Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 12. (Budapest, 1970)
IPARMŰVÉSZETI MÚZEUM — MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS - Egyed, Edit: On a Textile from the Safavid Period
ground is pure silver and it is thickly gilt with gold finer than 18 carats. The ground thread, the silver is hammered thin and flat, the gilt parts that is the the thick gilding of the threads is of such quality that during the examinations the thread appeared first of pure gold, and it became sure only after heating it that under the high carat gold plating there is a ground of pure silver. During the weaving the metal threads went through bends, they became weavy so that first they appeared not to be quite straight the explanation of which is that the threads either of silk or of gold crossing the gilt threads give the latter a waviness because of the close weaving. The extraordinarily fine materials, the silk and the precious metals used in the fabric, which in themselves suggest the design of a great master, require that the craftsmanship of the executor does not fall behind that of the designer as the brilliant application of several kinds of weaving creates extraordinary effects. The pattern of the textile was formed out of the weft of the seven colours. The ground of the woven fabric is given by gold, the motives formed out of silk are made with satin-weave, at which "filling weft" is probably applied. The back of the textile was coated with some preparative. The golden weft is fastened with the pattern warp. Among the technics applied mention is to be made of the motives formed with "weft embroidering", as e.g. in the case of the spotted animal. Namely this gives the pattern a certain embossing, which shades the weft silk, as e.g. the vieux rose colour. The animal figures woven without metal thread are outlined with greenish silk which raises the pattern with silver embossing out of the shining golden ground. At emphasizing the spotted animal the use of a brownish colour is found. The plant motives applied in the pattern of the fabric are all outlined in colours sharper than the ground colours. As a noteworthy technical achievement it is to be stressed again that the fabric is patterned only with the weft, and that the pattern was formed with the shading of the weaving. If the weaving patterns published by several authors are compared, only a minimal difference can be observed between those used in the 6th —12th centuries and the later ones. This gives the conclusion that the complicate process of weaving technic had been developed in a rat/her early period, and in it as in any other craft the methods already well proved were insisted on. The spectographic examinations have a very important place in the study of Persian textiles. As the application of metal threads frequently cours in many textiles, considerable researches of valuable advancement were carried out and described by N. A. Reath-Sachs in their significant work/ 1 On the basis of both the documentations of Reath-Sachs's work and the experimental results of the goldsmith of the Museum of Applied Arts the conclusion can be drawn that the Museum is in the possession of a valuable, unique, in its ornamentation original product of the Persian weaving art. Such works of art were created in the age of Shah Abbas the great. Surveying the textiles from the area examined in order to find analogies, 4 Reath, N. A. — Sachs, E. B.; Persian textiles. New Haven, 1937.; Ackermann, Phyllis: Persian weaving technics. (Pope, A. U.: History of Persian Art. Oxford, 1938. 2201—) 5 Rudenko, S. I.: Gornoaltaiskie nakhodki i skifi. Moscow—Leningrad, 1952.
