Two longer inscriptions from the Ka'ba have appeared on the auction market recently (Sotheby's 21 October 1993, lot 255 and Christie's 26 April 1994, lot 15). The use of gilt thread on the present example indicates that it is probably of later date than the other two and similar in date to another portion sold in these Rooms as lot 36, 18 October 1994. Both these however retain the plain black silk ground which antedates patterned black silk (now replaced on present-day examples by black wool).
A picture of a near-identical cloth in use on the Ka'ba can be seen in Safadi, Y.H.: Islamic Calligraphy, London 1978, pp.126-7