Curtain for the Door of the Main Minaret at the Prophet’s Mosque

Location: probably Istanbul

Materials: black silk, with coloured silk appliqués, embroidered in silver and silver-gilt wire over cotton thread padding

Dimensions: 250 x 155cm

Accession Number: TXT 256

Other Notes:

The curtain, or sitarah, is identified within the wreath at the top as being for bab al-manarah al-ra’isiyyah, that is the door to the main minaret at the Prophet’s mosque. Below this is the signature cartouche of Sultan Mahmud II, ‘written by the Warrior for the Faith (al-Ghazi) Mahmud ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid Khan’. This signature cartouche appears often on sitarahs presented by him to the Prophet’s mosque.