Man's Féssi Cap

ca. 1850

Not on view

The Féssi cap (Fez in Turkish; Tarbush in Arabic) remained popular in Greece throughout the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries– this despite its association with the Ottoman Empire which had ruled Greece from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 until Greek Independence in 1830. Worn at an angle, soft, red versions with black tassels like this example had been part of traditional regional dress in both Attica and the Peloponnese, and at his arrival in newly-independent Greece in 1832, King Otto encouraged such red féssi to be included as part of male courtly garb– a fashion which survived his deposal in 1862. This example is particularly fine with a strand of gold thread twisted through the tassel's black silk.

Artwork Details

Overview

Title: Man's Féssi Cap
Date: ca. 1850
Culture: Greek
Medium: silk, wool, gold thread.
Dimensions: [no dimensions available]
Classification: Accessory-Headwear-Menswear
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Van S. Merle-Smith, 1941
Object Number: C.I.41.110.211
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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