Cleveland Museum of Art

Headdress

Date

1800s

Medium

Linen, shells, glass beads, metal coins

Culture

probably southeastern Europe, Balkans

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This long, colorful headdress would hang over the head and down a woman's back. It consists of several panels of linen sewn together, and densely embroidered with silk thread. On the middle panel, small black, red, white, yellow, and red beads are stitched to create geometric designs. Double rows of small cowrie shells outline them, and metal coins with a crescent moon motif also feature in the decoration. These are first punctured, then stitched onto the textile. The lowermost edge is finished with a red fringe.

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