Can You Identify This "Mystery Piece"?

The length of the cloth part of this piece is 85 inches (a little over 7 feet/2 meters), while the width is 62.5 inches/159 centimeters.

It has what look like buttonholes spaced at eight-inch intervals around the perimeter, including at the bottom, which is tapered, and a kind of lace top/hood.

Judging from the initials that were sewn into it, it dates back about 100 years and would have been acquired in either Russia or Lithuania.

My late grandmother had been saving it for sentimental reasons. I would like to learn what purpose it served.

Any assistance in that regard would be most appreciated.

 

A curtain?

 

If you can open it up, lay it on the floor and take a photo of the entire thing.

 

Some sort of head wrap?

 

Top sheet for baby's crib.

 

Please see uploaded image.

 

Enlarged & brightened......and I have no idea what it is....button holes on all four sides...........

​

 

I'm going guess it is a tablecloth with removable crochet panels. It may have also had a second tablecloth atop it. I assume it would make cleaning it an easier job. (But what do I know about such things either? ) I did a quick search and did not find any such thing, but if it's homemade it could make sense.

 

I'll suggest a duvet cover with headrest...

 

There is now some reason to believe that this is part of a wedding gown/outfit (explanation available upon request). If anyone can refer me to a place where someone might be knowledgeable about Russian wedding gowns circa 1915, that would be most appreciated.

 

@IvaPan

 

I can't see the initials, can a photo of them be provided?
Otherwise it can be a wedding gown, I will try to find some information, if it is indeed in Cyrillic Russian.

 

It does not look like anything in the Russian wedding outfit tradition.
Some links in Russian
крестьянский свадебный наряд царской России
https://svadbavo.ru/journal/podgotovka-k-svadbe/svadba-v-stile/russkiy_kostum/
https://slavmoda.com/russkij-svadebnyj-naryad/

I'd assume Komo is right, it looks to me more like bed sheet or duvet rather than something to be put on by a woman. Besides its measurements are way too big to be used as a gown even by today's standard, having in mind that women in the past were much shorter than now, about 1,40-1,50 cm.

Now as I ponder on the cloth, it comes to me it could be a special bed sheet for the first wedding night to be used for certification of bride's virginity and then removed and kept as a proof.

 

it would need an opening for male and female parts to find each other.....in wedding bliss !

 

Hmmm... a real puzzler!

What is the fabric content? Silk or cotton?

Are the two bottom corners both angled? or squared off?

I'm very puzzled by the fact that the button holes don't extend to the corners.

You mentioned it may be part of a Russian or Lithuanian wedding ceremony. Is it possible that it was Jewish Russian or Jewish Lithuanian ceremony? As in Jewish ceremonies they use a "Chuppah" or canopy? It seems a bit narrow for that - still... could be possible...

The canopy under which Jewish couples stand when they are married is called a chuppah. The chuppah represents the new home a couple establishes through their marriage. It also represents the sheltering presence of God and the wish for God's blessing over the couple. After the wedding ceremony, couples often find a new purpose for their chuppah, which represents the home they are building together. Sometimes used for decor at the reception or set up over the sweetheart table for the just-marrieds.

I can picture it being used for that... with the lacy bit hanging down. The chuppah's were draped with flowers, kind of like an arbor.

Do the initials match your ancestor's initials? Perhaps an older generation? I can't see the lace clearly, but I'm thinking that it is machine made lace which would probably date it to after 1850... perhaps 1880 or later.

I can see it as a curtain; but not with buttonholes all the way around - they would only be useful at the top.



Interesting piece anyway... fun to guess it's past purpose!
Cheerio Leslie

 

It may indeed be a duvet cover, with the lace piece intended to cover a pillow. A monogram initial I noticed (see uploaded image) may lead to the answer to this mystery. It is located below the lace piece, along the upper border of the main cloth part. If the main letter could be a K, with an A embedded inside (possibly a J entwined around), that would suggest that the piece was custom made. Otherwise, it would represent the manufacturer. Maybe someone with knowledge of manufacturers of such pieces at the time could offer some guidance here.

 

Thank you so much for your terrific brainstorming. Maybe I need to find an expert in chuppahs/chuppot circa 1915.

 

My pleasure! I would say that since the initials are marked in "ink" and in red thread that they were "personal" initials rather than a manufacturer's mark. "AK? AAK? BK?" I feel it was made by someone for what ever use it was intended for rather than mass produced. LOL... yes, maybe you do need to find an expert in chuppah's / chuppot's! You'll have to let us know what else you learn!

Cheerio, Leslie

 

Once the top buttons are buttoned, the lace piece is pulled over it. A decoration, as it were.

As here, the top of the (top) sheet is ruffled, embroidered, flowered, etc., and turned down over the top of the blanket.

 

Maybe not helpful and off topic but I would like to share a shocking fact I came across while searching Russian wedding outfit - the blood stain on the linen after the wedding night was so important that in the morning the bride would go to the nearby river to commit suicide if this stain was not present. It often happened not because of premarital relation of the bride but because the groom was unable to perform his duty mostly due to too much drinking during the wedding feast. And even the groom's family knew this as traditionally they followed all events during that night, it was still the bride whose fault it was and she would be disgraced and forced to commit suicide as she was considered not worthy as a woman. The material claimed that after adopting Christianity that decreased significantly because suicide is a sin and is forbidden in the Bible. Nevertheless I was shocked to read about it .