Velvet Fragment with Scrolling Floral Vine Design

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 455

The motifs on this small fragment of a velvet panel are characteristic of non-figural Safavid examples also found on carpets. These include a floral vine on red ground border and a meandering vegetal pattern in olive green with blue and red accents on a beige ground in the central field. The Safavids controlled a highly-developed textile industry in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Silk textiles produced in the royal workshop were used primarily for court consumption and export. The compound weave of this brocaded velvet that utilizes metal-wrapped threads is representative of the sophisticated production of silk in Iran at this time.

Velvet Fragment with Scrolling Floral Vine Design, Silk, metal wrapped thread; cut and voided velvet, brocaded

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Velvet Fragment with Scrolling Floral Vine Design, Silk, metal wrapped thread; cut and voided velvet, brocaded
Velvet Fragment with Scrolling Floral Vine Design, Silk, metal wrapped thread; cut and voided velvet, brocaded
Velvet Fragment with Scrolling Floral Vine Design, Silk, metal wrapped thread; cut and voided velvet, brocaded
Velvet Fragment with Scrolling Floral Vine Design, Silk, metal wrapped thread; cut and voided velvet, brocaded

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