A Qajar Large Silk and Metal Thread Embroidered Panel

Qajar Persia, 19th century
Provenance: From the collection of the Countess Amalia Canonica, from the beginning of 20th century; by inheritance.
83.5cm high, 138cm wide
Stock No.: A5295

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This crimson velvet embroidery is adorned with birds and voluptuous flowers. In the borders are undulating vines with heavy leaves and blossoms scroll. In the central field, the lozenge- and leaf-shaped cartouches bear inscriptions in Persian.
The two leaf-shaped cartouches bear the same inscription:
کلید گنج سعادت بدست سلطنت است.
Kilīd-i ganj-i sa’ādat be-dast-i ṣulṭanat ast.
The key of fortune is in the hand of the soverign.
The central lozenge-shape cartouche reads:
تکیه بر جای بزرگان مزن ای دل
مگر اسباب بزرگی همه آماده شود
Takīye bar jāy-e buzurgān mazan ay del, magar asbāb-e buzurgī hameh āmadeh shavad
Greatness cannot be had by words alone, seek ye first the things which make for greatness (verses modelled on Hafez's poetry)
Foil-wrapped, silk and coloured cotton threads are used in the embroidery of this textile. The three-dimensional couching of threads combined with the tactile ground fabric creates a richly textured embroidery. An almost identical item, with the same poetry verses in the central cartouche, is now at Waddesdon Manor (Accession Number: 539).
Comparative material:
Victoria and Albert Museum, London (951-1889); The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C. (1977.37.18)
Reference:
Bier, Carol. Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart : Textile Arts of Safavid and Qajar Iran, 16th-19th Centuries. Washington, D.C: Textile Museum, 1987.

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