Fragment of a shawl with inscription

Textile Fragment, Probably from a Shawl

The prolific eleventh-century traveler Nasir-i Khosrau wrote, " Sana'a is the largest, richest, and most industrious city of the Yemen; her striped coats, stuffs of silk, and embroideries have the greatest reputation." The prosperity of Yemen during pre-Islamic and medieval Islamic times was greatly due to its enviable geographic location on the major trade route between India and the Mediterranean and to its developed systems of irrigation. Cotton could be grown locally or imported from India to meet the needs of the flourishing Yemeni textile industry. Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs maintained textile factories there, and Sana'a was the largest city and textile manufacturing center.

The decoration of this textile fragment, which is probably part of a fringed shawl, consists of a band of interlocking diamonds, below which is a fragmentary inscription tentatively identifying Sana'a, the location of manufacture. A band of multicolored blocks and three weft stripes near the fringe complete the decorative scheme. The basic format of the design and the simple techniques used in the design and the fabric itself indicate that this textile was originally produced for the commercial market.

[Walker and Froom, 1992]

Inscription: Arabic inscription:
In the name of God. Blessing from God. Of what was made in the tiraz of Sana'a

George D. Pratt, New York (until 1931; gifted to MMA)

New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Tiraz: Inscribed Textiles from Islamic Workshops," December 15, 1992–March 14, 1993, no. 2.

Walker, Daniel S., and Aimee Froom. "Exhibition Notebook." In Tiraz: Inscribed Textiles from Islamic Workshops.. New York, NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992. no. 2, pp. 13–14.