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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Cloth with diamond-shapes and hooks
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Literature notes
The bands of embroidery worked on this square are exceptionally wide for a comparatively small textile. Their complex pattern demonstrates an outstanding expertise in pattern darning developed by this time, and great care has been taken to match each pair of bands to ensure the design has a balanced appearance. The worker has added extra decoration and colour by embroidering a small diamond shape in the centre and at each corner, and finishing the edges with a rolled hem overcast with pink silk. All these features imply that this was a special textile rather than an everyday one and probably used as a decorative cover. Although in size it is comparable with handkerchiefs, it is unlikely to have been one of these: kerchiefs are worked in such a way that the embroidery is reversible, using either double running stitch (see No.31 [EA1984.400]) or in a darned pattern that looks right on both sides. -
Description
With its repeated diamonds against a fret pattern ground, this small textile demonstrates the versatility of pattern darning, one of the prevalent embroidery techniques in Mamluk Egypt (1260-1517). Although this has been compared to handkerchiefs, of which numerous fragments exist in the Ashmolean Museum’s Newberry Collection, it has been suggested that this cloth was most probably used as a decorative cover as the stitching is only visible on one face. Indeed, the prominence given to its decoration and its compact and precise execution suggest the cloth’s special quality.
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Details
- Associated place
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Near East (place of creation)
- Material and technique
- linen, embroidered with blue and pink silk
- Dimensions
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32.5 x 30 cm (length x width)
along length/width 16 / 16 threads/cm (thread count)
wide embroidery bands 5 cm (width)
narrow embroidery bands 4 cm (width)
ground fabric 0.04 cm (thread diameter)
additional fibre, embroidery 0.05 cm (thread diameter)
- Material index
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organic › animal › animal product › silk
- Technique index
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woven › plain woven,assembled › woven › plain woven,
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Presented by Professor Percy Newberry, 1941.
- Accession no.
- EA1984.173
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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. 22 on. p. 38, illus. p. 38
Barnes, Ruth and Marianne Ellis, ‘The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries’, 4 vols, 2001, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, cat. vol. ii, illus. vol. i
Location
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Lower ground floor | Room 5 | Textiles
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Lower ground floor | Room 5 | Textiles
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
The bands of embroidery worked on this square are exceptionally wide for a comparatively small textile. Their complex pattern demonstrates an outstanding expertise in pattern darning developed by this time, and great care has been taken to match each pair of bands to ensure the design has a balanced appearance. The worker has added extra decoration and colour by embroidering a small diamond shape in the centre and at each corner, and finishing the edges with a rolled hem overcast with pink silk. All these features imply that this was a special textile rather than an everyday one and probably used as a decorative cover. Although in size it is comparable with handkerchiefs, it is unlikely to have been one of these: kerchiefs are worked in such a way that the embroidery is reversible, using either double running stitch (see No.31 [EA1984.400]) or in a darned pattern that looks right on both sides. -
The Newberry Collection of Islamic Embroideries
Four bands run parallel to the sides of a complete square cloth. The blue embroidery provides the outline to the designs, which are made up of diamonds and hook motifs, identical in all four bands. A small pink diamond is in the centre of the cloth, and is repeated in the four corners.
The bands vary slightly in width; two are 4 cm wide, the other two 5 cm. The edge of the cloth is overcast with pink buttonhole stitch.
Notice
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