Doek voor gebedssteen

1950

Prayer cloth. Embroidered cloth with geometric figures in the middle. On the top is a mosque motif. In the corners there are star/flower motifs. The center of the cloth consists of four planes with geometric figures; the motifs, series of triangles, run in the 1st and 3rd plane diagonally downwards, and in the 2nd and 4th plane diagonally upwards (from left to right). Above these four areas is an image of a triangle (similar to the central motif on cloth RV-5183-36, presumably a mosque image). Within and alongside the embroidered triangle are images of minarets. Inside the triangle are, among other things, hand motifs, next to them are fork-like figures, presumably depicting arms (see also under 'comments'). In the four corners are star/flower motives. At the ends of the flower petals/points of the stars are fork-like motifs embroidered. On the sides and at the bottom, between the star/flower motifs, there are geometric motifs composed of triangles. With the exception of a few motifs, the front of the cloth looks the same as the back.\ The prayer stone cloths are used to hold the prayer stone (mohr or turba) used by Shiites. The prayer stone consists of baked clay from Kerbela. The prayer stones are kept wrapped in the cloths in the house or on the body. When praying one puts the prayer stone cloth on the prayer rug. Prayer cloths and stones are placed on the prayer rug in such a way that one touches the stone with one's forehead while bending over. The cloths may be used by any clean person. The cloths belong to the sacred objects; when they are worn out they are buried, so that they cannot be touched with the feet. The cloths may not be sold or used for any other purpose. Nevertheless, some use the cloths as wall decorations or pillowcases (Janata & Jawad 1983: 172-173).‖ The cloth is of cotton and the thread used to embroider is probably glossy cotton. The cotton cloth is machine-made, the same is presumably true of the thread. The cloths are embroidered by women and girls. According to the literature, embroidering the motifs requires extraordinary skill (Janata & Jawad 1983: 173). It is difficult to determine what stitches are used in the embroidery. The stitches presumably used are flat stitches (e.g. for tessellations), stitching stitches (both for tessellations and for the hem) and running stitches (holbein designs).