A silk and metal thread embroidered curtain (kiswah) from the Ka'aba in Mecca

EGYPT, CIRCA 1900

細節

A silk and metal thread embroidered curtain (kiswah) from the Ka'aba in Mecca
Egypt, circa 1900
Of hexagonal form, the midnight blue field with raised silver and gilt applique floral sprays around three shaped panels with inscriptions similarly worked on light green or pink silk grounds, in a border of meandering leafy vine, a band of arcading below, a latter applique small panel of inscription in honour of a later owner below, silk panels splitting
82 x 55in. (208 x 140cm.)

拍品專文

This curtain is almost certainly the covering to the Bab al-Tawbah (Door of Repentance), the door which opens on some stairs which lead to a place where the idols were kept in pagan times before the Prophet Muhammad had them removed and destroyed. In later times this sacred area was used as a treasury for precious gifts to the shrine from various Muslim rulers. It is distinguished from the curtain which covers the outer door, which is more than twice the size and always has a split in the middle to allow passage through it.

The inscriptions are all Qur'anic and read as follows:

I And we covenanted with Abraham and Isma'il that they should sanctify my House from sura al-Baqarah, II v. 125

II (Take four birds, tame them to turn to....) ...thee; put a portion of them on every hill, and call them: they will come to thee with speed. from sura al-Baqarah, II v. 260

III Whoever enters it attains security; pilgrimage therto is a duty men owe to God -those who can afford the journey from sura al-'Imran, III v. 97

IV ..When Abraham raised the foundations of this house and also Isma'il and they prayed.., sura al-Baqarah, II v. 127

A very similar curtain is in the Tareq Rajab collection in Kuwait. It also contains the first three Qur'an extracts, but the lower portion contains the genealogy of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II, and is dateable to the end of the 19th century. It is highly likely that the present curtain was made at around the same time. (Safawat,N.F.: The harmony of letters, Singapore, 1997, pp. 114-5)