A silk and metal thread calligraphic panel, Near East or North Africa, 18th century

fragment of rectangular form woven with turquoise silk and gold metal thread, with horizontal calligraphic registers alternating with bands of scrolling roundels enclosing floral rosettes, with original selvedge on edges, mounted onto a stretcher with complimentary turquoise silk ground

inscriptions

malbus al-'afiya

'Wear [it] well'

A similar fragment from the Mehdi Mahboubian collection was exhibited at the University of Texas in Austin in 1970 (see M. Mahboubian, Treasures of Persian Art after Islam, Austin, 1970, cover illustration).