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Source Description
In the Turkish houses of old, covers like this one were draped around mirrors as decoration during the day and hung over them before sunset: there was a superstition that if one looked into a mirror at night, one might see the devil's reflection. The cover is embroidered with a double running stitch, making the decoration visible on both sides of the cloth. The floral ornament is inspired by earlier Ottoman glazed ceramics.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
13249
label
Mirror Cover
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
13249
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Mirror Cover
description
In the Turkish houses of old, covers like this one were draped around mirrors as decoration during the day and hung over them before sunset: there was a superstition that if one looked into a mirror at night, one might see the devil's reflection. The cover is embroidered with a double running stitch, making the decoration visible on both sides of the cloth. The floral ornament is inspired by earlier Ottoman glazed ceramics.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
18th century (Ottoman)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Textiles
textiles
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
143.8
height
51.5
dimensionsRaw
56 5/8 x 20 1/4 in. (143.8 x 51.5 cm)
Source extras
med
silk embroidery on linen
creator_ids
2431
collection_ids
ISL
TAF
exhibition_ids
2726
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
728c593dc6d6643a
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
b88e41c5bda2e3a8
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
75257abe57e13c70
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no