Napkin
1830-1870 (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 | Cotton, embroidered with silk in double darning, double running in a line and musabak stitch, with metal thread in double darning and satin stitch, and with plate in satin stitch |
| Brief description | Towel or napkin, embroidered, Turkish, 1800s. |
| Physical description | Towel/Napkin, cotton embroidered with silk in double darning, double running in a line, and musabak stitch, metal thread in double darning and satin stitch and plate in satin stitch. There is a narrow border of trees, small buildings and large flowering stems. Above this is a solid band of metal thread edged at the front with a row of small pink flowers. Above the band are two motifs: 1) a well filled with blue water and with a bucket suspended from a roller 2) a substantial building in blue with pink windows set against tree-lined hills.One side has been cut and hemmed |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Prof. R. M. Dawkins |
| 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 Publication, 2001); plate 102 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.460-1950 |
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| Record created | March 9, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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