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A STRAP BORDER (NITAQ) FROM THE INSIDE OF THE SHRINE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD AT AL-MADINA

WITH THE TUGHRA OF SELIM III, DATED AH 1215/1800-1 AD

Details

A STRAP BORDER (NITAQ) FROM THE INSIDE OF THE SHRINE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD AT AL-MADINA
WITH THE TUGHRA OF SELIM III, DATED AH 1215/1800-1 AD
Of elongated rectangular form, the magenta silk ground embroidered with heavy silver and silver-gilt thread, at the left the large silver tughra of Selim III between two columns, flanked by vegetal ornament in silver and silver-gilt, the remainder of the piece with large silver inscription in thuluth, with the date in silver-gilt on the right, plaited upper and lower borders, extra band of silver-gilt trefoils below, silver thread slightly oxidized, small holes in silk, conserved, rebacked, sleeve at top and strips on each long side for hanging
45 x 401¾in. (56cm x 1030cm.)

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Sale room notice

The metallic threads have been tested. The gold thread appears to be solid, with little or no silver content.

Lot Essay

The interior walls of the Shrine of the Prophet Muhammad (rawda) in the Masjid al-Nabi (Mosque of the Prophet) in Al-Madina were covered in textiles similar to those of the Ka'ba in Mecca. However, unlike the Meccan Kiswa, they were changed considerably less frequently than once a year and were most probably produced in Ottoman Turkey rather than Egypt. Perhaps because of this, the next two pieces bear imperial tughras, the personal cipher of the Ottoman Sultan.

This present strap border (nitaq), of silver and silver-gilt thread over a brilliant magenta silk ground, is the earliest piece in the current collection. The entire nitaq would have been 88ft (26.8m) long, although only half of it bears an inscription whilst the rest is left plain. This piece therefore accounts for about half of the original, therefore probably the entire inscribed section.

The inscription reads as:
"It was ordered to renovate this blessed nitaq by the Supreme Sultan and the Great Sovereign, the Servant of the Two Holy Mosques, Sultan Salim Khan III son of Sultan Mustafa Khan III, May God propagate his reign and bless him with victory according to the noble Sharia, Amen, during the year 1215 AH (1800-01 AD).

A similar piece, dated AH 1206, is in the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul. See Hulya Tezcan: Astaar al-Haramayn, Istanbul, 1996, no.64.

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