Art Institute of Chicago

Fragment of Towel End

Republic of Türkiye

Date

1850‒1900

Medium

Linen, plain weave; embroidered with silk and metallic thread; edged in metallic needle lace

Culture

Republic of Türkiye

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This embroidered textile fragment was cut from the ends of a bath towel. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Europeans were fascinated by these intricately decorated textiles and fervently collected them, creating a market for fabric fragments. European influence on the market led to stylistic shifts: the stylized floral imagery of earlier periods was replaced with architectural forms and detailed depictions of nature, as seen in this example. —Atlas Defne Erkan (Turkish), graduate student in art history, University of Edinburgh; School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA 2025)

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