Talking Hats: What Documents and Textiles Can Tell Us about Each Other

This article seeks to demonstrate that a believed Seljuq hat from Iran is in fact a Fatimid hat from Egypt. For the first time, it uses an analysis of the paper documents that used to line this once splendid samite piece and asks about the archival logic of their reuse. Beyond this narrow question of origin, the analysis illustrates a methodological challenge for textile historians who often have to operate without additional documentary material and sufficient information on provenance. Finally, an attempt is made to contextualize what appears to have been a tradition of sartorial representation when limited textual and pictorial sources have survived.

Liebrenz, Boris. (2023). Talking Hats: What Documents and Textiles Can Tell Us about Each Other. Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World, Volume 3 (Issue 2), 174-204. https://doi.org/10.1163/26666286-12340031

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