Islamic Textiles Design

The tradition of inscribed textiles when you look at the Islamic globe times on passage through of the Prophet Muhammad (632 A.D.), whose religious and political authority ended up being transferred through the donning of their mantle. The recently formed Muslim state practiced many shifts in the political arena. New allegiances had been often represented by epigraphic bands on textiles, especially garments. The rehearse of representing your allegiance by including photos of rulers on clothes existed during later Sasanian period in Iran, as well as in the matching Byzantine duration, as with the example below. Within the growing framework of Islam, texts replaced pictures.

Just like many fashion trends, the middle classes begun to follow the latest style, including epigraphy for their clothes alongside fabrics to imitate the look of royal, honorific-inscribed robes. Numerous inscriptions on clothes had been talismanic in nature, and included either blessings or proverbs to protect the wearer and attract good fortune. Coptic inscriptions on clothes serving similar function are also found on fragments from Egypt.

Sources
Baker, Patricia. Islamic Textiles. London: British Museum Press, 1995.

Schoeser, Mary. World Textiles. Nyc: Thames & Hudson, 2003.

Stillman, Yadida Kalfon. Arab Dress: a brief history, Through the Dawn of Islam to Modern Times. London: Brill, 2000.

Walker, Daniel, and Aimée Froom. Tiraz: Inscribed textiles from Islamic Workshops. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992.