Qajar-Era Tent Panel from Iran

Qajar-period tent panel, Iran, decorated in the so-called Rasht style. Qajar-period tent panel, Iran, decorated in the so-called Rasht style. Copyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK, acc. no. 858-1892.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses a fragment of a tent panel from Qajar-period Iran. It is decorated partly in the typical Rasht-style (Rashti-duzi), named after an Iranian town north of the Elburz mountains close to the Caspian Sea. The panel is made of felted wool, embroidered with silk and metal thread and inlay patchwork (the latter being typical for Rasht work).

The embroidery is mainly carried out with chain stitch and, to a lesser degree, with straight stitch. The metal threads are couched. The fragment measures 69 x 43 cm. The panel can be compared with the complete Qajar-era tent  now in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art (2014.388).

See also the Needles entry on a photograph of corporal punishment among crafstmen in Rasht, c. 1880.

V&A online catalogue (retrieved 12th August 2016).

WV

Last modified on Saturday, 02 September 2017 13:57