Important Notice

ISFAHAN, IRAN, CIRCA 1930
Handspun and handwoven cotton, hand drawn and painted, natural dyes
36 x 53 in (92 x 135 cm)


This prayer mat offers a stylised depiction of a mosque flanked by two large domed minarets and smaller ones in-between. A central mihrab or niche, represents those in mosques which point the devotee toward the direction of Mecca.

The mihrab is filled with a field of paisleys; similar looking but in two different sizes, each is comprised of tiny blue and white flowers. Arranged in neat lines, they face opposite directions in each row. At the top are two peacocks with an inscription in Farsi that tells the devotee to bow his head in gratitude to the Almighty, Allah is great.

The mihrab is flanked by a series of borders that allude to the walls of the mosque. The first is a border of a scrolling vine with an assortment of blue and red flowers meandering across its length. The next consists of Cypress trees, considered sacred in Iran, which frames the mihrab, with a line of paisleys running across the bottom.

Depictions of architectural forms are common in textiles. Similar prayer mats made at Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (IS 1761-1883)

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