Tent Hanging
Eastern Iran or Central Asia, late 13th–early 14th century Lampas weave (tabby and twill), silk, gilded strips
The David Collection, Copenhagen (40/1997)
cat. 73
[click images for full object view]

This panel, a superb example of nasij (cloth of gold), must once have belonged to the interior of a royal Mongol tent. Here the refined pattern shows vertical rows of large medallions enclosing confronted roosters separated by a stylized tree, alternating with pairs of smaller roundels with coiled dragons.

The background is filled with vegetal scrolls, peonies, and lotus flowers.

Narrow vertical bands form slender columns for the lobed pointed arch on the upper part of the textile, separating the rows of medallions on each panel.

When all the panels were joined together and draped inside a tent or pavilion it would have created the effect of a continuous arcade; the original architectural effect of such a richly decorated interior must have been a spectacular one.