Towel

19th century

Not on view

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

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

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

More Artwork

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Qur'an Manuscript, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper; leather binding — Qur'an Manuscript
dated 1268 AH/1851–52 CE

Towel, Linen, silk, metal-wrapped thread, and tinsel; plain-weave, supplementary warp loops in the central panel (terry cloth), and embroidery — Towel
19th century

Girdle clasp, Metal, cotton, pearl, and glass — Girdle clasp
19th century

Towel, Linen; embroidered in tinsel, silk, and silver-gilt thread — Towel
19th century

Saber with Scabbard, Acem Oglu Turkish, Steel, silver-gilt, gold, agate, wood, leather, Turkish, Ottoman — Saber with Scabbard
Bladesmith Blade signed by Acem Oglu
19th century

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