Object History
This piece was gifted to Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli in 2022, by a friend who wished to remain anonymous. Dr. Reem included the item in The Zay Initiative collections to enhance and enrich it.
Object Features
This is a black chiffon headband or veil (shambar) with wide patches of traditional embroidery at the (warp) ends.
The field of the veil is primarily plain except for a few scattered repeats of an amulet pattern (hujub)/(hijab), a trident pattern, and red plastic sequins. The warp ends feature a wide panel of designs featuring, stylized (double_axe), the trident, and diamond shape patterns done in (cross_stitch) \ (fallahi) and (satin_stitch ) style embroidery with possibly cotton floss threads in a variety of colours – red, yellow, orange, green and shades of purple with golden tinsel and red sequin highlights.
The warp and the (weft) ends are folded and hemmed in a machine to give it a clean finish. The underside of one of the warp ends displays a tag reading “PALESTINIAN EMBROIDERY”.
The amulet, or hujub pattern showcased here, is a common motif found in textiles originating from the Jaffa region of Palestine, although it is not limited to this area.
Links
- Stillman, Yedida Kalfon, and Norman A. Stillman. Arab Dress a Short History from the Dawn of Islam to Modern Times. Brill, 2000.
- Weber, Heike. ANAT and Her Hero BAAL The Embroidery Pattern Language of the Levant. Syrian Handcrafts Limited.
- Kalter, Johannes. Arts and Crafts of Syria. Thames and Hudson, 1993.
- Kawar, Widad, and Tania Tamari Nasir. Palestinian Embroidery: Traditional “Fallahi” Cross-Stitch. Al-Moʼassasa al-Aarabiyya Lildirasat Wa al-Nashr, 2003.
- Kawar, Widad Kamel. Threads of Identity: Preserving Palestinian Costume and Heritage. Rimal Publications, 2011.
- Dimitrova, Pamela. “The Traditional Clothing of Palestine.” Arab America, 30 Oct. 2019, https://www.arabamerica.com/the-traditional-clothing-of-palestine/
- Suleman, Fahmida. Textiles of the Middle East and Central Asia – the Fabric of Life. Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2017.
- ÇATALKAYA GÖK, Ebru. “Çi̇tari̇ fabric.” TURKISH ONLINE JOURNAL OF DESIGN ART AND COMMUNICATION, vol. 11, no. 2, 2021, pp. 443–453, https://doi.org/10.7456/11102100/008
- Van der Walt, Ansie. “Introduction to Embroidery from the Arab World.” Weave a Real Peace Creating a Connected Textile Community, 1 May 2022, https://weavearealpeace.org/warp-blog/embroidery-from-the-arab-world/
- https://artsandculture.google.com/story/aQUBtwXxH-DhKQ
- https://www.tirazcentre.org/en
- https://encyclocraftsapr.com/textiles-6/
- https://encyclocraftsapr.com/embroidery-4/
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/blog/1503-a-hebron-embroidery-recently-added-to-the-trc-collection-and-what-it-can-tell
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/blog/1316-palestinian-embroidery
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/blog/1281-a-palestinian-embroidery-sampler
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/blog/1149-embroidered-dresses-from-the-southern-region-of-jordan-ma-an-city
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/blog/1183-a-changing-tradition
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