This dress yoke from Bamiyan province measures 34.5 x 41 cm and is embroidered in fine cross stitch in pink, yellow, green and purple silk thread. Traditional Afghan dresses have a yoke under the neckline from which long panels of fabric flow. Sleeves are typically wide, and they wear matching cuffed pants underneath. The garments are decorated with embroidery at the yoke, the bottom of the sleeves, and the cuff of the pants...

This is a textile piece from Afghanistan, probably from Bamiyan province. It is a child's vest which features very intricate embroidered patterns in bright colors and in cotton floss, in cross stitch. The top is embellished with silver metallic threads and the vest is trimmed with green glass beads on the sides, center and bottom. The back is a purple cotton fabric. The lining on the inside is a blue cotton fabric with diamond motifs...

This embroidered cloth from Paktya province measures 22 x 22 cm and is in excellent condition. Eight-pointed stars are repeated in symmetry and bordered by scroll motifs, all executed in silk thread in solid stitchery on a fine pumpkin linen background. This textile is in excellent condition. Estimated age: mid to late 20th century. The last photo shows the textile from the reverse, which is as equally fine in detail as the frontpiece.

This is an Uzbek puttee embroidered in silk thread on a white cotton ground. The technique is a combination of ladder and satin stitch, depicting star motifs in vibrant colors. The puttee measures 7.4 x 55 cm without the string, and is estimated to date from the early to mid 20th century. The reverse is lined with a red floral print cotton.

Embroidered in satin stitch in silk thread on a polyester background, this prayer cloth is from central Afghanistan where the minority Shi'a Hazara people live, comprising about 20% of the total population of Afghanistan. This textile depicts the martyrdom of Hazrat Abbas, the half-brother of Hussein ibn Ali, during the battle of Kerbala in Iraq. Estimated age: mid to late 20th century. The textile measures 31 x 34.3 cm and has some background staining.

An envelope-shaped purse from Jaghori area of Ghazni province, Afghanistan, circa 1930. The silk embroidery is very dense, combining satin stitches with brick stitches into an alternating geometric pattern of zigzags and diamonds. The borders of the purse echo with similar triangular designs. The bag is lined in fine green cotton. Pompoms and buttons are used as highlights, with a card-woven braid serving as a closure. The edging is overstitched in alternating green and brown...

A knotted pile hat from northern Afghanistan, made by Uzbeks. Diameter is 18 cm, circumference 51.5 cm. Circa mid to late 20th century. Condition is excellent.

This textile from central Afghanistan was made by Hazara women and depicts the severed hands and shrine of Hazrat Abbas, the half-brother of Hussein ibn Ali, during the battle of Kerbala in Iraq. The scene is embroidered in very fine cross stitch in rayon thread on a polyester background and measures 47 x 59 cm. Condition: Excellent. Estimated age: late 20th century...

This is a textile of superb workmanship, very typical of Hazara embroidery. The Hazara are the the third largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, residing mainly in the mountainous central provinces of Bamiyan, Ghazni and Orugzan. This child's dress front measures 32.5 x 65 cm. Solidly worked in cross stitch in silk thread, with satin stich on the waistbands, glass beads on the outer edges, and framed by Bokhara couching in metallic thread...

A prayer cloth (mohr posh) embroidered by Hazara women, probably originating from Ghazni, Uruzgan or Bamiyan province. These prayer cloths are unique to the Hazara and are used to wrap the Shi'a prayer stone, called the mohr. At the time of prayer, the stone is laid on the cloth so that the worshipper touches with his forehead the small square where the stone is placed. The stone depicts the mosque and minarets of Karbela...

This is a child's helmet ("khohl") from Kohistan, an isolated mountainous region of northern Pakistan located on the river Indus. Metal zippers, white beaded fringes, silver pendants and mirrored discs all serve to guard against the djinn, or evil spirits. The helmet has a high peaked crown supported by inserted sticks of wood, and topped with a beaded tassel. The helmet falls into a V-shape over the shoulders and back, measuring 62 cm from the tassel to the shawl base. Circumference: 42 cm...

The Hazara embroidery of central Afghanistan is extremely fine, worked typically in brick stitch in diamond motifs surrounded by hooked diamonds. This purse was probably used to store a precious object such as the soil or holy stone brought from the holy city of Kerbala. This purse measures 13 x 22.5 cm when open, 9.6 x 13 cm when closed. Silk thread embroidered in brick stitch on cotton. Condition is excellent, and its estimated age is mid to late 20th century.

This vintage textile is from Bamiyan province, Afghanistan and measures 25.5 x 26 cm. Embroidered in pastel-colored silk thread on a fine white linen, it depicts in satin stitch the triangular shapes that are typical of Hazara embroidery. The continuous supplementary-weft technique makes this textile reversible and either face may be used as the front. Condition: Excellent (e.g., no tears, holes, stains). Estimated age: probably 1950-1960.

An Uzbek knotted pile hat from northern Afghanistan, mid to late 20th century. Diameter 18 cm, circumference 50 cm. Condition very good except for two small tears on the rim.

A hand-embroidered Turkman Yomut nomad's skullcap from Herat dated to the early to mid 20th century. Exceptionally fine ladder stitch combined with satin stitch and couching in silk thread. Condition is very good, just some tiny stains. Diameter: 18 cm, circumference 48.5 (approx. 19 inches).

A small beaded purse made for storing kohl. Silk thread embroidered on cotton, worked in extremely fine satin stitch and filling stitch. Indus Kohistan is located in the province of Pakistan formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), recently re-named Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Persian, Kohistan means Land of Mountains. In Persian "koh" means "peak" and "istaan" means "land of". This textile measures 8.5x10 cm when closed, when opened, 10x16 cm...

A Baluchi saddle bag ("khurzeen") from the mid to late 20th century, measuring 47 x 109 cm. In wool ground with patterned bands in weft-faced, slit tapestry, half pile and half kilim. Strong plaited goat hair loops are attached which are interlaced when closing. Condition is excellent.

A hand-embroidered bag made by Pashtun nomads from Ghazni province (probably Katawaz), Afghanistan. Floral motifs combined with arabesques in herringbone stitch in silk thread on a purple silk background. The Bokhara couching technique is used to maximum effect, where the metallic threads are laid parallel to each other and fastened at regular intervals by tiny red stitches. Blue beads adorn the edges to ward off the evil eye. The interior of the bag is lined in a blue printed fabric. Measu...