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Fragment with confronted animal medallions and kufic bands
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The fragment preserves a wide central band flanked by narrower inscription bands. The narrower bands contain, on a dark blue background, a continuous inscription in elaborate Kufic, the ivory-colored lettering oriented at right angles to the warp. On the wider ivory panel there appear ovals enclosing a frieze of running animals within which are hexagons enclosing stars. The ovals alternate vertically with cartouches containing an inscription in simple Kufic, the design appearing in blue, pink, and ivory.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineFragment with confronted animal medallions and kufic bands, 1480–1649 (radiocarbon date, 95% probability). Iran. Silk: diasper, tabby weave; overall: 39.6 x 45.4 cm (15 9/16 x 17 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1950.84