COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.29.179.9
AMICA Library Year:
2000
Object Type:
Textiles
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Middle Eastern; Arabian; Yemeni
Creator Dates/Places:
Yemen
Creator Name-CRT:
Attributed to Yemen
Title:
Tiraz fragment
Title Type:
Object name
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
10th century
Creation Start Date:
900
Creation End Date:
999
Materials and Techniques:
Cotton, ink, gold leaf; plain weave with painted decoration
Dimensions:
23 x 16 in. (58.4 x 40.6 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
29.179.9
Credit Line:
Gift of George D. Pratt, 1929
Context:
The striped textiles of Yemen were famous in medieval times throughout the Islamic world. They were made in the ikat technique, in which the cotton warp threads were bundled together and resist-dyed before being arranged on the loom to form patterns of arrowheads and diamonds. Inscriptions on Yemeni ikats are usually either embroidered or, as here, painted. Extreme stylization through plaiting and floriation sometimes makes the inscriptions very difficult to read. These and other textiles bearing inscriptions were called tiraz, from the Persian word meaning 'embroidery'. They were produced in tiraz factories, some of which were commercial and others, royal. The presence of fringe suggests that this fragment was part of a shawl.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.is29.179.9.R.tif
