The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Turban cover

Turban cover

1700s-early 1800s
Location: not on view

Description

This exceptionally fine, diaphanous silk turban cover represents the highest quality professional embroidery. Shiny gilt- and silver-metal thread and at least ten colors of silk thread—including newly fashionable pastel tones—create three-dimensional blossoms in the central roundel and multicolored cornucopias on the lavender silk ground. In Turkey, square cloths embroidered with one or two concentric circles in the center of floral fields were generally used to cover stored turbans, a function well served by this elegant cover with weighted golden borders.
  • Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 332-334, fig. 8.50
  • Floral Delight: Textiles from Islamic Lands. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 9, 2014-May 4, 2015).
  • {{cite web|title=Turban cover|url=false|author=|year=1700s-early 1800s|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.1481