Cleveland Museum of Art

Ikat tiraz

Date

900s

Medium

Cotton and gold leaf: resist-dyed warp (ikat); plain weave with inscription

Culture

Yemen, San'a, Reign of Rassid Imams

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The "flame" pattern was dyed on the vertical warp threads before weaving began by tightly binding them to resist dye penetration, and repeated for each color. The process and fabric are called ikat , a Malaysian word which may have originated in South Arabia. Yemeni ikats with historical Arabic inscriptions from the 10th century are among the oldest known. This text, written in Kufic script with gold leaf outlined in black, is so damaged that it cannot be read.

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