Day 157 - Floor mat


June 5, 2019

Gallery 451 focuses on works from the Arab lands and Iran under the Umayyad (644-750) and Abassid (750-1258) Empires. (The captions mention other dynasties as well- for example, the Fatimids and the Seljuks; I wish the captions explained how these fit into the larger historical picture.) Among the works I especially like are a pear-shaped silver vase from 8th century Iran worked with gilded repousse' orbs and a fabulous wall panel from 8th century Egypt made of fig wood and inlaid with what must be thousands of tiny pieces of other woods and of bone,  arranged in geometrical and other forms. As always, I enjoy looking at the lusterware ceramics. I'm absolutely enchanted by an 11th century lusterware bowl from Fatimid Egypt on whose interior is painted a lively rabbit, its forepaw raised, its ears pointing back, and a palmette branch in its mouth.

Today's object is a woven matof hemp and straw, perhaps 6 feet long and 3 1/2 feet wide, that was made in Tiberias in the first half of the 10th century.  Its decorative elements are symmetrical: at the top and bottom of the mat, two horizontal bands of what appears in the dim light to be a burgundy color, a "frame" of thin black lines that surrounds the inner field. But what I particularly respond to are the inscriptions in Arabic within burgundy rectangles at the top and bottom of this field. The inscriptions wish "perfect blessing, prosperity, continuous happiness, beatitude, and joy to the owner."  Sort of like "God bless our home" on a needlepoint sampler. But whereas a sampler is strictly ornamental, the mat was actually used as a floor covering. I suspect that for this reason, the inscription was seen and its sentiments appreciated more. 

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