Woven in lustrous silk velvet ikat, this bed runner drifts with bands of cloud in rust, slate blue, earth brown and sage on an ivory ground. Mirrored at the centre, they meet and part, crossed by three bands of deep petrol velvet. The reverse turns to plain silk in rich cobalt blue, The reverse turns to plain silk in rich cobalt blue, the electric sky just before nightfall or a storm: two moods held within the same piece.

Carried along the Silk Road from China, the cloud motif became one of the great symbols of Ottoman decorative arts. It stood for the heavens, good fortune and the breath of eternity, and it was painted on İznik tiles and woven into the kaftans of sultans. A piece of sky brought indoors.