Pilgrim's Banner

1683

Medium: Silk, silver foil, and gilded silver foil. Lampas with foundation of warp-faced plain weave and discontinuous supplementary wefts bound in plain weave.
Dimensions: 369.6 x 211.8 cm (145 1/2 x 83 3/8 in.) Banner width:: 190.5 cm (75 in.)
Genre: Textile arts
Museum: Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, US

Tags

North African

About

This object is derived from the Ottoman shield-shaped banners known as "sanjak." The decorative program consists of Arabic inscriptions enhanced with talismanic emblems and floral and geometric motifs. The two-bladed sword on the lower half of the banner is known as "Dhu 'l-Faqar. The blades bear an inscription from the Qur'an in Maghribi script. An abbreviated version of the same verse is written in the large horizontal band near the top of the banner.