Towel
1850-1855 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
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.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Linen and silk, embroidered with silk, metal thread |
| Brief description | Towel or napkin of linen and silk, embroidered with silk, Turkey, 1850-1855 |
| Physical description | Towel or napkin woven with a linen and silk striped warp and with silk weft, embroidered with silk in double running stitch variations and combinations and with plate in satin stitch. The ground in light brown with three blocks of white silk stripes along either side. There is a narrow embroidered border along both ends and it extends a little way along the sides. This contains a meandering stem with stylised blossoms. Above this are three pink vases each containing three flowers and between the vases are single cypress trees. Metal thread. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Production | Made in the 'Turkish Archipelago', islands in the Aegean Sea which reverted to Greece. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | 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. |
| Bibliographic reference | Illustrated in 'Ottoman Embroidery' by Marianne Ellis and Jennifer Wearden (V&A Publications, 2001); plate 135 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 4169-1856 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | January 5, 2001 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
