Artwork Page for Scarf

Details / Information for Scarf

Scarf

early 1900s

Africa, North Africa, Egypt, Assiut, Egyptian maker

Medium
Probably cotton and silver-plated copper foil
Measurements
Overall: 221 x 82.2 cm (87 x 32 3/8 in.)
Weight: 1.27 kg (2.8 lbs.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Edward N. Dekker, Sr. 1974.1058
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

There is so much metal in this shawl that it weighs nearly 4.5 pounds.

Description

Egyptians may have innovated tulle-bi-telli (“net with metal,” also called assiut) after the French introduced machine-made netted fabric (tulle) in the late 1800s. It drew from telli, an earlier metal embroidery technique. Diamond and rectangle designs formed by knotting flattened silver wire into black tulle indicate this scarf’s early age in the genre. Urban Egyptian singers and dancers performed in heavy, shimmering tulle-bi-telli costumes during the late 1800s through the mid-1900s. Elite Egyptian city dwellers also wore it. Similar ones were sold at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and to tourists in Egypt, a possible origin for this example. In the US, tulle-bi-telli scarves were made into home decor and 1920s flapper-style clothing.
A horizontally long silver and dark brown cotton woven textile with a shimmering, metallic surface. Centered are three large silver diamonds framed by intricate geometric bands of chevrons, triangles, and vertical lines. The left and right ends display vertical rows of large diamond outlines. Finely textured horizontal stripes and dense, symmetrical patterns—including vaguely tree-like shapes—create a complex, layered composition across the entire rectangular scarf.

Scarf

early 1900s

Africa, North Africa, Egypt, Assiut, Egyptian maker

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