A fine woven wool kani prayer hanging or mat
Kashmir, late 18th Century
of rectangular form, woven in polychrome wool with a central panel containing a mihrab with lobed arches filled with repeat floral sprays, the spandrels and borders with dense floral interlace, mounted and framed
105 x 70 cm.
Footnotes:
The region of Kashmir was renowned for fabrics, made of pashmina and woven in a double-interlocking tapestry weave style. The most common decorative motifs were floral, and some of the finest, least common types of Kashmiri textile are those featuring arches or niches, as demonstrated by the present lot. Its decoration recalls a mihrab niche, and may have been hung in order to indicate the direction of Mecca.

For an example of a prayer mat with similar 'millefleurs' decoration, dated to the mid-18th Century, see Frank Ames, The Kashmir Shawl and its Indo-French Influence, London, 1997, p. 311, pl. 180. For two similar examples sold at Christie's, see Arts and Textiles of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 21 October 2016, lot 390 and Arts and Textiles of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 9 October 2015, lot 139.