Name of Object:

Headdress

Location:

Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

Holding Museum:

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums

About Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums, Glasgow

Date of Object:

Hegira late 13th century / AD late 19th century (before 1940)

Museum Inventory Number:

A.1995.24

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Embroidered cloth with ribbons and coins.

Dimensions:

(All sizes approximate) hair-bands: length 70 cm, width 10; cap: diameter 20 cm; ribbons: length 30 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman, or under the British Mandate

Provenance:

Hebron, Palestine.

Description:

The Palestinians of Hebron and the surrounding villages call this type of cap an araqiyeh. It is circular with a pointed centre and elaborately embroidered with red and black cross-stitched geometric decoration. Attached to the back of the cap are silver Ottoman coins. The two multicoloured hair-bands (laffayef), together with the thin black ribbons fixed to either side of the cap, are modern replacements. This type of headdress has been worn in the Hebron area from the late AH 13th century / AD late 19th century to the present day. During the British mandate in Palestine, the hair-bands (which were used for tying up the hair into a round bun that rested on the back of the neck) were much longer and were made of plaited woollen thread. This headdress was made for everyday use.

The Palestinian women of Hebron and the surrounding villages call this type of headdress an araqiyeh. They use the multicoloured hair-bands (laffayef) to tie up the hair into a round bun that rests on the back of the neck. The Ottoman coins are for decoration and a symbol of affluence.

How date and origin were established:

Artistic analysis: the cross-stitched pattern is typically Palestinian. The shape of the cap is of the type worn by Hebron women; the Ottoman coins confirm that the cap was made and first used in the early AH 14th / late 19th century.

How Object was obtained:

Donation to Glasgow Museums in 1995.

Selected bibliography:

Weir, S., Palestinian Costume, London, 1989.

Citation of this web page:

Noorah Al-Gailani "Headdress" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2025.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus04;37;en

Prepared by: Noorah Al-GailaniNoorah Al-Gailani

Noorah Al-Gailani is Curator for Islamic Civilisations at Glasgow Museums, Scotland. With a BA in Interior Design from the College of Fine Arts, Baghdad University and three years' experience in design and folk art preservation, she moved to the UK in 1992. On completing her MA in Museum Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London in 1994, she worked as Project Officer at the Grange Museum of Community History documenting the presence of Muslim communities in the London Borough of Brent. In 1995 she was Assistant Curator, Ancient Monuments Laboratory, English Heritage, and in 1996 became Curator for John Wesley's House and the Museum of Methodism in London. She co-authored The Islamic Year: Surahs, Stories and Celebrations (Stroud: Hawthorn Press, 2002) for non-Muslim children. Since 2003 she has been based at The Burrell Collection in Glasgow, working across the city's museums to interpret Islamic art and culture, ancient and modern, through research, exhibitions and educational activities.
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: UK4 42