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Document Details :

Title: Shoehorns in Late Ottoman Turkey
Author(s): FREMBERGEN, Jürgen Wasim
Journal: Turcica
Volume: 32    Date: 2000   
Pages: 85-109
DOI: 10.2143/TURC.32.0.464

Abstract :
This paper deals with metal shoehorns in late Ottoman Turkey (most of them cast in brass), which are from various private and public collections. The handles of the shoehorns studied here are figuratively decorated with dragons, snakes, birds, horses, and in one case also a human face. The animal heads are either shaped in a relatively naturalistic way or show different degrees of stylization. The descriptions of the different types of shoehorns are followed by a discussion of the motifs, their symbolic meaning, and their significance in folk tradition.

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