Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt
A selection of 10th to 16th century embroideries from the Newberry collection at the Ashmolean by Marianne Ellis (published Oxford, 2001).
Publications online: 66 objects
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Textile from a scarf or girdle with scrolling tendrils and flowers
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Literature notes
Three transverse bands embroidered with stylised flower motifs on scrolling stems decorate this linen strip from the end of a scarf or girdle. This type of design would have been marked on the ground fabric ready for the embroiderer to work in a mixture of freestyle and counted stitches. Those chosen for this embroidery were split stitch in yellow silk for the outlines of the motifs and linking stems, counted slanted stitches in dark blue silk to fill in the background, and counted satin stitches in light blue silk to form border lines of small triangles. It is one of the most attractive pieces in the collection and demonstrates how both freestyle and counted thread embroidery stitches were employed at this period to achieve the desired effect. -
Description
This strip of linen is probably from the end of a scarf or girdle. It is decorated with bands of fine scrolls alternating eight-petal flowers and palmettes executed in a mixture of freestyle and counted stiches. Split stiches are used for the yellow outlines, while the blue ground and light-blue frame are executed with counted stiches.
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Details
- Associated place
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Near East (place of creation)
- Material and technique
- linen, embroidered with blue silk; with two hems in flax
- Dimensions
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ground fabric 25.5 x 10.5 cm (height x width)
ground fabric 24 / 17 threads/cm (thread count)
ground fabric 0.04 cm (thread diameter)
- Material index
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organic › animal › animal product › silk,
- Technique index
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assembled › woven › plain woven,woven › plain woven,
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Presented by Professor Percy Newberry, 1941.
- Accession no.
- EA1993.112
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Further reading
Ellis, Marianne, Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, in association with Greenville: Curious Works Press, 2001), no. 41 on p. 60, illus. pp. 60-61
Barnes, Ruth and Marianne Ellis, ‘The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries’, 4 vols, 2001, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, cat. p. 73 (vol. iv), illus. vol. iv p. 73
Location
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- 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
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Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt
Three transverse bands embroidered with stylised flower motifs on scrolling stems decorate this linen strip from the end of a scarf or girdle. This type of design would have been marked on the ground fabric ready for the embroiderer to work in a mixture of freestyle and counted stitches. Those chosen for this embroidery were split stitch in yellow silk for the outlines of the motifs and linking stems, counted slanted stitches in dark blue silk to fill in the background, and counted satin stitches in light blue silk to form border lines of small triangles. It is one of the most attractive pieces in the collection and demonstrates how both freestyle and counted thread embroidery stitches were employed at this period to achieve the desired effect. -
The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries
Three bands, each 3 cm wide and with an identical design of a scrolling tendril and leaves and flowers. The scrolls have yellow outlines worked in split stitch, against a blue background done in slanted counted filling stitch. The bands have a narrow saw-tooth edge worked in counted satin stitch.
Notice
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