© Khalili Family Trust © Khalili Family Trust


This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

Sitara for the rawda of the Prophet’s mosque in Medina

Location:

London, United Kingdom

Holding Museum:

Khalili Family Trust – Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage Collection

About Khalili Family Trust – Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage Collection, London

Date of Object:

1808–39

with the signature cartouche of Sultan Mahmud II

Museum Inventory Number:

TXT 443

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Red silk, heavily relief-embroidered in silver and silver-gilt wire over card and cotton thread padding

Dimensions:

280 x 163cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Turkey, Istanbul; commissioned by Sultan Mahmud II and with his signature cartouche

Description:

That this curtain was intended for the rawda is suggested by the text in the large medallion at the top. It consists of a hadith of the Prophet, ma bayna qabri wa minbari rawda min riyad al-janna (‘Between my tomb and my minbar is one of the gardens of Paradise’). The same text appears above the mihrab in the rawda.
Sultan Mahmud II is known to have practised the art of calligraphy and a number of sitaras commissioned by him for the Prophet’s mosque bear his pear-shaped signature cartouche which reads, katabahu al-‘abd Mahmud bin ‘Abdulhamid khan (‘written by the servant [of God] Mahmud, the son of ‘Abdulhamid Khan’).

How date and origin were established:

The date is based on the presence of the tughra and signature cartouche of Sultan Mahmud II.

Selected bibliography:

al-Mojan, M.H., “The Textiles Made for the Prophet’s Mosque at Medina: A Preliminary Study of their Origins, History and Style”, in Porter, V., and Saif, L. (eds), The Hajj: Collected Essays, London: British Museum, 2013: 184–94.
Tezcan, H., Astar al-haramayn al-sharifayn, Istanbul: IRCICA, 1996.
Tezcan, H., Sacred Covers of Islam’s Holy Shrines, Istanbul: Masa, 2017.

Citation of this web page:

Nahla Nassar "Sitara for the rawda of the Prophet’s mosque in Medina" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;uk;Mus22;44;en

Prepared by: Nahla Nassar

MWNF Working Number: UK2 44

RELATED CONTENT

 Artistic Introduction

 Timeline for this item

Islamic Dynasties / Period

Ottomans


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