Shatweh

NameHeaddress

Artist Artist unrecorded

Datelate 19th century

Place madeBethlehem, West Bank, Palestine Territory, Middle East or West Asia, Asia

MediumCotton, silk, gold and silver, coral

Dimensions6 5/16 × 4 3/4 in. (16 × 12 cm)

Credit LineMuseum of International Folk Art, gift of Florence Dibell Bartlett, A.1955.1.589 SW

Object numberA.1955.1.589 SW

Collections

DescriptionOrange, purple, red and green silk embroidered fez shaped headdress with 3 rows of silver coins and one row of silver pendants across top front. A coin tassel made up of 11 coins down back. One row of gold coins at front edge with 3 rows of coral beads above. Ear flaps of coloured embroidery with triangular metal pendants over them with 5 chain pendants and 10 moon-shaped dangles attached to the chains.

Old #2025 Shațweh (late nineteenth century) (Fig. 13 and Plate 8) This hat is decorated with multicolored silk embroidery and couching on each side of a vertical row of coins which runs down the center back. Across the upper front are three horizontal rows of coins which are pierced and sewn on. Beneath these is a single row of smaller decorative coinlike tokens. Below this row are three rows of tubular coral beads. Three gold coins are evenly spaced on top of the coral section. Finally, there is a single row of smaller gold coins, along the lower edge of the hat, which hangs over the wearer’s brow. All of the coins are Ottoman. They were minted in Istanbul and bear the following dates according to the Muslim calendar: A.H. 1171, 1187, 1203, and 1223, which correspond to A.D. 1757–58, 1773–74, 1788–89, and 1808–9, respectively, on the Gregorian calendar. This shațweh was held in place with a zenāq (chin chain) similar to no. 2025 in the Collection. The zenāq was attached by a hook to the ear-flaps on each side. Also hooked on to each flap is a triangular silver piece (called in Arabic șijāb because it is shaped like an amulet) from which five short chains with crescents are suspended. Both the sign of the crescent moon and the number five are considered to be particularly strong protection against the Evil Eye. Height: 16 cm. Diameter: 14.5 cm. (Palestinian Costume and Jewelry, Yedida Kalfon Stillman, 1979 ISBN: 0-82630490-7)