Individual textiles and textile types»Daily and general garments and textiles»Embroidered Turkish Towel
Embroidered towel, Turkey, mid-19th century.
Copyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acc. no. T.460-1950.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses an embroidered napkin or towel. It is a type of cloth, decorated along the two short ends, which is called a yaglik. It dates to the mid-nineteenth century. It is made of cotton, with silk thread and metal thread embroidery. It measures 245 x 35 cm. Stitches used are the double running stitch, the musabak stitch and the satin stitch.
The embroidery shows a narrow border of trees, stems and small buildings. Above this are two other motifs, including a well with a bucket hanging from a roller, and a large building against tree-lined hills. Such motifs were very popular in nineteenth century Ottoman Turkey.
V&A online catalogue (retrieved 23 November 2016).
WV