Taqsireh

NameJacket

Artist Artist not recorded

Dateca. 1880

Place madeHistoric Palestine, Middle East or West Asia, ASIA

Mediumwool, cotton, silk

Dimensions37" x 19" x 17 1/2"

Credit LineGift of Florence Dibell Bartlett

Object numberA.1955.1.590 SW

Collections

ProvenancePurchased at Vester and Co. at American Colony stores. Jerusalem.

DescriptionWine with scarlet and blue cord embroidery, plaid lined. Tartan pattern lining

Old # 2026 Taqșireh (ca. 1880) This jacket is made of a deep red, felted, plain weave material. Its embroidery is very similar, though much richer, to that on an early thob malakeh in the MOIFA Collection (no. 3363). The flowers on both are more natural, less geometrical than those of later garments. Perhaps these two items were worn together. Because of all the branches on the shoulders and sides of the jacket, it is called a taqșireh mushajjara (“an arboreal jacket”). The embroidery is mainly red with some pinks, blues, purples, and greens. There is some couching in gold metallic thread, but most of it is in orange silk thread, with some purple and brown. This jacket is of a type worn not only in Bethlehem, but in Jerusalem, Ramallah, and elsewhere. Length: 48.5 cm. Width: 42 cm. (Palestinian Costume and Jewelry, Yedida Kalfon Stillman, 1979 ISBN: 0-82630490-7)