A SILK LAMPAS COVERING RED KAFTAN, TURKEY, 19TH CENTURY

The kaftan of typical form, formed of panels of green silk lampas originally for use in one of the Holy Kabaa, the crests of the chevrons are embellished with lamp motifs with circular medallions in between. Embellished with two groups of three undulating bands which assume the form of a continuous chain made up of number ‘7’s. The bands run from the beginning to the end of the cloth on both sides. The central band with prominent Inscription of ‘Kalimaat al-Tawhid, There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet’, repeating in the middle of the kiswa between the two zigzag bands. The two expressions, ‘Ya Mannan’ (O, the All-Bounteous) inside the upright lantern, and ‘Ya Hannan’ (O, the Most-Compassionate) inside the reversed lantern are also repeatedwith ‘Dhu al-Jalal wa al-Ikram - Master of Majesty and Generosity’ inside the circles. On the upper undulating band, there is a verse from the Quran 2 surah Al-Baqarah verse-144. The lower undulating band encloses another inscription of Quran 3 surah Al-Imraan v.96 . 54 by 59 cm.