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Towel

A work made of cotton, plain weave; embroidered with silk, metal strip, and metal-strip-wrapped silk.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of cotton, plain weave; embroidered with silk, metal strip, and metal-strip-wrapped silk.

Date:

1800–1850

Artist:

Turkey

About this artwork

The lustrous silk threads in this embroidered towel evoke the light and color of a garden in summer. The Ottomans were known for their love of flowers. Roses, carnations , hyacinths, irises, and tulips bloomed in magnificant gardens along the Bosporus. Flowers adorned luxury objects and were a popular subject for embroidery. Embroiderers—both men and women—worked from designs drawn onto the ground (or base) fabrics, creating endless variety in the patterns by carefully choosing different threads and stitches.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Textiles

Title

Towel

Place

Turkey (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1800–1850

Medium

Cotton, plain weave; embroidered with silk, metal strip, and metal-strip-wrapped silk

Dimensions

198.6 × 67 cm (78 1/8 × 26 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Burton Y. Berry

Reference Number

1953.87

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/79200/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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