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All Islamic World

Fragment from Iran

Textile fragment (detail), Iran, Safavid dynasty, Shah Abbas I period (1588-1629), 16th-17th century. Silk, double cloth, 31 x 16 cm. The Textile Museum Collection 3.280. Acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1947.

Red fabric with intricate design

Iran flourished during the Safavid dynasty (1501-1736) as a major center of political power and cultural creativity. Under the patronage of Shah Abbas the Great, royal workshops produced exquisite paintings, ceramics and textiles. Silk textiles inscribed with verse were especially fashionable.  

Vertical red textile with imagery of language, palaces, and people.

This sparkling double-cloth silk fragment features scenes immortalized by the well-known poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209) in his five-part narrative poem Khamsa. One of the romance stories told is a love triangle among Khusrav, a sixth-century Persian king; Shirin, an Armenian princess who becomes his wife; and Farhad, a sculptor who falls in love with Shirin. The romance ends tragically when all three die. 

The intricate pattern of this textile is identical on both sides of the fabric, but the colors are reversed. This effect is achieved by weaving two plain-weave textiles simultaneously on the same loom, one on top of the other, and interlacing the front and back when colors changed. Four verses from an unnamed love poem are sprinkled throughout the composition.  

The splendor of your figure comes from beauty
It has given life to this outer cloak
There has never been a garment of such beauty
One might say it has been woven from the threads of your soul    

This double cloth draws on Persia’s grand poetic heritage. The choice of text and imagery about a famous love story are also an allegory for the weaver’s love and pride in his craft.  

  • An interior of a mosque. Blue arched walls make their way to form a large, golden ceiling dome.
    Dating to the early 17th century, the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran, is one of the architectural masterpieces of the Safavid dynasty. © guenterguni/iStock.com.
    Illustration depicting lovers on a divan in a luxurious palatial setting
    Shaikh Zada, “Marriage of Khusrau and Shirin” (detail), Folio 104 from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami, 1524-25. The Metropolitan Museum of Art 13.228.7.6. Gift of Alexander Smith Cochran, 1913.
    Researched by Pamela Kaplan

    Pamela Kaplan has been a docent with the museum since 2016 after retiring from IBM Corporation. She is a graduate of GW’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design with a master’s degree in new media photojournalism. Her long-term project and passion is “Silk Stories,” a behind-the-scenes view into silk production and the changing lives of textile producers around the world.