Cap
ca. 1873 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This tasselled spherical cap, similar to a Victorian gentleman's smoking cap, is a winter hat that was probably worn by an aristocratic woman in the city of Hami (Qumul). Located in Eastern Xinjiang, Hami had a long history of interaction with China, and its local princes paid tribute to the Qing empire. The inspiration for motifs used on items of Hami clothing came mainly from nature and inherited traditional ornament, sometimes adapted from other cultures, including those of the Han Chinese.
The turquoise velvet of this cap is embroidered predominantly with flying bats and pomegranates in heavily laid and couched work, using silver threads and yellow silk. The bat is a Chinese symbol of happiness and good fortune, while pomegranates are a local fruit and a popular motif for Uygur embroidery. The embroiderer showed creativity and a meticulous attention to detail by adding further couched stitches to make a diamond-lattice pattern on the wings of the flying bats.
The turquoise velvet of this cap is embroidered predominantly with flying bats and pomegranates in heavily laid and couched work, using silver threads and yellow silk. The bat is a Chinese symbol of happiness and good fortune, while pomegranates are a local fruit and a popular motif for Uygur embroidery. The embroiderer showed creativity and a meticulous attention to detail by adding further couched stitches to make a diamond-lattice pattern on the wings of the flying bats.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silk velvet, embroidered with metallic threads, coral, silver, gold filigree, glass |
| Brief description | Cap for a Uygur woman, turquoise silk velvet with embroidery in metallic threads, from Shache (Yarkand), Xinjiang, China, ca. 1873 |
| Physical description | Round cap for a noble woman with a tassel suspended from a gold filigree knob set with a red glass on the top of crown. The tassel is embellished with a silver plaque set with coral beads and a green glass/gemstone. The cap is made of turquoise silk velvet and decorated with embroidered designs in silver threads consisting of stylised bats, promegranates, flowers and scrolls. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | Transferred from the India Museum in 1879. Part of an ethnological collection acquired by Sir Thomas Douglas Forsyth from Yarkand (Shache in Chinese) in 1873-4. |
| Summary | This tasselled spherical cap, similar to a Victorian gentleman's smoking cap, is a winter hat that was probably worn by an aristocratic woman in the city of Hami (Qumul). Located in Eastern Xinjiang, Hami had a long history of interaction with China, and its local princes paid tribute to the Qing empire. The inspiration for motifs used on items of Hami clothing came mainly from nature and inherited traditional ornament, sometimes adapted from other cultures, including those of the Han Chinese. The turquoise velvet of this cap is embroidered predominantly with flying bats and pomegranates in heavily laid and couched work, using silver threads and yellow silk. The bat is a Chinese symbol of happiness and good fortune, while pomegranates are a local fruit and a popular motif for Uygur embroidery. The embroiderer showed creativity and a meticulous attention to detail by adding further couched stitches to make a diamond-lattice pattern on the wings of the flying bats. |
| Other number | 13,056 - India Museum Slip Book |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 2067(IS) |
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| Record created | June 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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