Kurdish woollen gloves
Object
Gloves
Production date
1997
Object number
2010.119
Physical Description
These woollen gloves were bought by a student in Kurdistan for a very cold winter. They were sold by a man who had escaped to the capital city of Diyarbakir after his house was burnt down by the Turkish army. His wife knitted the gloves, which they then sold to survive. The student brought the gloves with him when he moved to London in 1999.
Object history
Knitted items, like the gloves, would take weeks to make. Sheep wool would be used to make the thread through spinning in a traditional way called teşî. Different colour sheep wool such as brown, white and black would have been used to weave patterns colours . Some say that the triangles illustrate the mountainous regions of Kurdistan and objects like this represent the common Kurdish saying of ‘No friends but the mountains’.
Material
Wool
Dimension
Height (Each): 290mm
Width (Each): 170mm
Depth (Each): 12mm
Width (Each): 170mm
Depth (Each): 12mm
On display?
No