Object name: Dress / Donor: University of Oxford / Function: 5.3 Objects relating to the Secular and Quasi-religious Rites, Pageants, and Drama - Hearst Museum Portal Search Results

Start Over Object name Dress Donor University of Oxford Function 5.3 Objects relating to the Secular and Quasi-religious Rites, Pageants, and Drama

Hearst Museum object titled Dress, accession number 9-14881, described as Dress (θawb-dass-- dress that is stored away). Long black cotton dress made possibly of silk. Geometric crossstitched embroidery at hem and lower side panels in fuchsia, dark red, and orange; yoke of red and orange cotton; work; encircling blue band at bottom hemline. L: 1.56M. Sprayed with DDT in alcohol (10/1978) Context: worn by women on special occasions e.g. when guest at wedding, on visit to saint's tomb, when guest at boy's circumcision, e.g. Made by women for their own use. Cost US: $50. The materials are bought from the town of el-'Arish. Women cut, sew, and embroider the dress. Women's everyday dresses are either plain or machine embroidered in el-'Arish. Many, though not all, women also have a hand-embroidered dress like this one for special occasions. The style of the embroidery is different from the machine-embroidered ones. A married woman's dress is predominantly red (like this one); an unmarried woman's dress is predominantly blue.