AN OTTOMAN SILK AND METAL-THREAD EMBROIDERED BARBER'S APRON (BERBER FUTASI), LATE 18TH CENTURY

Elaborately embroidered aprons such as the present example would normally have been part of a suite of embroideries, which included a cloth to drape over the back and several hand towels; these were called the tras takim and were used in the shaving ritual of the Sultan, and courtiers. This barber's apron shows the effect of increasing European influence on Ottoman embroidery during the eighteenth century, as the strong colours of the sixteenth and seventeenth century gave way to more pastel hues and naturalistic drawing. For further discussion of the royal shaving ritual for which these aprons were made, see R. Taylor, Ottoman Embroidery, London, 1993, pp.106-9.