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A ‘Safavid Cadabi’ in the Royal Ontario Museum Reconsidered

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Marta Dal Farra
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Extract

A brilliant coral ground silk coat with a brocaded silk and silver gilt floral diaper sprig (fig. 1) was acquired in 1982 by the Textile Department of the Royal Ontario Museum (hereafter, “ROM coat“). It has been tentatively dated by the Department to mid-seventeenth - early eighteenth century Iran. There are as well several published garments, generally described as robes and sometimes classified as cadabi (sic.), which are very similar in cut, fabrics and trim to the ROM coat (see Appendix, “Related Robes“; hereafter, “Robes“).

Type
Post-Safavid Carpets and Textiles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 25 , Issue 1-2: The Carpets and Textiles of Iran: New Perspectives in Research , 1992 , pp. 81 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1992

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References

1 The catalogue card describes this object, Royal Ontario Museum no. 982.54.1, as:

2 Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart, ed. Bier, C. (Washington, D.C., 1987), catalogue no. 43 and p. 217Google Scholar; Housego, J., “Honour is According to Habit”, Apollo, 93, no. 109 (1971), p. 207.Google Scholar

3 Tezcan, H. and Delibas, S., The Topkapi Saray Museum: Costumes, Embroideries and Other Textiles, trans. and ed. by Rogers, J. M. (Boston, 1986), pp. 19-20.Google Scholar

4 Wulff, H. The Traditional Crafts of Persia (Cambridge, Mass., 1966), pp. 190-91.Google Scholar.

5 For a description of the processes involved in producing gold- and silver-wrapped threads for textiles, see Wulff, op. cit., pp. 42-47 and figs. 53-65.Google Scholar See also I. Hardin and F. Duffield, “Microanalysis of Metallic Yarns in a Group of Persian Textiles” in this volume, pp. 43-60.

6 “Finish lines are rare in European textiles, and their constant appearance in Near and Far Eastern fabrics may be due to the special purposes for which the silks were made, for example, for covers, hangings, borders or costumes. Such fabrics must have been woven with finish lines at regular intervals throughout their length, so that when completed, the material could be cut into sections of the required size… In the Safavid period the brocaded taffeta shirts and the women's trousering, or naqsha, are examples of materials woven for costumes, while the Persian double cloths are fabrics of the ordinary type in which finish lines are often found…“ Reath, N. and Sachs, Ackerman E. Persian Textiles (New Haven, 1937), p. 12Google Scholar. See also , P., “Weaving Techniques. A. History”, A Survey of Persian Art (London, New York and Tokyo, 1964-65), vol. V, p. 2214.Google Scholar

7 This type of textile structure is sometimes referred to in the literature as nagdeh: Ackerman, op. cit., p. 2206; eadem, ‘Textiles of the Islamic Periods. History”, A., A Survey of Persian Art (London, New York and Tokyo, 1964-65), vol. V, pp. 2125-27.Google Scholar For structural analysis of a comparable metal brocaded border trim on robe no. 4, see Reath and Sachs, op. cit., pp. 77-78 and example 20a.

8 Unfortunately, throughout the period of my research, departmental staff at the Royal Ontario Museum were unavailable to confirm this.

9 A description of this textile printing process is given in Wulff, pp. 224-27. See also Baginski, A., “Qalamkār Textiles in the Israel Museum”, herein, pp. 90-102.Google Scholar

10 Because no comparative studies of cotton cloth are known, it is unclear whether this fabric is a low-quality qadakor a high-quality karbās. See The Economic History of Iran, 1800-1914, ed. Issawi, C. (Chicago and London, 1971), p. 269Google Scholar for translation of relevant material from Polak, J., Persien, das Land und seine Bewohner (Leipzig, 1865).Google Scholar

11 Scarce, J., Women's Costume of the Near and Middle East (London, 1987), pl. 60Google Scholar and diagram 13; Teczan and Delibas, op. cit., pl. 52.

12 Tilke, M., Costume Patterns and Designs (London, 1956), fig. 33 and pls. 68Google Scholar and 70. 13 Tilke, op. cit., pl. 78.

14 For example, Scarce, J., “Vesture and Dress: Fashion, Function and Impact”, Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart, ed. Bier, C. (Washington, D.C., 1987), figs. 3-4Google Scholar; LeBruyn, C., Travels into Muscovy, Persia and Part of the East Indies (London, 1737), vol. I, pls. 86-87Google Scholar; Kaempfer, E., Amoenitatem Exoticarum Politico-Physico Medicarium (Lemgo, Germany, 1712), fasc. V, p. 175.Google Scholar

15 Chardin, J., Voyage du Chevalier Chardin en Perse, et autr es lieux de l'Orient (Paris, 1811), t.IV, pp. 2-5Google Scholar; see also Du Mans, R., Estat de la Perse en 1660, ed. Ch. Schefer (Paris, 1890), pp. 187 and 358Google Scholar; Tavernier, J.-B., Les Six Voyages de J.-B. Tavernier (Paris, 1677), vol. I, pp. 629-31Google Scholar; 634-35; Thevenot, J., Suite du Voyage de Levant (Paris, 1674), pp. 173-75.Google Scholar

16 I am indebted to Annette Ittig for her assistance in the interpretation of these items.

17 Bier, op. cit., p. 217; Housego, op. cit., p. 207.

18 See Titley, N., Persian Miniature Paintings (London, 1983), pl. 20Google Scholar, for an illustration of this garment worn both ways.

19 Scarce, Women's Costume, op. cit., pp. 157- 160; pls. 109-110 and diagram 18. See also Ph. Schulz, W., Die persische islamische miniaturmalerei (Leipzig, 1914), pl. 192Google Scholar, for depiction of a kūrdī in which the waistline seam joining the garment's bodice and full skirt is clearly visible.

20 See above, note 6.

21 Scarce, Women's Costume, pl. 124; Qajar, S.J. Falk Paintings: Persian Oil Paintings of the 18th and 19th Centuries (London, 1972)Google Scholar, figs. 18, 22, 24 and 32. Jackets, or arkhāluq, of this type are still worn by Qashqa'i women: Zīyāpūr, J., Pūshāk-i īlhā, chādur-nishInān va rūstā’ iyān-i Irān (Abadan, 1346 S./1968), figs. 140-41.Google Scholar

22 For example, (i) a lacquer mirror case cover, illustrated in Sotheby Parke Bernet (New York) sale catalogue for November 20, 1975 as lot no. 206; (ii) the interior of a lacquer mirror case, illustrated in Christie's (London) sale catalogue for May 3, 1977 as lot no. 95; and (iii) an oil on canvas painting in the collection of the Hon. Mrs. Robb, illustrated in R. Charleston, “Glass in Persia in the Safavid Period and Later”, Art and Archaeology Research Papers, 5, (June, 1974), fig. 9; (iv) a miniature painting reproduced as the cover illustration in Hunar va Mardum, vol. L/nos. 169-70 (Aban - Azar 2535/1976); (v) a lacquer mirror case cover illustrated in Christie's (London) sale catalogue for December 5, 1975 as lot no. 95. I am indebted to Annette Ittig for bringing this group of objects to my attention.

23 Drouville, G., Voyage en Perse, pendant les annees 1812 et 1813 (St. Petersberg, 1819).Google Scholar I acknowledge Annette Ittig as the source of this reference.

24 Zīyāpūr, J., Pūshāk-i Irānīyān az chahārdah qarn pīsh tā āghāz daurah -yi shāhanshāh -i Pahlavī (Tehran, 1349S/1971).Google Scholar

25 Zīyāpūr, Pūshāk-i Irānīyān, op. cit., pp.381- 385 and 404 and figs. 226-245. I am obliged to Annette Ittig for translation of this material. 26 Ibid., pp. 381, 404.

27 Ibid., p. 404

28 Zīyāpūr, Pūshāk-i īlhā, op. cit., figs. 151 and 152.

29 Reath and Sachs, pp. 3 and 45.

30 Klein, V. and Ackerman, P., “A Russian Document on Persian textiles”, A Survey of Persian Art, ed. Pope, A. U. and Ackerman, P. (London, New York and Tokyo), vol. V, pp. 2172-73.Google Scholar

31 Bier, L., “Visual and Written Sources: Dating Eighteenth Century Silks”, Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart, ed. Diba, C. (Washington, D. C., 1987), pp. 84-96.Google Scholar