Damascus, the capital of Syria and the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city, has long been a cultural and artistic center of the Levant. Known as the “City of Jasmine,” it reflects layers of civilizations accumulated over millennia, from antiquity through the present resulting in a city of extraordinary depth and cultural significance. The capital has been a center of luxury textile production for over three thousand years. Positioned at the crossroads of the ancient world’s greatest trade routes, it gave its name to “damask” and its workshops supplied silk to imperial courts across the Byzantine, Ottoman and European worlds.
The brocades in this collection represent one of the last expressions of this tradition. Woven on jacquard looms by master artisans, they carry forward a visual language spanning from the Sasanian Empire through the Ottoman period into modern times. Unlike most surviving Damascus brocades, typically geometric or floral, these silks depict mystical moments of enchantment, celebration, hunting, intoxication and idleness. The imagery is enchanting and evocative, with clear roots pertaining to adjacent cultures although challenging to trace back.
Equally remarkable is the nature of silk itself, revealing shifting hues as it catches the light. These textiles are woven using between two and seven colors, yet through the interplay of light and structure they produce a far richer visual spectrum. What feels almost magical about these brocade silks is that they never fully settle, details continue to emerge with each viewing.
Sourced directly in Damascus through an exhaustive search, these silks date from approximately 14 to 40 years ago and were produced before the Syrian Civil War disrupted the remaining workshops and scattered the last generation of master weavers. Pieces of this figural richness are now exceedingly scarce. The skill of producing these silks is rapidly vanishing, both as knowledge fades and times change.
In addition to the destruction of workshops caused by war, the punch cards used to guide the intricate designs have become obsolete and increasingly rare artifacts; once damaged, they are nearly impossible to replace. The process itself is also extraordinarily labor-intensive, with as little as 90 centimeters of brocade taking an entire day to complete.
These seven silks, five available here, were selected for their rarity and distinct character. Their natural depth and luster give them a presence unlike painting, offering a unique visual experience.
