Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries

An unpublished catalogue of the Ashmolean’s collection of Islamic embroideries from Egyptologist Percy Newberry, by Ruth Barnes and Marianne Ellis.

The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries by Ruth Barnes and Marianne Ellis

Publications online: 1018 objects

Reference URL

Actions

Send e-mail

Contact us about this object

Send e-mail

Send to a friend

Textile fragment with lions

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries by Ruth Barnes and Marianne Ellis

    The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries

    A band of three lion blazons, blue with red outlines, is sewn onto a field of swirling rosettes and intersecting circles. The rosettes are blue, the circles have red chevrons at their intersection with each other.

    The fragment is similar to EA1984.60 and EA1984.61, although the direction of the lions is reversed. Laid threads are couched down over surface satin filling stitches. Outlines are worked in stem stitch.
  • Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt by Marianne Ellis

    Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt

    This lion is one of three embroidered on a wide border sewn onto the bottom of a large fragment, probably a hanging. The textile is now very worn but he still presents a jaunty appearance with his raised front paw and uplifted tail. The lion in Mamluk heraldry was associated with the blazon of the Mamluk Sultan Baybars, who ruled from 1260-77, so we can assume that the embroidery dates from the early Mamluk period. On this fragment the lion and its circular frame have been worked in the same type of couching as for No.45 [EA1984.76], and its animated appearance has been increased by adding outlines in stem stitch in red silk.
Notice

Object information may not accurately reflect the actual contents of the original publication, since our online objects contain current information held in our collections database. Click on 'buy this publication' to purchase printed versions of our online publications, where available, or contact the Jameel Study Centre to arrange access to books on our collections that are now out of print.

© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum