ILKHANID IRAN, LATE 13TH OR 14TH CENTURY

The geometric lattice of this lot relates particularly closely to a textile in the David Collection (inv. no. 14 / 1992) - the two may have originally been part of the same original. While complex geometric patterns were commonly used in architecture, metalwork and ceramics in the Islamic world, they are rarely found on textiles outside Muslim Spain or Egypt and Syria (Kjeld von Folsach and Anne-Marie Keblow Bernsted, Woven Treasures – Textiles from the World of Islam, Copenhagen, 1993, p.51, no.16). However, there is evidence of such textiles in an Iranian context preserved in the illustrated manuscripts from the Ilkhanid period. An early 14th century copy of the Jami' al-Tawarikh in the Edinburgh University library (acc.no.MS20) includes many illustrations depicting enthroned rulers, with hexagonal textiles lining their thrones, as in the illustration of Tughril III on folio 3b.

Relatively large examples of ‘Cloth of Gold’ in good condition such as this rarely come to the market. Two Mongol robes made from ‘Cloth of Gold’ were sold in these Rooms, 6 October 2011, lots 105 and 106.