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Sitara for the rawda of the Prophet’s mosque in Medina
London, United Kingdom
Khalili Family Trust – Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage Collection
About Khalili Family Trust – Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage Collection, London
1808–39
with the signature cartouche of Sultan Mahmud II
TXT 443
Red silk, heavily relief-embroidered in silver and silver-gilt wire over card and cotton thread padding
280 x 163cm
Ottoman
Turkey, Istanbul; commissioned by Sultan Mahmud II and with his signature cartouche
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’).
The date is based on the presence of the tughra and signature cartouche of Sultan Mahmud II.
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.
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
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