id:			95518
accession number:	1916.1251
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1251
updated:		2023-03-03 07:01:08.675000

Embroidered towel, 1800s. Turkey. Plain weave: linen; embroidery, double-running stitch: silk, gilt-metal strips and thread; average: 129.5 x 55.9 cm (51 x 22 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1251

title:				Embroidered towel
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:	Turkey
technique:	plain weave: linen; embroidery, double-running stitch: silk, gilt-metal strips and thread
department:	Textiles
collection:	T - Islamic
type:		Embroidery
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Average: 129.5 x 55.9 cm (51 x 22 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Floral Delight: Textiles from Islamic Lands
	opening date:   2014-07-09T04:00:00
	<i>Floral Delight: Textiles from Islamic Lands</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 9, 2014-May 4, 2015).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
Fine Turkish towels with beautiful floral decoration embroidered across each end are often reversible, and their quality revealed the owner’s wealth and status. A lady was required by Turkish etiquette to use a napkin “daintily over the tips of her fingers,” lest she lose her social standing. Towels were not only essential components of everyday life but also gifts, prizes, and decorations. Embroideries could also depict images of daily life. Colorful tents and buildings in floral landscapes, here enriched with shiny gilt-metal strips, adorn the four sides of a head scarf that was worn either folded or unfolded and fastened beneath the chin. Square embroideries also served to wrap gifts, letters, and objects; the 19th-century English traveler Charles White commented that “no present is made . . . unless folded in a handkerchief, embroidered cloth, or piece of gauze. The more rich the envelope, the higher the compliment to the receiver.”
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Mackie, Louise W. <em>Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century</em>. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015.
	page number: 	Mentioned and reproduced: P. 334, fig. 8.52
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1251/1916.1251_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1251/1916.1251_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.1251/1916.1251_full.tif