ANNE WANNER'S Textiles in History   /  book reviews, articles
 
  Marianne Ellis
Embroideries and samplers from Islamic Egypt
published by Ashmolean Museum Oxford, 2001

text in English, 95 pages, illustrated in colour
ISBN 1 85444 135 3 (paperback)
ISBN 1 85444 154 X (hardback)
 
  The embroideries illustrated in the book are from the Tulunid period (A.D. 868-905), Fatimid period (A.D. 969-1171), the Ayyubid period (A.D. 1172-1249) and the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and Syria, ending with the Ottoman conquest in 1517.


detail of inscription, Tulunid period (868-905)
31,5 x 11cm, Inv.Nr. 1988.47
  The majority date from the Mamluk period, during which embroidery was used to decorate a wide range of textiles. In the 1940s Professor Percy Newberry gave the Ashmolean Museum a collection of almost 2300 textiles, among them are more than a thousand Islamic fragments. When they came to the museum most of the fragments were stuck onto large portfolio sheets. Accompanying a few, in Professor Newberry's handwriting, were brief pencilled comments regarding the stitch, possible date or place of origin. They were part of a larger collection of embroideries that he and his wife had assembled, the majority of which are now in the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.


part of a band, Fatimid period (969-1171),
linen embroidered with red, green, yellow
and dark brown silk in split and couching,
Inv.Nr. 1993.248
  In the 1940s Professor Percy Newberry gave the Ashmolean Museum a collection of almost 2300 textiles, among them are more than a thousand Islamic fragments. When they came to the museum most of the fragments were stuck onto large portfolio sheets. Accompanying a few, in Professor Newberry's handwriting, were brief pencilled comments regarding the stitch, possible date or place of origin. They were part of a larger collection of embroideries that he and his wife had assembled, the majority of which are now in the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.
 
 
part of fragment, Mamluk period (1250-1517),
linen embroidered with blue cotton,
in pattern darning and running stitch, Inv.Nr. 1984.154
Sampler, Ayyubid period (1172-1249), linen, embroidered with blue silk, Inv.Nr. 1984.479
 
Square, Mamluk period (1250-1517),
linen embroidered with blue and pink silk,
Inv.Nr. 1984.173
Sampler, Ayyubid period (1172-1249), linen, embroidered with brown silk, Inv.Nr. 1984.479
 
  Essie Newberry also gave some items to the Embroiderers' Guild to add to the portfolios loaned to members to study and enjoy. She served on the Executive Committee of the Guild for many years and her enthusiasm and love for the craft were instrumental in the expansion of the organisation. In their lifetimes the Newberrys encouraged others to share their interest in historical embroideries and enjoy their unique and wonderfol collection.

Many of the embroideries are worked in geometric patterns but there are also examples of scrolling and arabesque desings, figurative motifs and calligraphy. Beautiful writing is considered a major art form in Islamic culture, and the collection includes an embroidered tiraz band from Iraq or Iran with an elegant flowing script worked in a variation of chain stitch.
In complete contrast, the forms derived from letters on some pre-mamluk fragments, have become illegible repeating patterns contained within compartments.
home   content Last revised June 24, 2001 For further information contact Anne Wanner wanner@datacomm.ch