Towel
Part health club, part community center, hammams are not only places to get clean, they are also places of significant social interaction. Social standing could be conveyed through the clothing and adornments worn in the hammam. A number of surviving Ottoman-period towels show that bath accessories, too, relayed subtle messages about the owner’s wealth. Intricate embroidery, sometimes in precious metal threads, conspicuously displayed the status of a bather’s family.
Artwork Details
- Title: Towel
- Date: 19th century
- Geography: Attributed to Turkey
- Medium: Linen; embroidered in silk, metal wrapped thread, and tinsel
- Dimensions: H. 52 in. (132.1 cm)
W. 28 in. (71.1 cm) - Classification: Textiles-Embroidered
- Credit Line: Bequest of Richard B. Seager, 1926
- Object Number: 26.34.65
- Curatorial Department: Islamic Art
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dated 1268 AH/1851–52 CE
19th century
19th century
late 19th century
19th century
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