Headdress

Unknown

early 19th century · silk, glass, semi-precious stones, metal, cotton, mother-of-pearl · Costume Institute

This object is from the collection of Natalia de Shabelsky (1841-1905), a Russian noblewoman compelled to preserve what she perceived as the vanishing folk art traditions of her native country. Traveling extensively throughout Great Russia, she collected many fine examples of textile art of the wealthy peasant class. From the 1870s until moving to France in 1902, Shabelsky amassed a large collection of intricately embroidered hand-woven household textiles and opulent festival garments with rich decoration and elaborate motifs. The Brooklyn Museum holdings include many fine examples including the majority of the garments. Portions of Shabelsky's collection are also housed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Cleveland Art Museum, and the Russian Museum of Ethnography in St. Petersburg. This forehead veil is known as a venchik. Married women were required to cover their hair lest they be considered immodest, and veils such as this were worn under headdresses. The abundance of mother-of pearl beads make this a particularly fine example of Russian handcraft.

Artist

Unknown

Date

early 19th century

Medium

silk, glass, semi-precious stones, metal, cotton, mother-of-pearl

Culture

Russian

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Edward S. Harkness in memory of her mother, Elizabeth Greenman Stillman, 1931