Lot 211
Embroidered Fabric – Ottoman Empire
Embroidered oval fabric. Ottoman Empire, [early 20th century].
Linen, cotton and silk embroidery thread, metal thread.
Oval fabric entirely embroidered with thread in shades of cream, brown, blue, and purple. At center, Star of David, encircled by vegetal patterns and enclosing Hebrew word "Zion," encircled in turn by band with Hebrew name "Jerusalem" (four times) and circlets, in recurrent pattern. Metal-thread embroidery in margins. This embroidered fabric may have served as a sukkah decoration or, alternatively, as a matzah cover on seder night.
43X38 cm. Good condition. Some stains. Some unraveling.
Reference: Sephardi Jews in the Ottoman Empire: Aspects of Material Culture, p. 90; Shimmering Gold, the Splendor of Gold Embroidered Textiles, pp. 68-69.
