Wall Hanging

The simple white branching pattern in this ikat is typical of indigo wall hangings, whose sober colors were considered appropriate for older women's garments and funerary wear. The use of the cypress motif reinforces the symbolic dark color of the dye, as the tree was associated with cemeteries in much of the Muslim world. Panels of such dark, simple ikats were often used in wall hangings where they were combined with ikats of livelier design and color.