A Closer Look
A 16ft decorated Egyptian wedding tent
Benjamin Mini, Head of Rugs & Carpets at Bonhams Skinner, introduces an Egyptian wedding tent decorated with traditional Islamic iconography and poetic verses—offered in Fine Carpets & Rare Textiles online auction. Bidding opens from 2–12 October.
Egypt's tentmaking tradition dates back thousands of years. During the past few hundred years, colourful cotton appliqué tents have been a common part of Egyptian culture, used to celebrate important events such as weddings.
The Arabic word for tent is Khayma and the term Khaymaiya (literally “art of the tent”) is used to refer to this unique art form.
This upcoming lot is an authentic wedding tent meant for domestic Egyptian use. It employs traditional Islamic iconography and includes poetic verses in Quranic Arabic. Take a closer look below.
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Traditionally, Egyptian tents were made with coloured pieces of cotton appliqué, sewn onto a stronger cotton-based fabric.
The geometric ornamentation of this tent is directly in line with patterns and forms of Islamic art seen on the architecture, paintings, woodwork, textiles and other art of Islamic Egypt.
Standing roughly 16ft (nearly 5m) in height and diameter, this tent was designed for the ornamental dome and panels to be displayed on the inside.
One would walk into a seemingly ordinary tent and enter a beautifully decorated dome, urging the eyes to look upward toward heaven.
However, we decided to photograph and display the tent with the ornamentation on the outside so it would be easier to display and view from a distance.
Egyptian tents were decorated with patterns and ornament often seen in Islamic art as well as with calligraphic inscriptions.
Their inscriptions included select passages from the Quran (passages about marriage, for instance) and verses of poetry reflecting on the beauty of Egypt or the beauty of tents themselves.
Toward the end of the 19th century, Egypt started seeing a boom in European tourism. This art form, Khaymaiya, was used to produce smaller pieces for the tourist trade with designs woven specifically for tourists, such as scenes from Pharaonic Egypt.
But one should not mistake this tent—an important example of Islamic art—with later (and much smaller) pieces of Khamaiya made for the tourist trade.
This tent was made for an Egyptian wedding. It was probably used once and then safely stored away.
This tent was purchased in Egypt in the early 20th century and it has been with a family in the Unites states ever since.
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Browse all lots in our online auction from 2–12 October.
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