Looking through the potential illustrations for our article in HALI 227 on the new textile galleries at the MAK in Vienna, I came across this piece, which immediately sparked my memory. For years, the dating of these silk hangings puzzled me. I had seen them catalogued as 19th century more than once, and fragments dated to the 18th century, but their relationship to other Ottoman prayer-style hangings confused me. Then I remembered seeing another example in the Khalili Collection catalogue (part 1), woven in silk taqueté, which provided me with definitive details about the group.
Hanging with nine niches (detail), North Africa, probably Tunisia, 17th century. Silk taqueté, 187 × 561 cm. The Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, TXT 27
Hanging with nine niches, North Africa, probably Tunisia, 17th century. Silk taqueté, 187 × 561 cm. The Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, TXT 27
It is fascinating that these hangings are a bridge between two kinds of architecture: the row of arches references both the prayer niche and the colonnades of the mosque. Simultaneously, these hangings belong to the soft architecture of the tent, venerated in North Africa and across the Ottoman world. Two identical examples are reported to have been found in an Ottoman tent captured at the siege of Vienna in 1683. They also relate to a group of Chios hangings that exist in Polish collections.
The colouring in both the MAK and Khalili pieces is especially fine. The similarities between them are very obvious, but the small differences suggest that this was a relatively small and highly prized production, with the looms reset to change the patterns rather than to repeat them continuously. While the Khalili piece is shorter, it is surrounded by patterned cloth of similar material and weave, with a lattice of red pentagons on a dark brown ground.
