DepartmentTextiles-Middle East
Thobe
NameDress
Artist
Artist Not Recorded
Dateca. 1920
Possibly madeNi'lin (town, near Ramallah), West Bank, Palestine Territory, Middle East or West Asia, Asia
MediumLinen, silk
DimensionsLength: 140 cm. Width: 84.5 cm.
Credit LineGift of Florence Dibell Bartlett
Object numberA.1955.86.929
Collections
Old #3368 Thõb (ca. 1920) Not from Ramallah proper, this dress is more likely to have come from one of the neighboring villages to the north or west. It is very similar to a dress from Naʻlin (more properly Ni'lin) in Weir’s Palestinian Embroidery, Plates 12 and 13. It is made from a handwoven, natural color linen. A transitional piece, it stands somewhere between the classical Ramallah style and the new styles which came into vogue during the 1930s. The red silk embroidery in cross and half-cross stitch is still of high technical quality. There is, however, an inconsistent color change in the yellow and green embroidery. Perhaps the most dominant motif in the embroidery is the qamr bi-rish (“moon with feather”) which appears on the qabbeh, the front and back strips, and the diyal. What marks this dress as being from a village and not from Ramallah itself is the vertical band of embroidery on the middle of each of the side panels. It has several unusual features. The two vertical bands of embroidery on the front panel are not identical. The band on the left side of the garment has a row of cypresses on its left edge, whereas the band on the right and the two bands on the back have a variation of the carnation pattern. The appearance of the cypress and palm motifs on the qabbeh is rather uncommon as well. Some of the embroidery on this dress has faded. The fine silk yoke, edged with scalloped silk appliqué, is now disintegrating. Length: 140 cm. Width: 84.5 cm. (Palestinian Costume and Jewelry, Yedida Kalfon Stillman, 1979 ISBN: 0-82630490-7)
