Woman's Robe (Üçetek Entari)mid-19th century

On view:

Geffen Galleries, From Kashmir to Cashmere

Full-length textile robe on a mannequin, covered in vertical stripes of dusty rose floral clusters and narrow geometric borders in olive green and gold, with scalloped metallic fringe trim at the cuffs and front opening

Full-length robe displayed on a mannequin, featuring vertical stripes of gold and green brocade alternating with dusty rose floral-patterned fabric, with decorative trim along the front opening, collar, cuffs, and hem.

Title: Woman's Robe (Üçetek Entari)
Place Made: Turkey
Date Made: mid-19th century
Medium: Silk plain weave with silk supplementary-weft patterning and silk warp patterning, silk passementerie, and cotton plain weave with silk embroidery
Dimensions: Center back length: 50 in. (127 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Marcy Miller
Accession Number: M.2019.225
Classification: Costumes
Collecting Area: Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes: The üçetek entari (“three-skirt robe”) is a long-sleeved, ankle-length Ottoman garment. It is generally constructed with a front opening and two high-cut side slits that divide the skirt into three sections. Although widely associated with Ottoman dress, the entari derives from Central Asian clothing made to accommodate horseback riding. The style persisted as a staple component of Turkish men’s and women’s attire into the late nineteenth century, typically worn over a chemise and full trousers and accessorized with a belt or sash.

This example features a striped silk textile woven with stylized multicolored foliate motifs within alternating dark pink and pale yellow stripes. Patterned stripes have been fashionable in Islamic textiles since the thirteenth century, at first with Arabic inscriptions and later with figurative motifs. The robe’s edges are finished with a delicate silk cord trim that echoes the colors and small foliate shapes of the patterned silk textile. The sleeves, which extend beyond the wearer’s hands, are cut in the Ottoman style, with a long slit and an angular hem, revealing a cotton lining decorated with multicolored tambour-embroidered flowering vines. These sleeve linings were probably repurposed from a textile dating to the second half of the eighteenth century. The reused cloth suggests a preciousness of textiles; although entari were shaped to fit the shoulders and subtly flare at the skirt, they were generally constructed with both rectangular and triangular panels, which resulted in very little wasted fabric.

Clarissa M. Esguerra

2024

Woman's Robe (Üçetek Entari)mid-19th century

On view:

Geffen Galleries, From Kashmir to Cashmere

Title: Woman's Robe (Üçetek Entari)
Place Made: Turkey
Date Made: mid-19th century
Medium: Silk plain weave with silk supplementary-weft patterning and silk warp patterning, silk passementerie, and cotton plain weave with silk embroidery
Dimensions: Center back length: 50 in. (127 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Marcy Miller
Accession Number: M.2019.225
Classification: Costumes
Collecting Area: Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes: The üçetek entari (“three-skirt robe”) is a long-sleeved, ankle-length Ottoman garment. It is generally constructed with a front opening and two high-cut side slits that divide the skirt into three sections. Although widely associated with Ottoman dress, the entari derives from Central Asian clothing made to accommodate horseback riding. The style persisted as a staple component of Turkish men’s and women’s attire into the late nineteenth century, typically worn over a chemise and full trousers and accessorized with a belt or sash.

This example features a striped silk textile woven with stylized multicolored foliate motifs within alternating dark pink and pale yellow stripes. Patterned stripes have been fashionable in Islamic textiles since the thirteenth century, at first with Arabic inscriptions and later with figurative motifs. The robe’s edges are finished with a delicate silk cord trim that echoes the colors and small foliate shapes of the patterned silk textile. The sleeves, which extend beyond the wearer’s hands, are cut in the Ottoman style, with a long slit and an angular hem, revealing a cotton lining decorated with multicolored tambour-embroidered flowering vines. These sleeve linings were probably repurposed from a textile dating to the second half of the eighteenth century. The reused cloth suggests a preciousness of textiles; although entari were shaped to fit the shoulders and subtly flare at the skirt, they were generally constructed with both rectangular and triangular panels, which resulted in very little wasted fabric.

Clarissa M. Esguerra

2024