Cushion Cover (Yastik)

Unknown

17th century · Silk, cotton, metal wrapped thread; cut and voided velvet, brocaded · Islamic Art

Costly velvet furnishing fabrics with glittering metal-wrapped thread embellishment were used to adorn the interior of Ottoman royal palaces and the homes of the wealthy elite. This pieces originally served as 'yastik' or bolster cushion cover. Often these covers were produced in quantity, woven one after the other in a continuous length on the loom, and later cut to size. While these multiples still exist, they are rarely found together. The museum's collection, however, houses another cushion cover identical to the floral medallion example shown here.

Artist

Unknown

Date

17th century

Medium

Silk, cotton, metal wrapped thread; cut and voided velvet, brocaded

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915