Name of Object:

Waistcoat

Location:

Stockholm, Sweden

Holding Museum:

Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet)

About Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet), Stockholm

Date of Object:

Hegira 13th century / AD 19th century

Museum Inventory Number:

NM 0143/1899

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Velvet, printed cotton, gold metal thread; needlework, embroidery.

Dimensions:

Length 37 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Istanbul or Bursa, Turkey.

Description:

The waistcoat is made of green velvet and displays rich decoration. Silver braid borders all the edges. In addition, the neckline and each side of the double row of buttons are highlighted by a broad strip of patterned fabric. The green velvet is symmetrically embroidered with a design that includes elements of European rococo. The waistcoat is closed by two rows of 17 buttons. Inside, the waistcoat is lined with printed cotton showing flowers within squares.

Waistcoat made of green velvet lined with printed cotton and closed by two rows of 17 buttons. Its embroidery shows European influence.

How date and origin were established:

Metal thread embroidery was the preferred technique for Ottoman urban pieces of the 13th / 19th century frequently showing European influence in their designs.

How Object was obtained:

Purchased from the collection of F. R. Martin in 1898.

How provenance was established:

High-quality Ottoman metal-thread embroideries are products of the professional workshops of Istanbul and Bursa.

Selected bibliography:

Johnstone, P., Turkish Embroidery, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1985.
Taylor, R., Ottoman Embroidery, London, 1993.
Ther, U., Floral Messages: From Ottoman Court Embroideries to Anatolian Trousseau Chests, Bremen, 1993.
Türkische Kunst und Kultur aus Osmanischer Zeit, Museum für Kunsthandwerk Frankfurt, Exhibition catalogue, Vol. 2, Recklinghausen, 1985.

Citation of this web page:

Friederike Voigt "Waistcoat" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2023. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;se;Mus01;23;en

Prepared by: Friederike VoigtFriederike Voigt

Friederike Voigt has an MA in Iranian studies, history of art and social science and is currently working on her doctoral thesis on wall tiles in architectural decoration of Qajar Iran. Since 2004 she has been a project-related curator at the Museum for Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm for Museum With No Frontiers. She studied at Humboldt University in Berlin, at the University of Tehran and archaeology at the University of Halle-Wittenberg. She taught Persian language at several universities in Germany. She was an assistant curator at the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Cultures at the Museum of Ethnology, State Museums of Berlin. Her main fields of interest are the material culture of Iran, especially of the Qajar period, and contemporary Iranian art.
Copyedited by: Monica Allen

MWNF Working Number: SE 25