SAFAVID IRAN, 17TH CENTURY

This brocade relates closely to one with similarly naturalistic flowering plants now in the Khalili Collections (TXT 238; Stephen Cohen (ed.), Textiles, Carpets and Costumes, volume 2, London, 2023, pp.248-49, no. 117). In the note for that textile Cohen comments on the borrowing of such naturalistic floral motifs from Mughal textile design. The style of drawing on our brocade can be compared to that on a mid 17^th century velvet fragment in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv.no. 320A-1898) and silk and metal-thread brocade in the Keir Collection (K.1.2014.1207.1). Whilst there is little to separate the style of 17^th century Mughal and Safavid silks, Cohen goes on to argue that the Safavid examples, such as the present lot, exhibit a higher level of technical sophistication. Three further similarly designed floral silk brocades attributed to Safavid Iran are illustrated in Carol Bier (ed.), Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart, exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C., 1987, pp.166-171, nos 15-17.