Lot Essay
The fine scale of drawing, the technique and the limited colour variety all indicate a very early date for this composite textile panel. While Timurid miniatures demonstrate that opulent textiles were very much a feature of court life, remarkably few have survived to the present day, even in fragmentary form (Thomas W. Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., 1989, p.218). The cintamani design was very popular under the Timurids as well as under the early Ottomans. For a discussion of the design please see Gerard Paquin, 'Cintamani', ali 64, August 1992, pp.104-119).