Ceremonial textile

Throughout the Islamic world the art of writing is treasured. Calligraphy not only reveals the word of god in the Qu’ran, but is used to ornament all kinds of objects. This cloth was probably made in northern Java, far from the Arabic-speaking lands of West Asia. By 1600 the formerly Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in Java had converted to Islam. Not everyone in Java could read Arabic, and the scripts on textiles from Java were sometimes so stylized as to be illegible. The forms of the eight calligraphic flourishes surrounding the central diamond shapes bear resemblance to signatures, or tughra, from Ottoman Turkey.

Calligraphic textiles were not worn as a lower garment, as kneeling or sitting on the words would be seen as disrespectful. They were used as head scarves (worn in the turban style by men) and as shrouds.