The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

above: Child’s tunic: late fourteenth to early
fifteenth century (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford).
196 The Art and Architecture of Islamic Cairo
are intricate and concentrated
in design. One shows a delicate
interlacing medallion amid
tightly wound scrolls set with
interlaced patterns based on
plaited Kufic. The lobed shape of
the medallion and the interlacing
arabesque is similar in composition
and design to contemporary inlaid Ayyubid
metalware. The other embroidered Ayyubid
inscription is set in dense scrollwork and
light, delicate embroidered filigree. It pos-
sibly decorated a shawl and reads, ‘Love it
is that keeps the eloquent man from
speech’. 43 The sentiment expressed in the
inscription is very different from the
formal honorific titles found in
embroidered tiraz. As for embroidered
Mamluk inscriptions, they reveal
expressions of good wishes similar to
those that adorn pottery and metalware. A
fragment in the Newberry collection states in bold unadorned red
Thuluth script, ‘Glory and eternity to the owner’, and in the Musée
d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, there is a beautiful embroidered
Mamluk inscription that reads, ‘Happiness and eternal prosperity’.
It is embroidered in Naskhi script set against an intricate
arabesque of plaited motifs similar to those seen in the illustrated
Ayyubid fragment. 44
In contrast to these fine scrolling arabesques, there are a number
of items in the Newberry collection showing an interesting repertoire
of angular geometric designs, including hexagons, lozenges, hooks,
and S and Z motifs. They are a part of an international language of
geometric design and appear in contemporary Seljuk carpets. Among
early examples is an Ayyubid sampler. These provided a selection of
patterns for prospective customers to choose from, and most intriguing
in this example is the appearance of birds and fish in the
otherwise iconoclastic art of the Ayyubids. Another Ayyubid sampler
shows a selection of V-shaped patterns with pendants designed to
border the neck slits of garments. Such patterns and formats endured
well into the Mamluk era and an example can be seen on a wellpreserved
child’s tunic in the Newberry collection. This is one of
those rare specimens found intact showing the simple T-shape of