An antique Suzani panel, worked in silks onto a single width of hand woven cotton ground.
The size of this suzani suggests it was intended for use as a prayer mat.
The embroidery is fully intact with no damage or foxing and the ground is in good strong condition also.
There are a couple of holes to the edges of the ground along one side and along the top edge also (probably from being previously mounted or hung).
These textiles are fragile and very rare however, they should never be laundered by anyone other than a specialist cleaner.
The suzani measures 61 x 112 cm/ 24 x 44
suzani's take their name from the Persian word 'suzan' which means needle. They are hand embroidered textile panels originating from nomadic tribes in Central Asia.
Surviving examples of Suzani embroidery are mainly from the 19th century. These textiles are both difficult to date and to find the area of their origins due to the nomadic lifestyles of the women that made them. They were made by brides and their mothers to form part of a dowery, a professional drawing woman, or Kalamkash, would make a free-hand drawing on the blank canvas, the embroidered motifs have a symbolic significance , they represented the binding together of the two families and are adorned with symbols of luck, health, long life and fertility
Speciality cleaning or dry clean only
The panel measures 51.5 x 85 cm x / 20.25 x 33.5 inches.
