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This textile with expensive gold foil is among the rarest surviving examples among thousands of medieval textiles with historic or generic inscriptions in Arabic, known as <em>tiraz</em>. Tiraz were "emblems of dignity," the prerogative of sovereigns and those they wished to honor. This inscription is masterful. The tall letters are woven with silk thread on only two warps in slit-tapestry weave while the ground was woven with pure gold foil wrapped around a silk core that was not beaten in—to show off its brilliance. The text begins with a prayer and provides the name of Imam al-Hakim, but lacks the place and date of manufacture. The decorative bands feature brilliant gold birds facing simplified trees alternating with popular palmette-decorated hearts. This tiraz fragment may have been part of a wide sleeve that functioned as a receptacle because clothing didn’t have pockets.
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- 1
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- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- e6951865db925a66
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 127913
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
{
"id": "127913",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Tiraz with gold, probably from a wide sleeve",
"description": "This textile with expensive gold foil is among the rarest surviving examples among thousands of medieval textiles with historic or generic inscriptions in Arabic, known as <em>tiraz</em>. Tiraz were \"emblems of dignity,\" the prerogative of sovereigns and those they wished to honor. This inscription is masterful. The tall letters are woven with silk thread on only two warps in slit-tapestry weave while the ground was woven with pure gold foil wrapped around a silk core that was not beaten in—to show off its brilliance. The text begins with a prayer and provides the name of Imam al-Hakim, but lacks the place and date of manufacture. The decorative bands feature brilliant gold birds facing simplified trees alternating with popular palmette-decorated hearts. This tiraz fragment may have been part of a wide sleeve that functioned as a receptacle because clothing didn’t have pockets.",
"date": "1013–1020",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1950.549",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q79908317"
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"Textile"
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"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.549/1950.549_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 23.5 x 62.3 cm (9 1/4 x 24 1/2 in.)",
"cul": [
"Egypt, Fatimid period, reign of Caliph al-Hakim, 1013–20"
],
"accession": "1950.549"
}
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Document identity
{
"localId": "127913",
"label": "Tiraz with gold, probably from a wide sleeve",
"core": "obj",
"dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "127913",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Tiraz with gold, probably from a wide sleeve",
"description": "This textile with expensive gold foil is among the rarest surviving examples among thousands of medieval textiles with historic or generic inscriptions in Arabic, known as <em>tiraz</em>. Tiraz were \"emblems of dignity,\" the prerogative of sovereigns and those they wished to honor. This inscription is masterful. The tall letters are woven with silk thread on only two warps in slit-tapestry weave while the ground was woven with pure gold foil wrapped around a silk core that was not beaten in—to show off its brilliance. The text begins with a prayer and provides the name of Imam al-Hakim, but lacks the place and date of manufacture. The decorative bands feature brilliant gold birds facing simplified trees alternating with popular palmette-decorated hearts. This tiraz fragment may have been part of a wide sleeve that functioned as a receptacle because clothing didn’t have pockets.",
"date": "1013–1020",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1950.549",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q79908317"
],
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"Textile"
],
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"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.549/1950.549_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.549/1950.549_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 23.5 x 62.3 cm (9 1/4 x 24 1/2 in.)",
"cul": [
"Egypt, Fatimid period, reign of Caliph al-Hakim, 1013–20"
],
"accession": "1950.549"
}
Document source extras
{
"tec": "plain weave with inwoven tapestry weave: linen, silk, and gold filé",
"tombstone": "Tiraz with gold, probably from a wide sleeve, 1013–1020. Egypt, Fatimid period, reign of Caliph al-Hakim, 1013–20. Plain weave with inwoven tapestry weave: linen, silk, and gold filé; overall: 23.5 x 62.3 cm (9 1/4 x 24 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1950.549",
"collection": "T - Islamic",
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire, Etienne Combe, Jean Sauvaget, et Gaston Wiet. Répertoire chronologique d'épigraphie arabe. Le Caire: Impr. de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 1931.",
"page_number": "no. 2214"
},
{
"citation": "Wadsworth Atheneum, Adelyn Dohme Breeskin, and Charles Crehore Cunningham. 2000 Years of Tapestry Weaving: A Loan Exhibition : Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Dec. 7, 1951 to Jan. 27, 1952 ; the Baltimore Museum of Art, Feb. 27, 1952 to Mar. 25, 1952. Hartford, Conn: Wardsworth Atheneum], 1951.",
"page_number": "no. 56"
},
{
"citation": "Mackie, Louise W. <em>Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century</em>. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: P. 99, fig. 3.14; Mentioned: P. 99, 215"
},
{
"citation": "O'Kane, Bernard. \"The Egyptian Art of the Tiraz in Fatimid Times.\" In <em>The World of the Fatimids</em>. Melikian-Chirvani, Assadullah Souren, ed. Toronto: Aga Khan Museum in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies and Hirmer, 2018.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 182-183; Reproduced: p. 183"
},
{
"citation": "McWilliams, Mary, and Jochen A. Sokoly. Social Fabrics: Inscribed Textiles from Medieval Egyptian Tombs. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard Art Museums, 2021.",
"page_number": "Mentioned: p. 15, 55 and 97; Reproduced: p. 15, fig. 6, p. 55, fig. 7 and 8, and 96."
},
{
"citation": "Hanson, Robin and Holly Witchey. \"Dorothy Shepherd and the Cleveland Museum of Art's Ancient Near Eastern and Islamic Art Collection.\" <em>Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals</em> 20, n. 3 (September 2024): 461-473.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 468 (fig. 6)"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1950.549",
"creditline": "John L. Severance Fund",
"updatedAt": "2026-05-29 06:36:11.822000",
"imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.549/1950.549_print.jpg",
"sourceId": 127913,
"dept": "Textiles",
"coll": "T - Islamic",
"med": "plain weave with inwoven tapestry weave: linen, silk, and gold filé",
"thumbnail_url": null,
"image_url": null
}
Page context
{
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"type": "photo",
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1950.549/1950.549_web.jpg",
"mediaId": "e6951865db925a66"
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