Catma and Kemha - Ottoman Silk Textiles

143 pp, color figures, pb, bilingual, Turkish / English.

Silk fabrics played an important role in the economic, commercial, political and social lie of the Ottoman Empire. For centuries they were the most highly valued and sought after fabric types, not only because of the cost of their raw material, but because their manufacture was a complex and highly skilled process.

Kemha, which is one of the richest and stoutest of all Ottoman silks, and the brocaded silk known as Catma were fabrics valued in court circles and beyond, used for making kaftans and as furnishing fabrics. Catma was widely used of cushion covers in particular.