What is this decorative cloth thing called?
April 25, 2019 4:41 AM Subscribe
I randomly found these decorative gypsy/boho curtain things at different thrift shops and I would like to get more of them off the Internet but I can't figure out what they are called. (Pictures inside)
Here's a picture of the first one. Not a great photo, but hopefully you get the idea. It's a blue and gold tasseled piece of cloth that's about three or four feet long.
Here's a short section of the second one. Again, a ~3-4' segmented red and gold piece of cloth with ornamental patterns and tassels.
OK, so the closest thing I could come up with, search-wise, was a "valance" or a "toran," but neither one brings up similar looking items anywhere.
Valances seem to have hoops or sleeves so that you can hang them from curtain rods, but these don't have any attachment points. Also what style? "Bohemian," "gypsy", etc, aren't bringing up similar-looking items.
Searching for 'toran' on e.g. pinterest, etsy, amazon, ebay, google images, only shows results for a certain cultural style (and searching for say "boho valance" brings up a lot of torans.)
I've also unsuccessfully tried style terms like 'Turkish', 'Moroccan,' 'Oriental', etc, since I've seen similar items in Middle Eastern decor pics. For example here's a large one decorating an arched doorway. (Love to buy one, WTF is it called!?)
Similarly here are two different boho interiors that have similar items hanging from the ceiling like a tapestry-style moulding. So this is something that I own and something I see in a number of interior design pictures, but not something I can find or search for directly because I don't know what it is called.
Here's a picture of the first one. Not a great photo, but hopefully you get the idea. It's a blue and gold tasseled piece of cloth that's about three or four feet long.
Here's a short section of the second one. Again, a ~3-4' segmented red and gold piece of cloth with ornamental patterns and tassels.
OK, so the closest thing I could come up with, search-wise, was a "valance" or a "toran," but neither one brings up similar looking items anywhere.
Valances seem to have hoops or sleeves so that you can hang them from curtain rods, but these don't have any attachment points. Also what style? "Bohemian," "gypsy", etc, aren't bringing up similar-looking items.
Searching for 'toran' on e.g. pinterest, etsy, amazon, ebay, google images, only shows results for a certain cultural style (and searching for say "boho valance" brings up a lot of torans.)
I've also unsuccessfully tried style terms like 'Turkish', 'Moroccan,' 'Oriental', etc, since I've seen similar items in Middle Eastern decor pics. For example here's a large one decorating an arched doorway. (Love to buy one, WTF is it called!?)
Similarly here are two different boho interiors that have similar items hanging from the ceiling like a tapestry-style moulding. So this is something that I own and something I see in a number of interior design pictures, but not something I can find or search for directly because I don't know what it is called.
Table runner?
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:22 AM on April 25, 2019
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:22 AM on April 25, 2019
All Tapestry might give you more helpful search terms/options.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:23 AM on April 25, 2019
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:23 AM on April 25, 2019
Yeah, I searched "Moroccan wall hangings" and this one on amazon came up which is much like the one MonkeyToes found.
posted by mareli at 5:23 AM on April 25, 2019
posted by mareli at 5:23 AM on April 25, 2019
Wall hangings? Are they Afghani?
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:24 AM on April 25, 2019
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:24 AM on April 25, 2019
FYI, the word "gypsy" is a racial slur when used by non-Roma people
posted by pseudostrabismus at 5:30 AM on April 25, 2019 [26 favorites]
posted by pseudostrabismus at 5:30 AM on April 25, 2019 [26 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you for the term 'Jacquard', it is useful vocabulary. Both of my valance things are Jacquard, but that might be more coincidence than essential to whatever they are.
Table runners have the tassels on the ends, while these have tassels hanging on the bottom. Wouldn't make sense lying on a table. Similarly, tapestries (like in MonkeyToes' and mareli's links) are vertical (or at least square), while these are very much a horizontal decoration.
posted by dgaicun at 5:40 AM on April 25, 2019
Table runners have the tassels on the ends, while these have tassels hanging on the bottom. Wouldn't make sense lying on a table. Similarly, tapestries (like in MonkeyToes' and mareli's links) are vertical (or at least square), while these are very much a horizontal decoration.
posted by dgaicun at 5:40 AM on April 25, 2019
Table runners have the tassels on the ends, while these have tassels hanging on the bottom. Wouldn't make sense lying on a table. Similarly, tapestries (like in MonkeyToes' and mareli's links) are vertical (or at least square), while these are very much a horizontal decoration.
Try using those as search terms anyway. You may find that others are not quite as specific about the definitions of those terms and you may turn up more examples of what you want.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:02 AM on April 25, 2019
Try using those as search terms anyway. You may find that others are not quite as specific about the definitions of those terms and you may turn up more examples of what you want.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:02 AM on April 25, 2019
You may want to try searching for "lambrequin". It is an old fashioned term, but may get you closer to these.
posted by Tchad at 6:14 AM on April 25, 2019
posted by Tchad at 6:14 AM on April 25, 2019
The second one looks exactly like the table runner we have.
posted by terrapin at 6:34 AM on April 25, 2019
posted by terrapin at 6:34 AM on April 25, 2019
Table runners often have tassels. The idea is that the runner is longer than the table and the tassled end hangs off the end.
posted by Jilder at 3:58 PM on April 25, 2019
posted by Jilder at 3:58 PM on April 25, 2019
Etsy: Kilim Wall Hanging with Tassel
Vintage Kilim Tassel Wall Decor Tassel Fringe Woven Kilim | Etsy
Turkoman Asmalyk Tent Hanging
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:17 PM on April 25, 2019
Vintage Kilim Tassel Wall Decor Tassel Fringe Woven Kilim | Etsy
Turkoman Asmalyk Tent Hanging
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:17 PM on April 25, 2019
Door surround? That term, plus kapunuk, popped some lovely results.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:32 PM on April 25, 2019
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:32 PM on April 25, 2019
Response by poster: Further experimenting with searches I would now say these items are simply valances, despite lack of hooks or pockets, which threw me off.
posted by dgaicun at 4:26 PM on April 30, 2019
posted by dgaicun at 4:26 PM on April 30, 2019
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posted by MonkeyToes at 5:16 AM on April 25, 2019