Large Embroidered Curtain for the Door of the Ka'ba (Sitarah / Burqu')

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Description

A monumental metal-thread embroidered Ka'ba door curtain, the dark ground worked with Qur'anic inscriptions, roundels and lobed cartouches in gold … Read more A monumental metal-thread embroidered Ka'ba door curtain, the dark ground worked with Qur'anic inscriptions, roundels and lobed cartouches in gold and silver thread
A monumental embroidered curtain of the type made to hang over the door of the Ka'ba in Mecca, known as the sitarah or burqu'. Worked on a dark ground (now reading deep green-black) and of grand proportions (590 x 290 cm), the curtain follows the canonical scheme of these revered textiles. A central vertical seam divides the lower field — echoing the doors of the Ka'ba itself — above which rise tiers of bold Arabic inscription in thuluth and other scripts, set within rectangular cartouches and broad horizontal bands. The inscriptions comprise the Shahada, Qur'anic verses and pious invocations. These principal fields are framed and punctuated by circular roundel medallions and lobed, teardrop-shaped cartouches, the whole bordered by continuous inscription bands. The entire design is executed in raised metal-thread embroidery — gold and silver wire couched over cotton padding — with details picked out in coloured silk and applied cord, producing the dense, glittering relief characteristic of the finest kiswa workshops. Curtains of this kind were woven and embroidered in Cairo and dispatched annually with the Hajj caravan to clothe the Holy Sanctuary; on replacement, older examples were removed and dispersed, and surviving pieces are among the most venerated of all Islamic textiles.
— THE HOUSE —
From The Orient Gates: four generations of the Harb family, Damascene artisans and antique dealers since the 1870s, heirs of the painter Abou Sobhi Al-Tinawi (Muhammad Harb). Every piece is examined, restored and documented in our family ateliers. A certificate of authenticity accompanies every piece.
— DETAILS —
Origin: Egypt (Cairo), made for Mecca
Period: Late Ottoman period, late 19th / early 20th century
Materials: Silk, Cotton, Gold Metal Thread, Silver Metal Thread
Dimensions: 590 x 290 cm See less