The Siwa Oasis Collection

From my personal collection

Full Siwa Oasis ensemble: embroidered white tunic and trousers with a tasseled black shawl

The edge of the map.

Siwa sits deep in Egypt’s Western Desert, between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea, about 30 miles from the Libyan border and 350 miles from Cairo. Alexander the Great crossed the desert to consult its oracle. Until a paved road reached the coast in the 1980s, the only way in or out was by camel track.

A world of its own.

That isolation kept Siwa unlike anywhere else in Egypt. Siwans are Amazigh, with their own language, Siwi, and their own traditions in silver, pottery, basketry, and embroidery, made for their own families and not for trade.

Stitched for a bride.

Siwan embroidery comes alive at weddings. Five traditional colors (black, orange, yellow, green, and red) radiate from the neckline like rays of the sun. The mother-of-pearl buttons are called tutintfukt, “eye of the sun.” Siwans believed they caught the sun’s energy and passed it to the wearer, warding off evil and blessing the bride.

Why you almost never see this.

Siwan textiles were made to be worn in Siwa, not sold beyond it. Before the road, almost nothing left the oasis at all. A complete set, carried out of Siwa in the 1960s and kept together for more than half a century, is exceptionally rare. Siwa wedding dresses are held by major museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, and a nearly identical kaftan is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

How it came to me.

I acquired this set from a woman in Detroit who lived in Egypt in the 1960s, when her husband was transferred there for work with Ford Motor Company.

What’s in the set.

A bridal satchel, a camel bridle, a camel horn, a black kaftan, two black shawls, a black silk tunic and trousers, and a white tunic and trousers.

Back of the embroidered black shawl with multicolor silk tassels
White embroidered tunic and trousers from the Siwa set
Close-up of hand-wrapped tassels and embroidery on the Siwa shawl
Densely embroidered geometric trouser cuff
Black embroidered shawl with mother-of-pearl buttons
Black silk tunic with radiating embroidery and mother-of-pearl buttons
Close-up of mother-of-pearl buttons and embroidery at the neckline
Black embroidered kaftan with coin-trimmed bib and pink tassel
Close-up of coins and pink tassel on the black kaftan
Siwa bridal satchel trimmed in silk tassels
Tasseled camel bridle with mother-of-pearl buttons and silver chains
Silver bells on chains from the camel bridle
Embroidered camel horn wrapped in stitching, tassels, and mother-of-pearl buttons
End view of the embroidered camel horn

This collection is not available as individual pieces. If you’re interested in acquiring the complete set, please get in touch.

Inquire about the set

Only one. Always was.