“Embroidered shawl from Siwa oasis”
A modern shawl from Siwa oasis from the 20th century, probably the 1950s. Similar in embroidery and colours to traditional everyday shawls tarfottet and wedding shawls troket, also similar to wedding dresses asherah nauak.
The base fabric is handwoven in indigo-blue in the middle part and yellow, orange, white and blue check in the edges. It is unknown how and when women used the shawl, probably wedding shawl.
Object: shawl
Material: silk or rayon thread/floss and cotton fabric.
Technique: embroidery – romanian stitch, cross-stitch, blanket stitch and chain stitch with mother-of-pearl/plastic buttons, on the handwoven plain fabric, multicoloured fringes on both short side, same as embroidery thread, sewed on after.
Dimension: 82cm(B) x 133cm + 5cm(fringe)(L)
Density (fabric): warp 17-20 threads( some parts, two threads in one)/cm, weft 13-17 threads /cm
Place of origin: Siwa oasis, Egypt
Location: private
Other info: The base fabric is probably handwoven at a workshop in Kerdassa, Egypt and hand-embroidered by women in Siwa oasis.
Reference:
link to Similar items from the collection in Musée d’ethnographie, Genève