A SILK-EMBROIDERED `WEDDING PANEL', POSSIBLY PART OF A BEDCOVER

This panel was most probably part of a suite of embroideries for the bed, thought to be the bedcover. Young women would prepare many embroideries for their marriage chests. Many of these embroidered textiles were items for the marital bed and would also be used for display at the wedding itself and for festive occasions afterwards. Matrimonial motifs were therefore common on these textiles, as is the case with this current lot.

Although the patterns for these embroideries were passed down from generation to generation and were rarely subject to changes in fashion, we can be almost certain that this piece dates from the 18th century. The same patterns were in fact used from the 15th century up until the 19th century with bird and animal motifs being particularly distinctive to the Greek Islands. The patterns and type of stitches used varied throughout Greece and its islands and are almost like a fingerprint. Although panels like this were originally attributed to the Ionian Islands, the colour palette and strong Ottoman influence now suggest that they most likely were made in Epirus, which was more influenced by Ottoman culture than the Islands. Its capital Ioannina was a prosperous and wealthy town throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, predominantly Christian but its inhabitants adopted Ottoman dress. This is reflected in the costumes of the wedding party in the current lot.

Epirus panels bearing similar embroidered motifs can be found: Sumru Belger Krody, Embroidery of the Greek Islands and Epirus Region, p. 100 and Ionian Islands example with similar motifs: Margaret Gentles, Turkish and Greek Island Embroideries, fig. 46. See also Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Greek Islands Embroideries, plate 1, Elizabeth Day McCormick Collection 43.374.