“Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”]
The silk-satin panels are decorated with dival embroidery, a couching technique whereby metallic threads are applied to the surface and stiched in place with a secondary cotton thread.[1] This was both a high-cost and high-skill tehcnique, so it was largely reserved for the upper echelons of Ottoman society. Given both the nature of the inscription and the quality of the work, it is likely that these panels were once part of a pouch or purse, perhaps used during pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina.
There is a similar Ottoman textile, but without Quranic inscriptions, on the covers of the Bayram Tahtı (“Festivity Throne”) which was used by the Ottoman sultans in the Topkapı Palace.[2]
[1] Sumru Belger Krodt. Flowers of Silk & Gold: Four Centuries of Ottoman Embroidery. Washington D.C.: Merrell Publishers, 2000, p. 42.
[2] See, Cengiz Köseoğlu. Topkapı: The Treasury, translated and edited by J.M. Rogers. London: Thames and Hudson, 1987, p. 61, ill.2.
The silk-satin panels are decorated with dival embroidery, a couching technique whereby metallic threads are applied to the surface and stiched in place with a secondary cotton thread.[1] This was both a high-cost and high-skill tehcnique, so it was largely reserved for the upper echelons of Ottoman society. Given both the nature of the inscription and the quality of the work, it is likely that these panels were once part of a pouch or purse, perhaps used during pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina.
There is a similar Ottoman textile, but without Quranic inscriptions, on the covers of the Bayram Tahtı (“Festivity Throne”) which was used by the Ottoman sultans in the Topkapı Palace.[2]
[1] Sumru Belger Krodt. Flowers of Silk & Gold: Four Centuries of Ottoman Embroidery. Washington D.C.: Merrell Publishers, 2000, p. 42.
[2] See, Cengiz Köseoğlu. Topkapı: The Treasury, translated and edited by J.M. Rogers. London: Thames and Hudson, 1987, p. 61, ill.2.