Islamic Textile – Sufi Cloak, Egypt

Embroidered Sufi Cloak

This rare and unusual hooded Sufi cream cotton cloak is embroidered with blue silk and gold thread with various borders of script and floral flourishes including, to the back of the cloak, a large central floral spray which includes four boteh motifs. It has been cut as a large half oval with an attached triangular hood.

The hood terminates with an actual blue silk tassel which is mirrored by the embroidery below with three tassel motifs embroidered into the design.

The hood is embroidered with two tugras and the body of the cloak with another tugra and then another two on each of the front ‘wings’. It is unlikely that these are ‘royal’ tugras (

ie they do not pertain to the Ottoman sultan or his representatives) but are likely to be personal tugras.

The hood and the rest of the cloak are edged with an embroidered border of repeated script that reads ‘Oh Heaven!’

The central cartouche of embroidery that surrounds the main floral flourish has script that includes the words for ‘To God, for God’.

The form of the cloak suggests it was used in one or another of the esoteric mystical ceremonies of the Sufis. The inscriptions too, with the repeated refrain of ‘Oh, Heaven!’ also has Sufi overtones.

The use of a hood, tugras which are Ottoman-inspired rather than Ottoman, and a form of Arabic which, whilst pertaining to North Africa, is not Maghrebi, suggest Egyptian origins for this cloak. The work and motifs on a tent attributed to late 19th century Egypt which forms lot 361 of Sotheby’s ‘Arts of the Islamic World’ sale of October 6, 2010 have some similarity to that on this cloak.

The condition of this cloak is fine for its age and medium. There is one small area of old repair, some small insect holes here and there, and an area of mild leaching of the blue embroidered stitch dye into the cream cotton substrate, but overall, the cloak is intact and in a stable, robust condition without fraying or significant fading. It is certainly of museum quality.

UK art market.