Műtárgyvédelem, 2011 (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum)
Füzes Andrea - Szántó Iván: Moharram ünnepi perzsa zászló restaurálása
Műtárgyvédelem 36 The Restoration of a Muharram Flag Andrea Füzes — Iván Szántó The Muharram processional flag at the Ferenc Hopp Museum of East Asian Art is a special relic of Persian textile art. It was made in the 19th century in West Bengal (India) or in Iran for the events of Muharram in Shia Islam. Religious and pre- Islamic ‘national’symbols occur together on it. Its dominant colour is red and fervent verses by Mohtasham Kashani call attention to the martyrdom of Hussein. At the same time, in the middle the symbol of the ancient Persian Empire can be seen, a sun emblem with a lion, in a slightly simplified version, e.g. the sword is missing from the lion’s paw. Because of its monarchical associations, the sun-and-lion emblem has been banished from official state display in today’s Iran, with the result that we already no longer encounter it on flags. Although the general view is that this symbol was always a national one primarily and was never really common on processional flags earlier on, nevertheless because of the choice of a Shi’ite text the embroidered flag must be seen as a Muharram one. But how exactly it was used in the Muharram events will perhaps never be clear. The flag was put together from cloth of various kinds and colours using the mosaic technique. The seam lines are emphasised by decoration with cord twisted from silk yarn of two different colours. The embroidering of the seam lines of the smaller motifs, and of the free surfaces of the mirror and bordűré, was made using a tambour, with coloured silk thread. The flag’s two longer edges are bordered with a silk fringe made using cards, while the edge of the third side is taffeta-weave red cotton fabric by which the artefact was attached to the flagstaff. An interesting feature of the flag’s wine-red linen lining is its palm-sized fragment of an Indian inscription stamped on in black ink. When processions took place, the flag was carried on a flagstaff slipped into a red calico sleeve. Restoration began with the removal of the old inexpert repairs. After the cleaning of the weakened and worn textiles and their readjustment to the right shape, the strengthening and replacement of loose or broken stitching took place. The textiles themselves were then strengthened, in accordance with the colours and materials used in the textiles and threads originally. During the restoration of the sun-and- lion emblem, the nose part recovered its earlier form by means of repair on the basis of analogies of the symbolic animal and contouring with embroidery. A szerző cime/Author’s address: Füzes Andrea Textilrestaurátor művész/Textile conservator MA Iparművészeti Múzeum 1091 Budapest, Üllői út 33-37. E-mail: fuzes.andrea@imm.hu 100
