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

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

Newberry Collection

Explore Percy and Essie Newberry's important collection of textiles including Islamic embroideries and Indian block-printed fragments.

Detail of block-printed textile fragment with band of rosettes and flowers, Gujarat, 1250-1350 (Museum No: EA1990.140)

Collection trails: 8 objects

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Textile fragment with tiraz bandfront

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Textile fragment with tiraz band

  • Description

    The inscription on this tiraz fragment reads: ‘Blessing from God, Prosperity and Glory to the Caliph, the Servant of God, Ja‘far [al-Muqtadir], [in the] year [AH] 320 [AD 932].’ The style of writing used in this sample, which accentuates the stems of the vertical letters and the horizontal tails of the rounder characters, has been associated with the textile production of Iraq and Iran between the 10th and 11th centuries.

  • Details

    show all
    Associated place
    Africa › Egypt (find spot)
    Africa › Egypt › Cairo › Cairo › Fustat (possible find spot)
    Africa › Egypt (place of creation)
    Date
    AD 932 (AH 319 - 320)
    Material and technique
    linen, glazed, and embroidered with dark-blue silk
    Dimensions
    21.5 x 15 cm max. (length x width)
    along length/width 28 / 28 threads/cm (thread count)
    ground fabric 0.05 cm (thread diameter)
    additional fibre, embroidery 0.05 cm (thread diameter)
    Material index
    processed material › textile › linen,
    organic › vegetal › fibre › flax › linen,
    organic › animal › animal product › silk,
    processed material › textile › silk
    Technique index
    assembled › woven › plain woven,
    woven › plain woven,
    needleworked › embroidered
    Object type index
    textile
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by Professor Percy Newberry, 1941.
    Accession no.
    EA1988.48

  • Further reading

    Barnes, Ruth and Marianne Ellis, ‘The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries’, 4 vols, 2001, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, cat. vol. iii, vol. i p. 17, illus. vol. i

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.

 

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

    The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries

    A tiraz fragment with a very carefully embroidered inscription which reads "baraka min allah wa ni'ma wa 'izz li'l-khalifa 'abdallah Ja'far sana 'ishrin wa mi'atayn" (Blessing from God and prosperity and glory to the Caliph, the servant of God, Ja'far, in the year 320.)

    The inscription dates the textile to 932 A.D.; it was made in Egypt. Radiocarbon analysis of the piece had the medium result of 710 A.D. +/- 80, with the calibrated date (95.4% confidence) 650-960 A.D.

© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum