Name of Object:

Silk garment

Location:

Jerusalem

Holding Museum:

Islamic Museum, al-Aqsa Mosque / al-Haram al-Sharif

About Islamic Museum, al-Aqsa Mosque / al-Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem

Original Owner:

The wife of Ya’qub Pasha, governor of Jerusalem AH 1245 / AD 1830

Date of Object:

Hegira 1245 / AD 1830

Museum Inventory Number:

111

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Silk with silk-thread embroidery.

Dimensions:

Length exceeds 200 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Possibly produced in either Syria or Turkey.

Description:

An exquisite garment made of silk and finely woven with great skill. It is in excellent condition and it is likely that the owner of the garment wore it for official receptions and ceremonies. The garment is made up of two pieces: the inner piece and the outer piece. The inner garment is a silk robe, soft to the touch, in yellow. It has a simple design that resembles a disdasha / jalabiya (a long, loose flowing garment). This garment has an open collar to the waist, but a large section of the opening is brought together with bands of fabric that can be opened and then closed in a different place.
The outer garment is a loose flowing gown, which is open in front along its length and resembles an 'aba'a [robe] which covers the body completely and allows freedom of movement. This garment is made from skilfully woven, soft silk of blue and white bestowing on the wearer stature and elegance. The outer robe is embroidered in the same shade of yellow as the inner garment.
The embroidery is centred on the edges of the opening of the robe, and covers most of both sleeves; it includes blossoms and vegetal stems which are executed with thick silk thread.
This garment is a good example of fashionable clothing for women of the upper classes in Ottoman society of the 13th / 19th century, showing also individual selectivity and fine taste in the choice of fabric and colours.

View Short Description

A silk garment intricately woven with great skill. It is in good condition and was probably worn for official occasions. It consists of an inner soft silk yellow garment and an outer robe-like garment that covers the body completely. It is open in the front along its length and is made of blue and white soft silk imparting stature and elegance to the wearer.

How date and origin were established:

The piece was dated based on the date in which Ya'qub Pasha (husband of the owner of the garment) governed Jerusalem.

How provenance was established:

This type of silken textile was famous all over Turkey especially in Istanbul, and also in Syria. Besides this information there is no means of ascertaining in which of the two countries it was made, or whether it was somewhere else entirely.

Selected bibliography:

Al-'Arif, 'A., Al-Mufassal fi Tarikh al-Quds [An Articulation of the History of Jerusalem], Jerusalem, 1999.

Citation of this web page:

Nazmi Al-Ju'beh "Silk garment" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;pa;Mus01;40;en

Prepared by: Nazmi Al-Ju'behNazmi Al-Ju'beh

Nazmi Al-Ju'beh is an archaeologist and historian and Co-Director of RIWAQ, Centre for Architectural Conservation in Ramallah, Palestine. He studied at Birzeit University in Palestine and at Tübingen University in Germany. He taught at Birzeit University and at al-Quds University. He was Director of the Islamic Museum, al-Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, and directed various cultural heritage projects in Palestine, including surveys of archaeological and architectural sites. He was a major contributor to Pilgrimage, Sciences and Sufism: Islamic Art in the West Bank and Gaza (Vienna: MWNF, 2004) and is the author of numerous publications on the history, archaeology and cultural heritage of Palestine.

Copyedited by: Majd Musa
Translation by: Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: PA 40

RELATED CONTENT

 Artistic Introduction

 Timeline for this item

Islamic Dynasties / Period

Ottomans


On display in

Discover Islamic Art Exhibition(s)

Women | Muslim Women’s Costume and Jewellery

MWNF Galleries

Clothing and Costume

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