embroidered, 1700s, Persian; WhiteworkPlain weave cotton embroidered with silk in straight stitches and pulled thread work; whitework.
Displayed behind glass.
There is a square of embroidery in each corner in the form of a square grid composed of pairs of diagonal lozenges in straight stitch. The border between these has 6 or 7 hexagons of pulled thread work creating holes; between the hexagons are converging diagonal lines of straight stitch forming triangles containing 4 small triangles forming a stepped flower and a pair of leaves. Above this border is a narrow band of zigzagging lozenges. This also appears below the border where it is edged with a line of crosses.
The pulled thread ground of the hexagons in repeated in the large central rectangular panel and in the irregularly shaped corner units from which a thick point extends into the field. It is also in the small diamond on a triangular base and stem which extends from mid-way along each side. All these elements are edged with reciprocal diamond-heads. The central and corner units have an additional inner border of reciprocal triangles on a pulled thread ground.