Prayer Mat and Wall Hanging with Design of Cypress Trees Flanking a Niche with Floral Sprays

The architectural design of this chintz textile consists of a central prayer niche (mihrab) with stylized carnations on a plain background. The niche is enclosed with geometric floral borders and panels surrounding fields of carnations, leaves, and vines. Stylized cypress trees flank the mihrab. The lower border has a wide band of red carnations. At the top is a row of floral finials, shaped like those seen on monumental Deccani gateways to palaces or mosques. The decoration on this fabric is printed in brownish-black pigment with colors from natural dyes, including madder red, indigo blue, and tobacco brown.

This textile, which may have been used as a prayer mat or a wall hanging, was made at the southeastern Indian port of Machilipatnam (formerly known as Masulipatam) in the modern state of Andhra Pradesh. Thousands of similar examples were exported to Persia throughout the 19th century.