Lot 340 AN OTTOMAN THREAD EMBROIDERED CURTAIN OR SITARA, EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Rectangular textile embroidered in silver and gilt threads on a predominantly black-brown cotton ground. The upper section features a rectangular panel with an inscription on a brown-red ground, surmounted by floral and laurel wreaths, and a small sky-blue cartouche containing an inscription. The lower section is decorated with a floral swag topped by two inscription-filled cartouches. The composition includes four lines of elegant Thuluth script, flanked on each side by three small inscription-filled cartouches, with an additional inscription below surrounded by floral and foliate sprays. The whole is enclosed within a border of continuous repeating inscriptions. 98 × 159 cm. The inscriptions read as follows: Within the floral cartouches: the Shahada (Kalimat al-Tawhid). Central inscription: four lines of Ayat al-Kursi (The Throne Verse), Qur'an 2:255 from Surah al-Baqarah, flanked by six cartouches containing the names of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-Khulafaʾ al-Rashidun). Border: continuous repetition of Surah al-Fatiha.