Women’s head covering (hood), worn during wedding ceremonies and on holidays – "gargush" / "karkush mizahhar" [Sana’a, Yemen, early 20th century].
Silk-brocade, cotton, and velvet fabrics; metal tread; chains of silver and gilt silver; gilt silver filigree pendants and plates; Maria Theresa thaler coins, some gilt; glass stones and beads.
The back of this head covering is adorned with dozens of 18th century Maria Theresa thaler coins, some of them gilt; the exposed side of the coin is usually the reverse ["tails"] side, the one displaying the Imperial double-headed eagle customarily appearing on Yemenite items of clothing from this period. The upper part of the hood is decorated with filigreed gilt silver plates, inlaid with glass stones. A total of six basket-shaped filigreed gilt ornaments ("zanabil"), on chains, suspended from bands also inlaid with glass stones, dangle from either side of the hood. An additional decorative band is sewn onto the border on the front of the hood, the part covering the forehead.

Height: approx. 60 cm (with chains: 97 cm), Width: approx. 23 cm. Overall good condition. Stains.

Reference, equivalents and exhibitions:
1. Embroidery Work: Attire and Jewelry in Yemenite Jewish Tradition, by Carmela Avdar. Rehobot, E'eleh BeTamar Association, 2008, (Hebrew).
2. The Jewish Wardrobe edited by Esther Juhasz and No’am Bar’am Ben-Yossef. Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, English-language edition, 2019 (pp. 108-109 in Hebrew-language edition, 2014).
3. Juifs d'Orient. Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe, 2021-2022.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 126.013.005.