Cleveland Museum of Art

Turban cover

Date

1700s-early 1800s

Medium

plain weave: silk; embroidery, double-running stitch: silk, gilt- and silver-metal thread

Culture

Turkey

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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.

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