1700 / 1799, Turkey

1700 / 1799, Turkey

Identifier
554 to B-1899
Collection
Material
Technique
Depiction
Production time
Production place

Description

A bath wrap was a large cloth made from three widths of fabric. People who visited the hamman (public baths) would wrap them round their bodies when they rested after bathing. From about the 1720s onwards Ottoman embroidery stopped copying woven designs and became a truly creative art form. Designers introduced new, lifelike floral decorations, many of which were very detailed. They allowed some floral decorations to sway and sweep across the fabric. Some were stylised. All decorations were worked in soft colours often enriched with metal thread. The colours of many 18th century embroideries were originally very bright but they have faded to pleasing pastel shades. Linen embroidered with silk in double running in steps, double running variations and satin stitch. The deep border consists of two fine blue, stems which curve and join at the bottom, bear small pointed green leaves and white flowers and large red, pink and white or blue, pink and white blossoms. These larger blossoms form five bands in which the colours alternate.