The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Rectangular, linen white headkerchief embroidered with stylized floral patterns primarily in dark blue and pink and outlined in brown. The pattern shapes around a horizontal rectangular band of plain linen in the center, with two vertical bands of white geometric embroidery on each side. Browns, purple, and green detail the flowers amongst the winding blue and pink stems.

Headkerchief (tensifa)

1700s

Africa, North Africa, Algeria, Algerian embroiderer

Linen, silk, gold, silver, dye
Overall: 260.4 x 40.6 cm (102 1/2 x 16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1237
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This textile was displayed in the CMA’s first exhibition in 1916. While it is from North Africa, it was displayed in the "Nearer East" gallery.

Description

This beautiful kerchief, worn wrapped around the head, was part of elegant bathing equipment that well-to-do women wore while relaxing in a hammam after bathing. The floral and foliate embroidery reflect a fashion that lasted for more than a century. This example is dominated by brilliant crimson and blue silk stitches.
  • Inaugural Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 6-September 20, 1916)
    Victoria and Albert Museum, and A. J. B. Wace. Catalogue of Algerian Embroideries. London: Published under the authority of the Board of Education, 1935. plate 6, no. 15
    Windmuller-Luna, Kristen. "Textile stories from North Africa." HALI 224 (Summer 2025): 54-61. Mentioned: p. 60; Reproduced: p. 54, 58, fig. 1, fig. 8
  • Arts of the Maghreb: North African Textiles and Jewelry. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 3, 2024-October 12, 2025).
    Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 2015-December 19, 2016).
  • {{cite web|title=Headkerchief (tensifa)|url=false|author=|year=1700s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1237