Object Note
Part of a lot with two more items (ZI2019.500643.1 PALESTINE, and ZI2019.500643.3 ASIA).
Object History
This piece of garment was purchased by Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli from Kerry Taylor Auctions, London in 2019 to add to and enhance The Zay Initiative Collection.
Object Features
This is a silk brocade jacket (entari) for women, woven with shades of brown, pink, blue, and ivory silk and metallic thread possibly silver. It features scalloped edges and scalloped cutwork cuffs. The hem of the piece is trimmed with herringbone braided metal – possibly gold – threads and has four small knotted (frog_fasteners) on the underside of one of the plackets with five loops on the underside of the other placket.
Either side of the entry displays a long slit with a pocket at its end which divides the skirt into three segments, thus making it an (üçetek_entari). It has another pocket that falls on the right front yoke of the wearer with a crescent-shaped opening possibly used for a watch and fob or other small items.
The field of the entari has repeats of stylised trellis motif similar to (çatkili) – a term used to describe both the motif and the garment when embroidered with this motif – with two different floral arrangements within the trellis repeated alternately. Each trellis is connected with a star-shaped floral motif. While one trellis frames four-star shaped flowers the other frames four small floral bouquets. The entire piece is hand-stitched and is lined with a plain ivory thick canvas-like cotton fabric. The piece stands testament to its years of usage evident from the damages around its collar – mandarin style small standing collar – the shoulders and underarms as well as its heavily stained lining.
The trellis pattern in its embroidered form called the çatkili is famous in the Eskishehir and Kütahya provinces. Dresses or fabrics with embroidered çatkili motifs often also known by the same name are usually worn by women during ceremonial occasions like weddings etc.
At its peak, the Ottoman Empire spanned three continents and served as the crossroads between the east and the West – the Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Eastern Europe including the Balkans till the southern edge of the Great Hungarian Plain, Northern Africa, and Eastern Mediterranean.
After the conquest of the Arab world in c. 1516-1517 CE its control over the Middle East lasted for four centuries until the early 20th century with the onset of WW I and the Arab Revolt. These four hundred years witnessed many instances of mutual Arab and Ottoman cultural influences and exchanges. Through areas such as social life and art – decorative and performing –we come across several instances of Arab and Turkish culture blending together through the centuries.
Just as European fashion was often inspired by the French court this socio-cultural blending between Ottoman Turkey and the Middle East was clearly reflected in its fashion and material culture.
Thus, while emulating Ottoman fashion as the mark of class in the Arab world was one side of the puzzle adapting Eastern European fashion particularly Balkan as part of mainstream couture culture because of the sizable Balkan population within the Empire was another. Therefore, it is not surprising to find several articles of clothing and their terms similar between the two cultures.
Links
- Cangökçe, Hadiye, et al. Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun Son Döneminden Kadın Giysileri = Women’s Costume of the Late Ottoman Era from the Sadberk Hanım Museum Collection. Sadberk Hanım Museum, 2010.
- Küçükerman, Önder, and Joyce Matthews. The Industrial Heritage of Costume Design in Turkey. GSD Foreign Trade Co. Inc, 1996.
- AĞAÇ, Saliha, and Serap DENGİN. “The Investigation in Terms of Design Component of Ottoman Women Entari in 19th Century and Early 20th Century.” International Journal of Science Culture and Sport (IntJSCS), vol. 3, no. 1, Mar. 2015, pp. 113–125. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/91778
- Parker, Julianne. “OTTOMAN AND EUROPEAN INFLUENCE IN THE NINTEENTH-CENTURY BRIDAL COLLECTION OF THE AZEM PALACE, DAMASCUS, SYRIA.” Journal of Undergraduate Research: Brigham Young University, 18 Sept. 2013. http://jur.byu.edu/?p=6014
- Koç, Adem. “The Significance and Compatibility of the Traditional Clothing-Finery Culture of Women in Kutahya in Terms of Sustainability.” Milli Folklor , vol. 12, no. 93, Apr. 2012. 184. https://www.millifolklor.com/PdfViewer.aspx?Sayi=93&Sayfa=181
- Micklewright, Nancy. “Late-Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Wedding Costumes as Indicators of Social Change.” Muqarnas, vol. 6, 1989, pp. 161–74. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1602288. Accessed 13 July 2023.
- Micklewright, Nancy. “Looking at the Pst: Nineteenth Century Images of Constantinople and Historic Documents.” Expedition, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 24–32. https://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/pdfs/32-1/micklewright.pdf
- Ozgen, Ozlen, et al. “Henna Ritual Clothing in Anatolia from Past to Present: An Evaluation on Bindalli.” Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings, 2021, https://doi.org
- https://www.metmuseum.org/art
- https://collections.vam.ac.uk/
- https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection
- https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection
- https://islamicart.museumwnf.org
- https://www-kutahya-gov-tr.translate.goog/geleneksel-giysi
- https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200703/the.skill.of.the.two.hands
- http://www.turkishculture.org/textile-arts/clothing/womens-garments/womens-garments
- http://jezebeljane.blogspot.com/2015/09/womens-clothing-in-16th-century-turkey
- https://www.issendai.com/16thcenturyistanbul/visual-dictionary/kaftan/
- https://babogenglish.wordpress.com/2016/02/25/turkey-general-information/
- https://ertugrulforever.com/turkish-fashion-2021/
- https://northamericaten.com/turkish-clothing-of-ottoman-times/
- https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2019/04/turkish-traditional-costumes-from-head-to-toe
Donate