Collection record · Objects & craft
Garment
The collection record classifies this work as garment. It is dated c. 1890s. Recorded culture or place: Africa, North Africa, Egypt, Aswan, unidentified makers.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Garment
- Date
- c. 1890s
- Culture / origin
- Africa, North Africa, Egypt, Aswan, unidentified makers
- Materials and technique
- Silk, mirrored glass
- Dimensions
- Overall: 132.1 x 63.5 x 30.5 cm (52 x 25 x 12 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1916.1472
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
Covered with symbolic decorations, this multitone silk garment beautified and protected its wearer. The khamsah (خمسة)—an open five-fingered hand—figures prominently as a cream-colored appliqué. The khamsah deflected or absorbed al-'ayn (العين)—the evil eye—as did the appliquéd mirrors, shielding the wearer from many varieties of harm. New research connects this garment to an entry in museum founder J. H. Wade’s 1881–1900 travel purchase notebook: “Kalifa’s gown emb[roidered] on purple silk.” A caliph (or khalifah) is a leader of a Caliphate (Islamic state) or an Islamic religious group. Whether this was indeed a caliph’s gown is a point of future research.
FOLLOW THE SOURCE
Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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