Cover

Cover

With its fresh palette, bold patterning, and engaging asymmetries, this charming textile embodies characteristics common to a number of Ottoman embroideries in the Metropolian’s collection. Embroideries were produced in many contexts throughout the far-reaching Ottoman Empire, from the imperial court ateliers of Istanbul to the provincial private sphere. Domestic embroideries such as this typically were made within the home for personal consumption, or for limited sale. It has been suggested that these large embroidered pieces may have served as coverlets or wall hangings.[1] Surviving examples date from as early as the sixteenth century, with production continuing well into the nineteenth century.

The pattern of this piece—a meandering red, yellow, and green garland lattice enclosing floral-filled medallions edged with blue flamelike borders—finds its echo on a similar textile in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.[2] Such ogival designs were likely inspired by the patterning of more luxurious Ottoman silk lampas textiles of the sixteenth century.[3] Unlike the contemporary silks, however, where the design was woven into the fabric through the use of a complex drawloom system, the patterns of these embroideries were created entirely by hand, stitch by stitch with needle and thread, worked in colored silk on a simple loosely woven plain-weave linen ground.

This cover is composed of three separate pieces; only a subtle color variation in the blue thread reveals the divisions. Since the linen foundation fabrics for these pieces often were woven on small looms, making larger covers required joining several loom widths to achieve the desired size.[4] Perhaps to enable a division of labor, the embroidery of the individual panels was completed separately before they were assembled. To ensure alignment of the final design, an underdrawing—still visible on this piece—was provided to guide the hand of the embroiderer.

Denise-Marie Teece in [Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar 2011]

Footnotes:

1. Krody 2000, p. 71.

2. See Ellis, Marianne, and Jennifer Wearden. Ottoman Embroidery. London, 2001, pl. 3, p. 33, and entry on p. 16. See also what appears to be a third piece with similar pattern published in Wace, A. J. B. Mediterranean and Near Eastern Embroideries from the Collection of Mrs. F. H. Cook. 2 vols. London, 1935, pl. 109.

3. See, for example, cats. 229b (no. 44.41.2) and 229c (no. 32.79) in this catalogue. These, along with other ogival-pattern silks of the period, are published in Atasoy et al. 2001, pls. 57, 58.

4. Krody 2000, p. 35.

George D. Pratt, New York (until 1929; gifted to MMA)

Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammedan Decorative Arts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1930. pp. 224, 227, ill. fig. 141 (b/w).

Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. p. 274, ill. fig. 182 (b/w).

Krody, Sumru Berger. "Four Centuries of Ottoman Embroidery." In Flowers of Silk & Gold. Washington: Merrell Publishers Limited, 2000. pp. 35, 71 (related).

Atasoy, Nurhan, Walter B. Denny, Louise W. Mackie, and Hulya Tezcan. IPEK: imperial Ottoman silks and velvets, edited by Julian Raby, and Alison Effeny. London: Azimuth Editions, 2001. ill. pls. 57, 58, (MMA objects 44.41.2 and 32.79).

Ekhtiar, Maryam, Priscilla P. Soucek, Sheila R. Canby, and Navina Haidar, ed. Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. no. 233, pp. 327–28, ill. (color).