Bath Wrap
1700-1799 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
A bath wrap was a large cloth made from three widths of fabric. People who visited the hamman (public baths) would wrap them round their bodies when they rested after bathing. From about the 1720s onwards Ottoman embroidery stopped copying woven designs and became a truly creative art form. Designers introduced new, lifelike floral decorations, many of which were very detailed. They allowed some floral decorations to sway and sweep across the fabric. Some were stylised. All decorations were worked in soft colours often enriched with metal thread. The colours of many 18th century embroideries were originally very bright but they have faded to pleasing pastel shades.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 3 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Linen, embroidered with silk in double running in steps and double running variations (outlines and stems), and with metal thread in double darning on the diagonal |
| Brief description | A linen bath wrap embroidered with silk and metal threads, Turkey, 18th century |
| Physical description | Three panels from a Bath Wrap. Linen embroidered with silk in double running in steps and double running variations (outlines and stems) and with metal thread in double darning on the diagonal. There is narrow border along the upper and lower ends worked in metal thread in a series of triangles. The deep border above consists of four offset bands each containing three ragged pink flowers alternating with a diagonal hyacinth spray. The direction of the flowers alternates by band. There are green leaves and small blue floral motifs edged with red at irregular intervals in the border. |
| Style | |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | A bath wrap was a large cloth made from three widths of fabric. People who visited the hamman (public baths) would wrap them round their bodies when they rested after bathing. From about the 1720s onwards Ottoman embroidery stopped copying woven designs and became a truly creative art form. Designers introduced new, lifelike floral decorations, many of which were very detailed. They allowed some floral decorations to sway and sweep across the fabric. Some were stylised. All decorations were worked in soft colours often enriched with metal thread. The colours of many 18th century embroideries were originally very bright but they have faded to pleasing pastel shades. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1188 to B-1903 |
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| Record created | January 16, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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