35
Celtic Shield
Kaitag region, south-west Daghestan
18th century or earlier
65 x 121 cm
silk embroidery on cotton
This design is reminiscent of 1st century BC Celtic shields in the British Museum, London. The Celtic-style motifs seen here, such as the simplified knotting in the lattice and the pinwheels, came from Georgia. They are widespread in south Daghestan in carvings of complicated intertwined vines on wooden mosque doors and giant triangular column capitals, which date from the 13th to 19th century. The shield-shaped design consists of two columns of five circles, joined by a band to form a lattice. The circles are filled with five- and six-pointed stars and four-pointed pinwheels. The four colours of silk include a brick red with exciting abrashes. The colours are shown off by the regularity of the laid and couched stitch outlined in stem stitch on a turquoise cotton ground.
text and images © Sakip
Sabanci Museum, Istanbul
and textile-art, London, 2007:
not to be reproduced without permission