Fragment

Textiles

Mamluk period (1250–1517), 14th/15th century

Egypt

Textiles held an important place in all Muslim courts, including that of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria. The appeal of woven fabrics lay in their rich colors, elaborate patterns, and luxury materials such as silk and metal thread. Some woven silks were hung as wall decorations; others were made into robes worn by members of the court or given as official gifts to rulers of neighboring regions.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Culture: Islamic
Title: Fragment
Origin: Egypt
Date: Made 1301–1500
Medium: Silk, warp-float faced 4:1 satin weave with supplementary patterning wefts bound by secondary binding warps in plain interlacings
Dimensions: 20.8 × 38.2 cm (8 1/4 × 15 in.) Weft repeat: 14.2 cm (5 5/8 in.)
Credit Line: Grace R. Smith Textile Endowment
Reference Number: 1982.1461
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Julius Lessing. Die Gewebe-Sammlung des Kunstgewerbe Museums Berlin (Berlin: E. Wasmuth, 1900), vol. 4, pl. 130.
Otto Von Falke. Kustgeschichte der Seidenwebere (Berlin, 1913), pl. 378 (English ed. fig. 325).
Ernst K°hnel. Islamische Stoffe aus Aegyptischen Grôbern (Berlin: Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, 1927), no. 25.
H. Heinrich Schmidt. “Damaste der Mamlukenzeit.” Ars Islamica I (February 1934), pp. 99-109.
The Art Institute of Chicago. “The Silk Road and Beyond: Travel, Trade, and Transformation” Museum Studies, vol. 33, no. 1 (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2007), p. 60.

The Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Gift, Bequest and Purchase: A Selection of Textile Acquisitions from 1982–1987, March 18–August 14, 1989
The Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, European Textile Masterpieces from Coptic Times through the 19th Century, September 27, 1989–January 22, 1990
The Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery 142, The Silk Road and Beyond: Travel, Trade, and Transformation, September 14–December 18, 2006
The Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery 50, Islamic Gallery, May 17-October 26, 2016

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