Figural Safavid Silk Velvet with metal threads
90 x 53 cm (2' 11" x 1' 9")
Persia, 17th century
Condition: very good, complete, minor signs of use
Silk velvet on silk with metal threads

This remarkable velvet has its counterpart in a textile which is kept in the L. A. Mayer Museum of Islamic Art in Jerusalem. Rachel Hasson introduced it to the wider public in an article for Hali 69 p.96 where she compares it with a miniature kept in the Topkapi palace in Istanbul.
It is well known that in the Safavid period rules about the depictions of persons were more relaxed than in other periods. Many of figurative textiles were based on stories like Layla and Majnun, Yusuf and Zulaykha, Alexander and the dragon and princesses and hunting scenes. The depiction of a naked bearded man looking up a tree looks out of place within this context. Rachel Hasson connects the depiction to miniatures in Zakariyya' al-Qazwini (1203-1283) Aja'ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara'ib al-Mawjudat meaning 'The Wonders of Creatures and the Marvels of Creation'.
This work was very popular in the Islamic world as many surviving examples demonstrate. Rachel wrote
'This was not necessarily due to the works' scientific value; both text and accompanying illustrations were appreciated as fascinating sources of fictional material'. In the illustration we see naked people sitting next to a tree while others ride piggyback on a turbaned man.
The text to the scene is 'I saw handsome men sitting under the trees and they had no bones in their legs. Their shins like strips of skin, they crawl along, and when they see someone walking, they call to him to sit with them then they jump on to his shoulders and wind their legs around his neck.'
Rachel Hasson adds 'Perhaps this textile was commissioned by a patron intrigued by the fantastic tales of odd creatures in exotic, remote lands'.