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

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