The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Kerchief (Tensifa)

Kerchief (Tensifa)

1700–1899
embroidery: silk, gold, and silver on linen
Overall: 241.9 x 39.4 cm (95 1/4 x 15 1/2 in.)
Gift of J. H. Wade 1916.1238
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This textile was exhibited in CMA's first-ever exhibition in 1916. While it is from North Africa, it was displayed in the "Nearer East" room.

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 lavish, radiating gold and silver thread.
  • ?–1916
    Mr. Jeptha Homer Wade II [1857–1926] and Mrs. Ellen Garretson Wade [1859–1917], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1916–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • 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 1, no. 16
  • Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 2015-December 19, 2016).
  • {{cite web|title=Kerchief (Tensifa)|url=false|author=|year=1700–1899|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1238