Thobe

NameCeremonial dress

Artist Artist Not Recorded

Dateca. 1920s

Place madeBe'er-Sheva (Beersheba; Bir Seb'a), Historic Palestine, Middle East/West Asia, Asia

Mediumcotton, rayon

Dimensionsoverall: 1 M 44 CM X 1 M 17 CM

Credit LineIFAF Collection

Object numberFA.1972.25.3 A

Collections

Palestinian Dress and Jewelry

DescriptionWoman's. Black gaberdine with red embroidery. Multi-colored applique applied on front and sleeve edges at a later date. Garment is machine-made and hand-embroidered. Single silver coin attached at neck opening, long pointed sleeves.

Thob (1920s) This black cotton sateen dress is from the Tayaha tribe of the Beer Sheba region . The very large qabbeh with its embroidery covering the entire chest indicates that this is a ceremonial dress . Both the qabbeh and the diyal consist entirely of typical Bedouin geometric patterns of concentric scalloped squares and triangles . These also form much of the embroidery on the side panels and sleeves . Also on the sleeves are columns of rish ( " feathers " ) , shajarāt el - hubb ( " tree of love " ) , and the vaselike pattern known as qānūs ( “ lamp " ) . The lower front skirt has several rows of saru ( " cypress " ) separated by chevrons and triangular tents ( khiyām ) . On top of the columns of embroidery on each side panel is a large muqass ( " scissors " ) with nafnüf ( “ a kind of desert flower " ) above and below and the shajarat el - hubb on either side . Silk heremsy appliqués in orange , green , and brown are poorly machine - stitched on the right and left sides of the front skirt and along the sleeve edge . The qabbeh is edged with orange binding which continues over the red velveteen yoke . The embroidery is predominantly red with orange , green , purple , blue , and yellow highlights.This dress is worn with a thick embroidered belt ( ishdad ) such as FA . 72.25-3b . Length: 139 cm. Width: 97 cm. (Palestinian Costume and Jewelry, Yedida Kalfon Stillman, 1979 ISBN: 0-82630490-7)