id:			95485
accession number:	1916.1221
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1221
updated:		2022-05-24 09:00:34.052000

Headdress (beniqa), 1800s. Africa, North Africa, Algeria, Algerian embroiderer. Linen, silk, and metal; overall: 210.8 x 17.1 cm (83 x 6 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1221

title:				Headdress (beniqa)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1800s
creation date earliest:		1800
creation date latest:		1899
current location:		
creditline:			Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
copyright:			

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culture:	Africa, North Africa, Algeria, Algerian embroiderer
technique:	Linen, silk, and metal
department:	Textiles
collection:	T - Islamic
type:		Embroidery
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 210.8 x 17.1 cm (83 x 6 3/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Stories From Storage
	opening date:   2021-02-07T05:00:00
	<i>Stories From Storage</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Jeptha Homer Wade II [1857-1926] and Ellen Garretson Wade [1859-1917], Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: 1916
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1916-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
Slender gray lines made in pencil or chalk trace out unstitched designs on this elaborate ritual cap.

digital description: 
<em>Beniqa</em> were stylish headdresses that women wore when visiting the <em>hammam</em> (steam bath). The linen fabric absorbed the damp from their wet hair. With its gold and silver metal thread, shimmering spangles, and brightly colored threads forming flowers and vines, this beniqa was a ceremonial garment worn for the ritual bath before a Jewish woman’s wedding; it was also part of her dowry. After toweling off her hair, a woman made two braids, which she would then twist into the cap’s fabric and tie on her head, with the gold-fringed ends trailing down.

wall description: 

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1221/1916.1221_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1221/1916.1221_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1221/1916.1221_full.tif