Kerchief
1800-1899 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
A kerchief is a square cloth with a narrow decorative border along all four sides. People used them on the head or shoulders or tied them around their hips.
At the end of the 18th century embroidery designs began to develop into rigid and heavily stylised borders for towels and napkins. The colours were strong and embroiderers used greater quantities of metal thread. The designs were always inventive. The colours in some 19th century embroideries were originally very bright but they have faded to pleasing pastel shades.
At the end of the 18th century embroidery designs began to develop into rigid and heavily stylised borders for towels and napkins. The colours were strong and embroiderers used greater quantities of metal thread. The designs were always inventive. The colours in some 19th century embroideries were originally very bright but they have faded to pleasing pastel shades.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Cotton, embroidered with silk and metal thread in double darning and double running in a line, and with plate in padded satin and musabak stitch; orange cotton padding under gold strip |
| Brief description | A cotton kerchief embroidered with silk and metal thread, Turkey, 19th century |
| Physical description | Kerchief, cotton embroidered with silk in double darning and double running in a line, and with plate in padded satin and musabak stitch. There is orange cotton padding under some of the gold strip. There is a fine metal edging of loops and then several rows of musabak worked in metal thread. The main elements of the border design, which is along all four sides, are a pair of slender green cypress trees either side of a narrow column, alternating with a floral sprig with one large and four smaller flowers. A scalloped line in metal thread forms an arch-like border above these motifs. There is an additonal floral motif above each corner. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | A kerchief is a square cloth with a narrow decorative border along all four sides. People used them on the head or shoulders or tied them around their hips. At the end of the 18th century embroidery designs began to develop into rigid and heavily stylised borders for towels and napkins. The colours were strong and embroiderers used greater quantities of metal thread. The designs were always inventive. The colours in some 19th century embroideries were originally very bright but they have faded to pleasing pastel shades. |
| Bibliographic reference | Illustrated in 'Ottoman Embroidery' by Marianne Ellis and Jennifer Wearden, Victoria & Albert Museum, 2001, plate 45
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.197-1931 |
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| Record created | February 2, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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