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Large Turkish Towel Yaglik
19th c

A larger towel Yaglik, with curious subject matter and nice fringing.

Guests in Turkey would be offered water to wash their hands and yagliks to wipe them. When everyone sat cross legged at low tables, yagliks were also used to cover their laps from spills.  They were also used to wrap items such as an important letter, sum of money, present, jewellery, gift of fruits or sweets, an article of clothing - all wrapped in an embroidered yaglik or bocha (square cloth). The richer the wrapping the greater the compliment.* In wealthy households, as soon as a girl was old enough she would learn embroidery and start preparing for her trousseau and her home furnishings. 

Cataloguing

Each deep end embroidered with a pair of birds hovering above each of three large motifs, of a what appears to be a table with a triangular display of fruits, flanked by trees, in mid, light pink and ivory silks, one motif with orange, a little silver filé, mainly in murver or pulled stitch, all above a narrow border of a stylised bud meander in deep blue green and ivory,  all on a natural cotton ground with a small self weave , the ends with fringing with a narrow woven band and similar colour fringing.

6ft 4 in x 19 in; 1.84 x 48 cm selvedge to selvedge.

End embroideries 8 in; 20 cm deep.

Condition

The ends are in very good condition. The natural coloured centre has three small holes to one side selvedge , a total of 1 1/2 in; 4 cm long x 1/2 in; 1 cm wide.

Comments

Turkish Embroidery. Pauline Johnson.

Flowers of Silk & Gold. Four centuries of Ottoman embroidery.  Sumru Belger Krody.