NEAR EAST OR NORTH AFRICA, 18TH CENTURY

The inscription reads malbus al-'afiya, 'wear [it] well'.

A very similar textile fragment with an identical inscription woven in gold and blue thread, was formerly in the collection of Mehdi Mahboubian, exhibited at the University of Texas and illustrated on the cover of the exhibition catalogue, (Treasures of Persian Art After Islam- the Mahboubian Collection, New York, 1970). A further similar textile with an identical inscription with gold and turquoise thread, was sold at Sotheby's, 6 April 2011, lot 349.