Double Saddle Bag (Heybe)

Unknown

ca. 1880 · Wool (warp and weft); copper coated with brass metal strip wrapped around cotton core (weft); slit tapestry (kilim), weft-faced plain weave, diagonal ridge sumak outline, closure in oblique plaiting, and plaited warp fringe (front); weft-faced plain weave (back) · Islamic Art

This bag features the slit tapestry technique (also called kilim). Its metal threads add a note of luxury and were intended to ward off evil spirits. The strip of pure copper is coated on one side with brass to imitate gold. The closure is finished with oblique interlacing and flat plaits, which serve as loops for the innovative closure. The kilim textiles associated with the market town of Reyhanlı, on the Turkey-Syria border, were produced by groups who moved between the pastures of the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean shores.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1880

Medium

Wool (warp and weft); copper coated with brass metal strip wrapped around cotton core (weft); slit tapestry (kilim), weft-faced plain weave, diagonal ridge sumak outline, closure in oblique plaiting, and plaited warp fringe (front); weft-faced plain weave (back)

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Gift of Inger G. and William B. Ginsberg, 2015