DepartmentTextiles-Middle East
Thobe
NameDress
Artist
Artist Not Recorded
CulturePalestinian
Dateca. 1910
Place madeAl-Qubayba, Hebron, West Bank, Palestine Territory, Middle East or West Asia, Asia
MediumCotton (black), Indigo dyed linen, silk
Dimensionsoverall: 1 M 52 CM X 1 M 47 CM (FROM SLEEVE TIP TO SLEEVE TIP)
Credit LineIFAF Collection
Object numberFA.1972.25.23
Collections
FA. 72.25-23 Thõb (ca. 1910) This dress is from Qubeiba, a village, abandoned after 1948, that was located near the ruins of the ancient Canaanite city of Lachish, about twenty-five kilometers northwest of Hebron. It is composed of pieces of different fabrics, textures, and colors. The front and upper half of the back are of black cotton. The chest panel is of handwoven indigo linen, as are the side panels and the lower back of the skirt. The undersleeves are of black cotton, while the uppersleeves are of indigo linen. The seams are all hand stitched in cotton zigzag chain stitch. The colorful cross stitch silk embroidery is in red, violet, orange, yellow, green, and black. The distribution of colors is mostly random, which gives a particularly gay, twinkling effect. The lower half of the qabbeh has horizontal rows of the qurunful (“clove”) motif in the center of which is a V-shaped qelāyed. The upper half of the qabbeh consists of alternating vertical rows of eight-pointed stars, qāmr (“moons”), and crosses within hexagons within squares (also called sābūn, along with most other designs which are framed in squares in this region). A row of mushūț ("combs”) form the right and left borders of the qabbeh. There are eight vertical columns of embroidery on the side panels of the dress. Each side is identical. The outer columns are embroidered with fanājin qahweh (“coffee cups”), the next column from either end is khēm el-bāshā (“the pasha's tent”), followed by ‘irq el-ward (“rose branch”). The central two columns are the miftāḥ khalil (“key of Hebron”) pattern. The diyāl consists of columns of flowers, moons, trees, tents, and bulūț (“tiles”), a pattern not found on any of the other dresses from this area in the MOIFA Collection. Running the entire length at the top of the sleeve is a band of purple fabric with narrow green, red, and orange stripes called abū ķizz aħmar (linen weft, silk warp). The seam down the center of the abū ķizz aħmar is covered by fish-bone embroidery. There is also some embroidery at the wrists. The yoke of red, yellow, and green striped atlas silk is badly worn. Length: 147 cm. Width: 105 cm. (Palestinian Costume and Jewelry, Yedida Kalfon Stillman, 1979 ISBN: 0-82630490-7)
