Length 170.0 cm (66 15/16 in.), width 140.0 cm (55 1/8 in.)
LNS 115 T (a)
Tent hangings, such as this example, were usually made of woven cotton and decorated with
embroidered, painted, or printed designs. Grouped together around a tent to form a protective wall,
they were held up by poles inserted through pockets between the panels. Most were decorated with
floral motifs surmounted by arches, suggesting a garden seen through an arcade.
The lobed ogival arch used in this silk-embroidered cotton hanging is a characteristic feature of
Mughal architecture. Growing from a vase placed in a field, stylised floral arrangements became the
hallmark of mughal decorative vocabulary by the mid-seventeenth century and were used on rugs,
textiles, metalwork, bookbindings, and architectural decoration.
in the al-Sabah Collection is another piece from the same fabric enclos
