AN AZERBAIJAN EMBROIDERY

The present lot is part of the well-documented group of ‘Caucasian’ embroideries which are commonly attributed to Azerbaijan. These textiles are most frequently dated between the 17th and 18th centuries and exhibit harmonious colouring and variety of design. It is clear that the influences behind the designs found within the group is both varied and wide, the medallion and cartouche arrangement found in our embroidery is said to have originated in Safavid tile patterns such as those seen in the Friday Mosque, Isfahan (Christine Klose, 'The Transformation of Rug Designs', HALI, Vol.4 No.4, p.351).

According to Jennifer Weardon’s seminal article, ‘A Synthesis of Contrasts’, the present lot would fall into her third group of embroideries; those that have been surface darned on the diagonal (HALI, Issue 59, pp.102-111). The typical pastel shades of our example are embroidered in finely-spun silk with black cross and running stitch outlining, for which the net-like ground structure provides a contrasting effect. A closely related embroidery that exhibits a very similar technique is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and published by Weardon inv.no. 45-1889 (J. Weardon, ibid, no.15, p.109). Whereas that example uses the more commonly found repeating geometric pattern, the medallion and cartouche design of the present lot clearly derives from a 16th/17th century embroidery in the Orient Stars Collection (E. Heinrich Kirchheim et al., Orient Stars, a Carpet Collection, Stuttgart & London, 1993, pl.45, p.72).