long sleeves; bell-shaped hemline; tan ground fabric; dark blue rectangular patches on sleeves, two on front, two on back, and one on each side; tan and brown organic shaped patches on sleeve hems and sides of body; organically-shaped pocket on each side of grey, tan and brown fabric embroidered in tan and yellow with curvilinear forms

Army tunic, about 1890

Unknown Mahdistexpand_more

Cotton, woolexpand_more

The Mary Ruth Weisel Endowment for Africa, Oceania, and the Americasexpand_more  2011.48

Not on Viewexpand_more

It looks as though it were designed for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in Paris in the 1910s, the colorful patches of felted wool giving this tunic a “modernist” look. Yet it’s part of a soldier’s uniform from Sudan, where Muslim leaders successfully fought against the colonial government at the end of the 19th century. The religious Mahdi army wore patches on their uniforms as a reference to the ragged clothes of mystic dervishes, a show of contempt for worldly goods.

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Details
Title
Army tunic
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2011.48
Curator Approved

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long sleeves; bell-shaped hemline; tan ground fabric; dark blue rectangular patches on sleeves, two on front, two on back, and one on each side; tan and brown organic shaped patches on sleeve hems and sides of body; organically-shaped pocket on each side of grey, tan and brown fabric embroidered in tan and yellow with curvilinear forms

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