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A piece of kaftan
(قطعة من قفطان)

Title	A piece of kaftan
Title Original	قطعة من قفطان
Publication Date:	Late tenth-early eleventh century/late sixteenth-early seventeenth century
Publication Place	- Royal Museum, National Museum of Scotland NMS
Subject	Silk, cotton and silver brocade (sleeve).
Type	Other
Language	Undetermined
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	No
Physical Dimensions	الطول: 82.5 سم؛ العرض: 77.5 سم
Library:	Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID	A. 1884.65.21
Record ID	object;ISL;uk;Mus03;42;ar
Library Location	Royal Museum, National Museum of Scotland NMS
Date	Late tenth-early eleventh century/late sixteenth-early seventeenth century
Notes	A piece of silk brocade (sleeve) was the back of a child's kaftan without a collar and with short sleeves, detailed with a straight waist and a bell-shaped skirt. The fabric is woven with rows of broken diagonal lines arranged in groups at regular intervals, and is colored red with leopard spots and three circles known as cintamani in green. Santamani has been known on sleeve fabrics since about the first half of the 10th / 16th century, and its meaning and origin are still unknown, but it is assumed that the tri-circular shape may have had a ward off evil effect by turning it on the magician, while the leopard-skin pattern recalls the leopard skin worn by the Iranian hero Rostam. The original museum archives state that the piece represents part of a ceremonial garment for a child from Constantinople or Bursa, and may have arrived in Turkey via Syria. This complex weaving technique, known as Chinese silk, was used by the Ottomans in the late 9th-early 10th/late 15th-early 16th centuries. The most important Ottoman silk factories were located in Bursa, but during the 10th / 16th century, court workshops also appeared in the Ottoman capital, Istanbul. The kamaha was designed to emphasize the imperial status of the Sultan and his family even after death. This type of clothing was placed on top of coffins or imperial chests. This piece forms part of a collection of clothing that was brought to Europe by an art dealer, cut up and divided between the Victoria and Albert Museums in London and the Royal Museum in Edinburgh.
Sample Text	Ulrike Al-Khamis “Piece of a Caftan” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus03;42;ar

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A piece of kaftan

(قطعة من قفطان)

Publication Date Late tenth-early eleventh century/late sixteenth-early seventeenth century

Publication Place - Royal Museum, National Museum of Scotland NMS

Subject Silk, cotton and silver brocade (sleeve).

Type Other

Language Undetermined

Digital Yes

Manuscript No

Physical Dimensions الطول: 82.5 سم؛ العرض: 77.5 سم

Library Museum With No Frontiers

Library Asset ID A. 1884.65.21

Record ID object;ISL;uk;Mus03;42;ar

Library Location Royal Museum, National Museum of Scotland NMS

Date Late tenth-early eleventh century/late sixteenth-early seventeenth century

Notes A piece of silk brocade (sleeve) was the back of a child's kaftan without a collar and with short sleeves, detailed with a straight waist and a bell-shaped skirt. The fabric is woven with rows of broken diagonal lines arranged in groups at regular intervals, and is colored red with leopard spots and three circles known as cintamani in green. Santamani has been known on sleeve fabrics since about the first half of the 10th / 16th century, and its meaning and origin are still unknown, but it is assumed that the tri-circular shape may have had a ward off evil effect by turning it on the magician, while the leopard-skin pattern recalls the leopard skin worn by the Iranian hero Rostam. The original museum archives state that the piece represents part of a ceremonial garment for a child from Constantinople or Bursa, and may have arrived in Turkey via Syria. This complex weaving technique, known as Chinese silk, was used by the Ottomans in the late 9th-early 10th/late 15th-early 16th centuries. The most important Ottoman silk factories were located in Bursa, but during the 10th / 16th century, court workshops also appeared in the Ottoman capital, Istanbul. The kamaha was designed to emphasize the imperial status of the Sultan and his family even after death. This type of clothing was placed on top of coffins or imperial chests. This piece forms part of a collection of clothing that was brought to Europe by an art dealer, cut up and divided between the Victoria and Albert Museums in London and the Royal Museum in Edinburgh.

Sample Text Ulrike Al-Khamis “Piece of a Caftan” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus03;42;ar