Fragment with tripartite band (1000s–1100s): Art, History and Details

Fragment with tripartite band (1000s–1100s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This three-part band consists of two opposing bands of inscriptions flanking an ornamental band of winged griffins within eight-pointed stars, separated by various creatures—a rabbit, a cheetah, and possibly a sphinx. The inscriptions in the band are in simple Kufic against a floriated background. They, as well as the single band of inscription above, repeat in various combinations as benedictions, "endurance and good fortune, blessing, peace." The patches forming the background are gold, the design is drawn in black, and the background of only one star is blue. This textile probably reflects the international fashion or may have been made for export to Egypt, where this fragment likely survived.

Object facts

• Title: Fragment with tripartite band
• Date: 1000s–1100s
• Culture: Iran or Iraq, Seljuq period
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Silk warp and cotton weft (mulham): plain weave; gold leaf and ink
• Dimensions: Overall: 18.4 x 30.2 cm (7 1/4 x 11 7/8 in.)
• Collection: T - Islamic
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1950.551

A detail from the museum

Gold leaf was applied on mulham and decorated mostly likely with a stylus (pen) and ink drawing.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.