This is a piece of blackwork embroidery from Egypt or Arabia. Made between the 13th to 16th centuries, it is linen embroidered with red and blue silk. The size is 15 cm by 6 cm, with the fabric selvage visible at the top of the picture.
I have charted up the design-
mfaborderfragment (pdf)
The item is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
This textile is 9.7cm by 10.2cm. Made in Egypt between the 13th and 14th century, it is plain weave linen embroidered in red silk floss in running stitch and pattern darning. The textile is currently in the Art Institute of Chicago.
I have charted up the design and it is available for download in pdf format-
artinstitutepatterndarning (PDF)
Please let me know how it goes.
Technicalities- there are 66 threads between the top pattern darning and main pattern. The straight lines are the running stitch.
This embroidery is in the University of Manchester. There is very little information on the website about the textile, except that it is from Egypt, made from linen and was made between the years 1100-1499 C.E. It resembles Mamluk embroidery to my eye, which is from the early 13th century. Just for a challenge, I have charted it up! It has both double running and pattern darning.
Please let me know how it works for you.
This textile is linen with a red woolen tapestry woven band (dyed with madder) with linen detail. The band has designs of hearts with a goat or a Sagittary in the middle. The dimensions are 30.5 cm by 31.5 cm. The item is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
This is the detail of the tapestry band. The Museum’s page says the textile is a sleeve remnant. However, the reverse of the textile is unusual- 
This fringing is more expected in a shawl. The reverse details- 
Please let me know what you think the textile could be.
I was reading a book called “The Art of Embroidery” by Marie Schuette & Sigrud Muller-Christensen, published 1963 by Thomas & Hudson, London. On page 32, on the top right was a Mamluk blackwork. 
The detail of the picture- 
There is not much information in the book on the embroidery. All that is given is that it is a fragment of a robe, the actual size 56 by 42cm, in the Berlin Staatliches Museum. It is done in dark gray silk on linen in running and double-running stitch. It is one of the more complex Mamluk blackwork I have seen, with no information on where on a robe it would go. I have charted up the design, which is available for download in single page PDF format.
SchuetteMullerChristensen PDF
Please let me know how your embroidery goes.
Over a year ago, I charted a towel from the Ashmolean. This work can be downloaded from the original post “A Blackwork Challenge” or on the embroidery charts page. Recently I found another Mamluk towel, around a century older, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
The textile fragment is thought to have been made between the 13th-14th century, with the dimensions of 9.9 cm by 18.7 cm. It is very similar to the other towel I have previously charted but there are some noticeable differences. As the picture is not a colour picture, the colour of the silk used is unknown but would have been a dark colour. Possibly blue or brown. It looks as though there is a tiraz under the birds and trees. If you can read it, please give a translation. I can’t read Arabic but I have a suspicion that it is a decorative tiraz and not to be read.
The chart is a single page PDF document.
Met towel PDF
Please let me know how your embroidery goes.
This sampler is in the Victoria & Albert Museum. It is a blackwork and pattern darning sampler from between the 14th and 16th centuries. The height is 42.5 cm and the width is 22.8 cm. Linen with silk embroidery. I have charted up the embroidery, and even made a few exemplars of the embroidery. However, some of this sampler has been previously charted by Mathilde Eschenbach, who has kindly allowed me to refer straight to her individual charts, some of which differ to mine. Both interpretations will be put up & referred to, to encourage everyone! The charts from myself are available for download, one page pdf document.
vasamplerpattern1 (pdf)
vasamplerpattern2 (pdf)
vasamplerpattern3 (pdf)
vasamplerpattern4 (pdf)
This pattern has some fine darning in it, which is similar to pattern darning, only with single stitches. This makes the pattern reversible. Ottoman embroidery also uses fine darning.
vasamplerpattern5 (pdf)
vasamplerpattern6 (pdf)
vasamplerpattern7 (pdf)
This was also done by Mathile Eschenbach.
vasamplerpattern8 (pdf)
Also done by Mathilde Eschenbach.
vasamplerpattern9 (pdf)
I left mine as what was on the sampler, as I believe that the right hand tree and cat are done incorrectly and incomplete. However, Mathilde Eschenbach has a complete interpretation.
vasamplerpattern10 (pdf)
Mathilde Eshenbach’s interpretation.
vasamplerpattern11 (pdf)
I would love to hear from everyone their opinions on the different charts.
This sampler is from the Mamluk period in Egypt, 1250-1517C.E. The sampler was found in a cemetery in Fustat. The size is 22 x 16 cm, sewn out of three separate pieces of linen, embroidered in two different shades of blue cotton. The joining was done in flax. The sampler is currently in the Ashmolean. I have charted the sampler, breaking it down into eight separate charts. They are available for download as single page pdfs.
Pattern1 (pdf)
Pattern2 (pdf)
Patterns3&4 (pdf)
Pattern5 (pdf)
Pattern6 (pdf)
Pattern7 (pdf)
Pattern8 (pdf)
The number chart-
This item is thought to be either a sash or a turban. Made in the Mamluk period in Egypt (1250-1517) it is blue silk on linen. The item is 26.5 cm by 15 cm. The original is in the Ashmolean. Unfortunately the picture does not show the edges of the embroidery, so the chart is simply a theory as to how it finishes. Here is a picture of a recent embroidery I did based on the chart-
I chose to only do three squares up, as I wanted to show the interlocking circles without either drowning each other out. The original shown above has five squares, but the pattern is adaptable. The extra squares can be added later, if I desire. The reverse- 
Close up detail- 
The chart can be downloaded from the link below. I found the best way to do it is the do the small linked squares first, then the lines of squares and rosettes. The way to do the squares and rosettes by doing one half or dashes of the squares (with the insides being done as well) then doubling back and filling in the dashes. Let me know how it goes!
Squares and interlacing knots (pdf)
This is a Mamluk kerchief embroidered with blackwork. It is linen with blue silk, 25 x 24.5 cm. The linen count is 22 threads per centimetre. It is currently in the Ashmolean.
I have charted the kerchief. I think the pattern would be reversible, as most of the Mamluk designs are. Please let me know how it turns out for you.
