Towel or napkin, embroidered, Turkish, 1800s.

Towel/Napkin, cotton embroidered with silk in double darning and double running in a line, with metal thread in fishbone, satin and slanted satin stitch, and with plate in double darning, slanted satin and satin stitch filling in squares.
The embroidery is worked in shades of blue and in gold- and silver-coloured metal thread.
The minor border is a meander with diagonal dark blue leaves, a cluster of three blue circles and gold stems and blue flowers. The main border is also a menader in which curving metal stems (silver on one side, gold in the middle and blue silk on the other side) enclose blue flowers and circular buds. The other dominant motif, which occurs between the curving stems, is a vertical, striped metal thread leaf.
The ends and the sides of the borders are trimmed with a metal thread edging.

Given by Prof. and Mrs Percy Newberry

At the end of the 18th century embroidery designs began to develop into rigid and heavily stylised borders for towels and napkins. The colours of 18th and 19th century embroideries were originally very bright but many have faded to pleasing pastel shades; often great quantities of metal thread were used. Napkins were mainly used to clean fingers during meals, but were also used as decoration and as covers. Their designs were consistently inventive.

T.113-1926