نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسنده
دانشگاه هنر
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسنده [English]
Islamic prayer mats, on which Muslims perform salah, are traditionally woven on simple vertical frames (dar) or more sophisticated handlooms (dastgah), with an iconic mihrab design that is either woven into them or added later by embroidery or printing. This study analyzes prayer mats from Qajar Iran and classifies them based on weaving and decoration techniques. For this purpose, it looks at those in the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), all of which are produced on looms (as opposed to dar-woven textiles such as rugs). The research question is: How can we categorize the V&A’s Qajar - era prayer mats according to their decoration technique? Conducted as historical and descriptive-analytical research, the study analyzed 13 randomly-selected Qajar -era prayer mats from the V&A’s collection. It found that the decoration on most of the mats was added after weaving — using techniques such as drawn thread work (Sokme Douzi), silk embroidery, cotton embroidery and woodblock printing (Qalamkar) — with only a few mats having designs woven into them. Technical limitations of looms for weaving the symmetrical mihrab design may have contributed to the greater popularity of embroidery and printing, which offer more technical freedom to producers. Although popular across Iran, the decoration techniques used for the studied mats are often considered originally Isfahan handicrafts. Among the V&A’s prayer mats, most are decorated using drawn thread work and cotton embroidery, while cotton embroidery and block printing are the favored techniques for the larger mats, drawn thread work is more common in small sizes. All of prayer mats are entirely made of linen, silk or cotton, may have a chintz lining (if existing), with most of them featuring hems made of a type of patterned fabric, known as moharramat. Regarding the motifs used, geometricm, vegetal designs and Islamic inscriptioncomprise the majority; human figures and objects are also present, but to a lesser extent.
کلیدواژهها [English]
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