In this turquoise-blue textile, floral forms are heavily embellished in colored silk floss, gold-wrapped yarns, and shiny sequins. The blue silk fringe around three sides explains a later use of this work, as an altar cloth in a Christian church.
Although the overall design and craft is Turkish in style, the layout is a European-style repeat—not the more typical clustering of motifs in the borders. Sumru Belger Krody, senior curator at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., suggests this work was made in Istanbul for a Christian clientele using Turkish Rococo motifs and techniques.The line borders, narrow rectangular shape, and non-reversible stitching indicate that this textile was originally lined and used as a pillow or bolster cover. The palette and airy design suggest it was made in the late 18th or early 19th century.
This example is embellished in atma stitching—a particularly labor- and material-intensive technique most commonly found in Ottoman textiles of the late 17th to late 18th centuries.January 22 - July 17, 2016This elaborately patterned hanging, made for an architectural niche, would also have found domestic use. The heavy red weave is brocaded in yellow, green, and blue silk; in the center is a vase of flowers, with a dome and Turkish crescent above and lamps hanging in arches below. Star and floral motifs fill the borders.
One legacy of the 16th-century Ottoman textile artisans is the use of architectual details like those found in this 19th-century example, which suggests an Ottoman courtyard.Ottoman Turkish Interior Textiles from the Aldrich CollectionA decorated napkin such as this one was a ceremonial object, placed on the lap of a guest at a meal but not generally used. The drawn work, called muşabak, is a feature of 19th-century Turkish embroideries. This technique, seen here around each blue flower, creates tiny open squares in the ground of the cloth, a delicate addition to dense floral motifs.This towel is bordered in roses in full bloom, bud, profile, and full face. Roses were a common motif in Turkish and European embroideries of the 18th century. At about that time, Turkish needleworkers adopted the careful shading of colors seen in European woven silks.Densely patterned in a palette of blue, red, green, and yellow, this hanging is one of the earliest Ottoman embroideries in the RISD Museum collection. It features several typically Turkish design elements: vertical serpentine bands with scale-like designs, artichoke palmettes, and the çintamani motif of three balls or crescents. This panel has been patched in several places, probably with pieces taken from its missing lower border.During the 18th century, domestic Ottoman embroideries often revealed influences from Western Europe. In this piece, decorated in a double-running stitch, architectural niches frame the traditional Turkish motifs of cypress trees and urns filled with fruit.
ecrm:P3_has_note
In this turquoise-blue textile, floral forms are heavily embellished in colored silk floss, gold-wrapped yarns, and shiny sequins. The blue silk fringe around three sides explains a later use of this work, as an altar cloth in a Christian church.
Although the overall design and craft is Turkish in style, the layout is a European-style repeat—not the more typical clustering of motifs in the borders. Sumru Belger Krody, senior curator at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., suggests this work was made in Istanbul for a Christian clientele using Turkish Rococo motifs and techniques.During the 18th century, domestic Ottoman embroideries often revealed influences from Western Europe. In this piece, decorated in a double-running stitch, architectural niches frame the traditional Turkish motifs of cypress trees and urns filled with fruit.January 22 - July 17, 2016Densely patterned in a palette of blue, red, green, and yellow, this hanging is one of the earliest Ottoman embroideries in the RISD Museum collection. It features several typically Turkish design elements: vertical serpentine bands with scale-like designs, artichoke palmettes, and the çintamani motif of three balls or crescents. This panel has been patched in several places, probably with pieces taken from its missing lower border.A decorated napkin such as this one was a ceremonial object, placed on the lap of a guest at a meal but not generally used. The drawn work, called muşabak, is a feature of 19th-century Turkish embroideries. This technique, seen here around each blue flower, creates tiny open squares in the ground of the cloth, a delicate addition to dense floral motifs.This towel is bordered in roses in full bloom, bud, profile, and full face. Roses were a common motif in Turkish and European embroideries of the 18th century. At about that time, Turkish needleworkers adopted the careful shading of colors seen in European woven silks.Ottoman Turkish Interior Textiles from the Aldrich CollectionThis elaborately patterned hanging, made for an architectural niche, would also have found domestic use. The heavy red weave is brocaded in yellow, green, and blue silk; in the center is a vase of flowers, with a dome and Turkish crescent above and lamps hanging in arches below. Star and floral motifs fill the borders.
One legacy of the 16th-century Ottoman textile artisans is the use of architectual details like those found in this 19th-century example, which suggests an Ottoman courtyard.The line borders, narrow rectangular shape, and non-reversible stitching indicate that this textile was originally lined and used as a pillow or bolster cover. The palette and airy design suggest it was made in the late 18th or early 19th century.
This example is embellished in atma stitching—a particularly labor- and material-intensive technique most commonly found in Ottoman textiles of the late 17th to late 18th centuries.