Headscarf
Unknown Artist
1800–1815
Medium
silk, metal
Classification
Headscarf
Culture
Russian
Department
Costume Institute
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Edward S. Harkness in memory of her mother, Elizabeth Greenman Stillman, 1931
Accession Number
2009.300.2712
Art Historical Context
This elegant headscarf, crafted between 1800 and 1815 by an unknown Russian artist, exemplifies the refined textile arts of early 19th Russia. Made from luxurious silk adorned with metal elements—likely delicate threads or spangles for shimmering embellishment—it hails from the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Originally part of the Brooklyn Museum Collection, it was gifted in 2009, with roots tracing back to a 1931 donation honoring Elizabeth Greenman Stillman. During the reign of Tsar Alexander I, amid the Napoleonic Wars, Russian fashion blended European influences like...