Garment
Cleveland Museum of Art Object Description
Covered with symbolic decorations, this multitone silk garment beautified and protected its wearer. The khamsah (خمسة)—an open five-fingered hand—figures prominently as a cream-colored appliqué. The khamsah deflected or absorbed al-'ayn (العين)—the evil eye—as did the appliquéd mirrors, shielding the wearer from many varieties of harm. New research connects this garment to an entry in museum founder J. H. Wade’s 1881–1900 travel purchase notebook: “Kalifa’s gown emb[roidered] on purple silk.” A caliph (or khalifah) is a leader of a Caliphate (Islamic state) or an Islamic religious group. Whether this was indeed a caliph’s gown is a point of future research.
| Creator Name | -- |
| Title | Garment |
| Cultural Context | Africa, North Africa, Egypt, Aswan, unidentified makers |
| Creator | -- |
| Worktype | Garment |
| Date | c. 1890s |
| Cultural Context | Africa, North Africa, Egypt, Aswan, unidentified makers |
| Source | Cleveland Museum of Art |
| Material | Silk, mirrored glass |
| Curationist Record | https://www.curationist.org/works/work-cmoa-1916.1472 |
| Dimensions | Overall: 132.1 x 63.5 x 30.5 cm (52 x 25 x 12 in.) |
| Technique | -- |
| Language | -- |
| Date | c. 1890s |
| Provenance | Jeptha Homer Wade II [1857-1926] and Ellen Garretson Wade [1859-1917], Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1916; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1916-; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade |
| Style Period | -- |
| Rights | CC0 |
| Inscription | -- |
| Location | -- |
| Source | Cleveland Museum of Art |
| Subjects | -- |
| Topic | -- |
| Related Content | -- |