Hello my friends in costuming and dance.
I just wanted to take a moment and share my latest find with you. As many of you know, I adore working with assiut and have been doing a ton of research on the history of this luscious cloth. As I have combed through dozens of books on the history of textiles in Egypt, I have found scant few references or citations to this mysterious fabric. As it turns out, in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century, tulle bi telli, what we call assiut, was primarily sold to European and American travelers as tourist art. Hot on the trail of assiut, I’ve begun pouring over period novels, tour books, traveler diaries and journals. Hoping to find references to the way this cloth was made, bought, sold or worn.
On this quest, I’ve begun looking at other forms of tourist art as well, including the ubiquitous picture post card. While there were socially appropriate scenes of camels, pyramids, temples and tombs, there were also a great deal of naughty “French Post Card” style images available. I recently found these two images for sale on the web and snapped them up. Dating to the first quarter of the 20th century, these photos capture the pattern and drape of the classic assiut shawl. While I would prefer to have images of women entirely dressed, I’m happy to add these two lovely young ladies to my growing collection of assiut-clad beauties. Unfortunately the date and location of these photos along with the names of the models and photographers are unknown, lost in the mists of time.
And now, back to work on the trail of the history of assiut. I’ll be back with updates as I uncover more information! ~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina