Embroidered “Tallit Katan”. [Ottoman Empire, probably Turkey, ca. 1920].
Colored silk-thread and repoussé (gilt) metal-thread embroidery on linen fabric; cotton cord.
Rectangular cloth, with a long, narrow opening in the middle enabling insertion of the head of the wearer. Embroidered dedicatory inscription (Hebrew) encircling the opening, in colored silk thread: "This ’four corners’… the pleasant groom Yaakov ben Avraham…". Adjacent to the opposite ends of the opening is a pair of Stars of David, embroidered in repoussé metal thread (Tel), with letters of the Holy Names embroidered in silk thread in each, intended to provide supernatural protection to the wearer. A decorative border is embroidered along the edges of the garment in repoussé metal thread, serving as a base for an embroidered floral pattern in silk thread. Four decorative ornaments adorn the four corners of the garment, and the four knotted fringes ("tzitziyot") are inserted through holes in each corner.
The "tallit katan" – also known in Hebrew as the "arba kanfot" ("four corners") or the "tzitzit" ("fringes") – is a poncho-like garment to be worn throughout the day, in contrast to the regular "tallit" or "tallit gadol" which serves as a prayer shawl, to be worn, as the name suggests, only at times of prayer. Judging from the inscription and size of this particular “tallit katan”, it is not entirely sure whether it was made for a young groom on the occasion of his wedding, or maybe for a bar mitzvah boy (who nowadays is also called “chatan”).

Approx. 76X37 cm. Overall good condition.

For comparison see: Collection of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, item no. B50.07.2894; and Esther Juhasz and No’am Bar’am Ben-Yossef (curators and eds.), "The Jewish Wardrobe: From the Collection of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem", exhibition catalogue, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, English-language edition, 2019 (p. 47 in Hebrew-language edition, 2014).
Reference and exhibitions:
1. Istanbul Haggadah, edited by David Arnon. Lod, Matan, 2009, pp. 96-97.
2. Jodendom: een boek vol verhalen, by Edward van Voolen. Amsterdam, De Nieuwe Kerk, 2011, item no. 42.
3. Alles hat seine Zeit / A Time for Everything, edited by Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek. Heidelberg, Kehrer, Jüdisches Museum München, 2013, pp. 60-61.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 047.015.012.
This item is documented on the Center for Jewish Art (CJA) website, item no. 39365.