Ottoman Applique and Embroidered Textile

This extraordinary felt applique represents a prayer niche and recalls poetic notions of paradise and abundance. It was stitched in the 18th century in the Ottoman Balkans, most probably Bosnia. Stylistically, this piece draws on early Neo-Classical streams that were popular in the Ottoman empire, an empire that stretched across both Europe and Asia. Very few of these appliques survive and this piece is in remarkably good condition for its age.