Armenian Embroidery Fragment

Armenian embroideries produced in the Ottoman Empire are very similar to other Ottoman embroideries. It makes sense as the Armenian community  was an integral part of the Ottoman society until the beginning of the 20th century. However, Armenian embroideries have some unique characteristics – dense field of floral bouquets tied with ribbons, no borders and the usage of narrow flat metallic ribbon instead of metallic thread. The handwork is usually of high quality as befits textiles produced by professional workshops.

This large fragment is assembled from smaller fragments. It is probably made from a garment. The red ground indicates that the wearer was a woman of high social status. It is backed onto red cotton.