A SILK LAMPAS ROBE FRAGMENT
A SILK LAMPAS ROBE FRAGMENT
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The USA prohibits the purchase by US persons of Ir… Read more PROPERTY OF A SWISS LADY
A SILK LAMPAS ROBE FRAGMENT

SELJUK IRAN OR CENTRAL ASIA, 10TH/11TH CENTURY

Details
A SILK LAMPAS ROBE FRAGMENT
SELJUK IRAN OR CENTRAL ASIA, 10TH/11TH CENTURY
On olive green ground, the decoration comprising large roundels each containing a pair of confronted falcons in a border of stylised calligraphy, with minor roundels of confronted and vertically mirrored horses in a swirling vine border, with floral sprays in the interstices, mounted
17 1/8 x 16 1/2in. (44.1 x 42cm.)
Provenance
By repute private French collection since 1980s,
With London trade, until 2009, from whom purchased by the current owner
Engraved
The inscription in the roundels of the textile is a mirrored repetition of bi'l-yumn wa'l-dawla 'with good fortune and wealth'
Special notice
The USA prohibits the purchase by US persons of Iranian-origin “works of conventional craftsmanship” such as carpets, textiles, decorative objects, and scientific instruments. The US sanctions apply to US persons regardless of the location of the transaction or the shipping intentions of the US person. For this reason, Christie’s will not accept bids by US persons on this lot. Non-US persons wishing to import this lot into the USA are advised that they will need to apply for an OFAC licence and that this can take many months to be granted.

Brought to you by

Behnaz Atighi Moghaddam
Behnaz Atighi Moghaddam Head of Sale

Lot Essay

INSCRIPTIONS:
The inscription in the roundels of the textile is a mirrored repetition of bi'l-yumn wa'l-dawla 'with good fortune and wealth'

This fragment is likely to have come from a gown worn by Seljuk and Ilkhanid courtiers, for whom luxurious silk textiles were important indicators of wealth and status. A complete example of such a robe is currently on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from the Sarikhani Collection (I.TXT.1021). Visually, the confronted falcons draw on an established Seljuk aesthetic, which in turn drew on pre-Islamic visual forms inherited from the Sogdians and the Sassanians: mirrored animals can be seen on Seljuk mirrors (such as one in the Türk ve Islam Eserleri Müzesi, Istanbul, 2972, published in David J Roxburgh, Turks, London, 2005, no.74, p.125) and ceramic star tiles (David J Roxburgh, op cit., no. 64, p. 119). Further textile fragments which may have come from the same garment were sold in these rooms 23 October 2007, lot 134; 6 October 2009, lot 25; and 13 April 2010, lot 24.

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