157d (previous number (collector's original number))
Accession number:
Acc.4812
Description:
This is a very old well-made piece which must have been very handsome when new. It is made of a formerly red cotton print, a white cotton lining, goat hair fringe on top, and leather panel with flaps on the bottom. The cotton body is 13" long and is neatly sewn to its lining. Goat hair fringe has a twined, colored base and is held upright by stitches running through the tops. Cowrie shells form a grid on the body of the piece. Other cloth was appliqued in parts of the grid, with cowrie shells sewn over some of it. The open appliqued areas have mostly worn off. Buttons with circles of white glass beads have been randomly sewn on to mimic the pattern in the print. The two 1/4" leather panel on the bottom was twined with very fine leather strips 1/16" wide. Lead beads form wavy lines, creating diamond shapes. The flaps are of plaiting, twining, and braids, 5.5" long, are decorated with lead beads, cowrie shells, and some incised mother-of-pearl (?) shells. Z-ply. 10 EPI in leather twining.
Donor:
Joy Hilden
Collection place:
Shabaha, Saudi Arabia
Verbatim coll. place:
Um Ustaid settlement outside Shabaha, Saudi Arabia
Culture or time period:
Bedouin
Maker or artist:
Sweilmeh of Jahena tribe
Collector:
Joy Hilden
Collection date:
July 15, 1994
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Baskets (containers) and Twined weaving
Function:
2.2 Personal Adornments and Accoutrements
Production date:
c.1974-1944
Accession date:
October 15, 2019
Department:
Asia (except western Russia)
Dimensions:
whole— circumference 10 inches and whole— length 23 inches