An Important Early Islamic textile with Inscription

Analysis prepared by Dr.Julia Galliker, PhD, 10/30/2015

Fragment Tiraz embroidered fragments 3042 and 3043 sewn to cardboard

Fragment Dimensions (based on measurement of intact woven areas only – max dims) 3042 Total height: 3.8 cm Total width: 23.2 cm 3043 Total height: 4.3 cm Total width: 27.1 cm Photo: 1 fragments dim Construction Comprises two textile layers with various types of embroidery applied to the surface Photo: 2 fabric layers 15 x mag Base yellow gold layer Yellow-gold tabby weave silk (?), stained in areas - Average density is 24 warps/wefts per cm - both warp and weft are Z twist singles - base fabric is uneven with large variation in weft and warp spacing. - Yarn diameter is similarly uneven with wide measurement variation. An average yarn diameter measurement for the warp and weft is about 200 um. Photo: 3 yellow silk x 150 Top blue layer Blue extended tabby weave silk with warps(?) grouped in pairs. Blue silk layer is very brittle and breaks easily in exposed areas. - Average density is 28 warp(?) pairs/28 weft(?) bundles per cm - Yarns are tightly packed with no spaces visible between the yarns in both the warp and weft. - Warp(?) yarn comprises paired Z twist singles, approx. 110 um in diameter. - Weft(?) yarn comprises a thick bundle of untwisted fibers, approx. 250 um in diameter. Photo: 4 blue top layer silk x 150 mag Embroidery characteristics Complex embroidery on blue silk surface with four different components. While the exact sequence of steps is difficult to discern because of the degraded nature of the material, the following is a preliminary summary of the embroidery sequence: 1 Red embroidery yarn - S ply 2 untwisted singles. This yarn was applied to the blue surface in an outline stitch to form the lettering design for the piece. 2 Dark gold untwisted single yarn bundle was applied in a horizontal (in terms of the design) filling stitch to form the base embroidery layer in the areas demarcated by the red outline stitch. 3 Silver (?) wire was applied over the gold embroidery/blue silk base to fill in the design. The wire remained on the surface of the cloth and did not go through to the reverse side. The wire was applied by looping the metal through the red outline stitch. Photo: 5 red yarn with wire 150 x mag Photo: 6 yellow embroidery yarn 150 x mag 4 A red couching stitch was applied to hold the wire in place and to cover the red outline stitch to make the design stand out. Photo: 7 red couching stitch 50 x mag 5 A lighter yellow gold untwisted single yarn bundle was applied over the wire to emphasize portions of the lettering design. The stitch was an outline stitched used for filling. Photo: 8 top embroidery layer 15 x mag Photo: 9 top layer of pale gold embroidery 5 x mag Possible uses This tiraz design was apparently applied to a larger object such as a robe or other garment. Since there are no finished edges, the surviving bands were cut away from the base object. Impression The piece is an example of complex tiraz embroidery finely worked on the surface of layered silk fabric. The wire embroidery is relatively intact and represents a good example of this form of embellishment. The fragment was probably cut from a garment found in a burial context. Overall the fragments are in fragile condition with significant loss on piece 3042. .