Jewish Women of Constantinople (Ottoman Empire)

Text on the back -מוזיאון ישראל, ירושלים The Israel Museum, Jerusalem יהודיות מקונסטנטינופול מתוך: Camille Rogier, La Turquie, Paris,1847 באדיבות יד ל.א. מאיר, מכון לאמנות האסלאם, ירושלים. Jewish Women of Constantinople From: Camille Rogier, La Turquie, Paris, 1847 Courtesy: L.A. Mayer Memorial Institute for Islamic Art, Jerusalem 442 © Israel Museum Products Ltd.;Production period - second half of the 20th century;founders, architects, painters etc. - Camille Rogier;Front Period - second half of the 20th century;Category - Jewish types;Description - This vertical postcard depicts a color lithograph made by Camille Rogier. It shows a man and three women standing in a circle. The man, seen from the side, has a long black beard and wears on his head the usual headdress called bonéta (a cylindrical hat that widens at the top and has a colored turban wrapped around the lower part). He wears a traditional and decent outfit composed of a wide-sleeved cloak, worn over a striped gown. Two lifelike women are standing opposite to him and the last one appears from the back. The three women are similarly dressed with a traditional long cloak which covers all their body. They also wear the common headdress: the Turkish hotoz, known by the name of halebi in written sources. This headdress, which was ball-shaped, was placed on the head and wrapped in one or more shawls to increase its volume. It was an identifying feature of Jewish women in particular. [S.H]