Dining Cloth (sofreh) with Sumak Brocade Border and Open Field

The stains in the center of this cream-colored textile may indicate that it is a sofreh or dining cloth. Sofreh is a Persian word meaning “provisions, tablecloth.” Similar to the western concept of the dining tablecloth, a sofreh is spread out on the floor at meal times. This particular sofreh could have been part of a bride’s dowry. The flat weaving technique known as soumak provides clues that this textile was probably woven by tribes in the Caucasus or Northwest Persia.