Love Heart Embroidery Textile Panel [Cairo]

• Unique 1 of a kind piece
• Vintage item
• Some bleeding of pink thread dye (refer to photos)
• Base cream fabric but with a layer of character giving dirt
• Single sided (not reversible)
• Length (inner panel)-143cm
• Width (inner panel)- 97cm
• Length (outer panel)- 163cm
• Width (outer panel)- 121cm
• Weight- 1.3kgs

THE STORY
If you walk through the shopping district of downtown Cairo you'll discover small 'hole in the wall' stores selling embroidered cotton kaftans. Obviously with Egyptian cottons international stardom these are a great buy (especially in a polyester saturated region). The fact that they come in all the colours of the rainbow makes them practically irresistible. Sadly with progress, the ancient tradition of hand chain stitching, has been replaced by machines. After much investigation we suspect this textile piece originates, in Egypt, from the same place as those wonderful kaftans.
Despite this being stitched by machine its unique and extravagant design is of high quality. Traditionally these types of embroidered panels were made by brides, and their mothers, as part of a dowry. They represented the binding together of two families, and were adorned with symbols of luck, health, long life and fertility. I like to believe a woman with hopes for a bright future created this joyful textile. 
Although we've photographed this textile on a bed we really do believe it's art. It is perfectly designed to be stretched over a canvas/frame and hung as a statement on your wall (size details for building a frame in details above).

CARE INSTRUCTIONS
Never wash a vintage textile like this! Basically traditional textiles weren't made to be washed. Already there is some visible bleeding of the hot pink thread. Contact your nearest Oriental carpet store and inquire about their specialised cleaning. 
Read the V&A Museum's expert advice here

We'd love to hear from you if you have any questions.
*We do our very best to make sure colours are as close to real life as possible. Your computer may not. Silly machines.