Turkish, Ottoman Empire

In this turquoise-blue textile, floral forms are heavily embellished in colored silk floss, gold-wrapped yarns, and shiny sequins. The blue silk fringe around three sides explains a later use of this work, as an altar cloth in a Christian church.

Although the overall design and craft is Turkish in style, the layout is a European-style repeat—not the more typical clustering of motifs in the borders. Sumru Belger Krody, senior curator at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., suggests this work was made in Istanbul for a Christian clientele using Turkish Rococo motifs and techniques.