IDNO

P.50948.RDG

Description

Posed studio photograph of three women (two sitting, one standing) around a wooden hand operated spinning wheel.
The standing woman is holding a drop spindle (probably incorrectly) with the spindle itself in her right hand and the carded wool wound around a stick in her left, and is looking into the middle distance. She is stood to the right of the photograph. She is wearing a spotted scarf tight around her hair so none is visible. Her arms are bare and she is wearing white material in the style of a loose waistcoat over a patterned top. The ends of the waistcoat are tucked into a wide piece of geometrically patterned material, which she is wearing as a belt across her stomach. Her skirt is quite full with many folds and made from the same material as the waistcoat.
The sitting woman on the right of the photograph is leaning in and looking at the woman sitting on the left of the photograph. She is holding a bundle of unspun wool in her hands which are resting in her lap (she is sitting cross-legged and at an angle to the photographer). She is wearing a piece of material patterned with flowers across the top of her head knotted into a cap, with the knot on her left. Her hair is visible underneath it and is left loose. She is wearing what appears to be a loose striped dress or tunic, with the sleeves rolled up leaving her arms bare. A wide piece of material worn as a belt around her stomach is visible but is mostly obscured by the wool she is holding. She has a thin bracelet around her lower right arm.
The sitting woman on the left of the photograph is sitting side on to the photographer so that her right side is visible. She is looking towards the sitting women on the right, but gazing at a point above her head. Her right hand is holding part of the wooden wheel and her left hand is out of shot. She is wearing a dark piece of material tied tightly around the top of her head, with a piece of patterned material falling underneath this and down her back. Her clothing appears to be tunic or dress with long full sleeves, and is made from shiny material. Part of a broad belt made from material patterned with stars and laced over with cords is visible on her back. She is wearing a large hoop earring.
The wooden spinning wheel is in the centre of the photograph. The wheel itself is a double wheel, with the spokes of both meshed together with twine or cord. The wheel is resting on a carved wooden frame. The frame and the two sitting women are on a woven carpet.
The painted backdrop has on the left a house with semicircular arches underneath a frieze with pale trefoil-shaped patterns on a dark background. On the right hand side of the scene is the courtyard of the house, with the semicircular arches continuing and a fountain with a hexagonal base in the centre. In the background above the arches there is the minaret of a mosque with two palm trees to the left of it.

Place

N Africa; Morocco; Tangier

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Cavilla, Antonio

Collector / Expedition

Ridgeway, William

Date

circa 1880

Collection Name

Ridgeway Collection

Source

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

The print was found in an envelope now marked C239/ which was inside the wooden drawer I.

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [JD 2/7/2007]