Fragment of an Embroidered Textile

Unknown

10th century · Cotton; plain weave, resist-dyed (ikat), embroidered · Islamic Art

Early Islamic Yemeni ikat (resist-dyed) textiles are immediately recognizable by their muted colors and dense chevron and diamond patterns. This fragment is unusual in that it preserves its original twisted fringe at the bottom. The left section of this cotton textile is a solid reddish brown, but the right is decorated with stripes in a lozenge pattern and includes an embroidered fragmentary Arabic inscription in floriated kufic script reading al-mulk lillah ("Dominion belongs to God")

Artist

Unknown

Date

10th century

Medium

Cotton; plain weave, resist-dyed (ikat), embroidered

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Gift of George D. Pratt, 1929