Safavid Period, Persia
Date: 16th century
Material: velvet on gold-brocade ground
Dimensions: Length: 123 cm.
Kept in Royal Armory Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
Sources: [1],[2],[3],[4]
لباس مخملی دوره صفوی - موزه قورخانه (اسلحهخانه) استکهلم سوئد
I came across this when I was reading about history of clothing in the Safavid and Qajar periods in Encyclopædia Iranica. After few days, I was able to locate this garment online in Royal Armory Museum in Stockholm. According to Museum, the previous owners of this coat were Tsar Michael I of Russia and Christina, Queen of Sweden. But, how did it end up in Sweden at the first place?According to Encyclopædia Iranica, this garment may have been included in the rich gifts sent by Shah Ṣafī to the Russian court in the 1630s. It is a short, fitted coat (nīm-tana) fastened at the side and ornamented with human designs in velvet on a ground of gilded silver brocade; it was presented by Tsar Michael I to Queen Christina of Sweden in 1644 and is now in the Royal Armory in Stockholm, Sweden.
