Fragment of Textile with a Forested Landscape

Unknown

14th century · Cotton, plain weave; printed or painted, mordant and resist dyed · Islamic Art

This elaborately printed textile fragment is embellished with eight-pointed stars dotted with indigo interiors, diamond shapes, and curving tendrils which emerge from larger tear-drop motifs—some with pearled borders. The ornamentation of the textile fragment shares similar stylistic conventions to Jain manuscript paintings which were produced around the same time during the fourteenth century. This links the textile’s production site to the province of Gujarat, located in western India, which was an important textile production center as early as the tenth century. Retrieved from the burial grounds of Fustat, Egypt during the early twentieth century, this textile fragment would have once formed a larger burial shroud. Over the centuries, Gujarat became well-known for its vibrantly-colored printed textiles which were widely exported around the Indian Ocean. This textile fragment reflects the global interconnectivity of the Indian Ocean maritime trade network and serves as evidence for Fustat, Egypt as one of the major markets for these popular Gujarati textiles during the fourteenth century.

Artist

Unknown

Date

14th century

Medium

Cotton, plain weave; printed or painted, mordant and resist dyed

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Purchase, V. Everit Macy Gift, 1930