of rectangular form, the blue-black ground embroidered in gilt-silver thread with a cartouche containing inscriptions in thuluth, the borders with undulating vines, mounted
296 x 84 cm.

Footnotes

Provenance
The Shakerine Collection.

Inscriptions: Qur'an, sura II, al-baqarah, part of verse 125.

The Qa'ba is decorated annually on the 9th day of the month of Dhu al-Hijah, the day during the Hajj on which the pilgrims leave for the plains of Mount Arafat. The four walls are covered with curtains (kiswah) and are encircled by a band (hizam) embroidered with text from the Qur'an. The present lot is part of one of these bands.

The practice of decorating the Qa'ba dates back to pre-Islamic times and the Prophet Muhammad himself witnessed the ceremony of the covering of the Ka'ba as a six-year-old child. Under the Mamluks, Egypt became the supplier of the kiswah, and it became traditional to change it annually. Production in Egypt continued under the Ottomans until 1927 when it was decided that the King of Saudi Arabia should provide the textiles, and production was moved to Arabia, where it continues today. When the kiswah and the hizam were replaced, they were cut up and reserved for important dignitaries such as the Sharif of Mecca, but some fragments were also allowed to be sold in special shops near the Bab al-Salam.

For related examples see Sotheby's Islamic Works of Art, 21 October 1993, lot 255 and Islamic Art, 16 October 1997, lot 108.

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- Islamic and Indian Art
- Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art

A large metal thread-embroidered calligraphic panel (hizam) from the belt of the qa'ba Mecca, 20th Century

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Oliver White