This boy's coat resembles the famous green chapan worn by Hamid Karzai, the current President of Afghanistan. These coats are worn in Central Asia including Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, etc. This chapan is woven in silk with a blue cotton shibori inside lining in plain weave, with the inside lapel in brown cotton corduroy. It measures 92.5 cm across the top, from sleeve end to sleeve end. The sleeve opening measures 21 cm...

An old Uzbek puttee dating from the 1950s or 1960s. Silk embroidery on an ivory linen ground, embroidered in long and short stitch, the trademark of Uzbek embroidery. Condition is very good, some staining on one side. It measures 8.3 cm x 58 cm (w/o string). The string measures 31 cm. Puttees are a strip of cloth wound spirally around the leg from the ankle to the knee.

Measuring 15 x 26 cm this charming purse is completely hand-embroidered in silk thread on a polyester ground. The embroidery is a very finely worked ladder stitch combined with Romanian couching ("pokhtaduzi") so densely worked as to almost completely obscure the background fabric. The metal thread around the mirrors is fastened down at regular intervals with small holding stitches, producing a characteristic relief to the pattern...

Measuring 8 x 36.5 cm, this embroidered band from northern Afghanistan was hand-embroidered by Uzbek women in an exceptionally fine cross stitch on a pumpkin linen background. Condition is excellent. Estimated age early to mid 20th century.

A small embroidered purse from Jaghori in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, circa mid 20th century. On fine black cotton and lined with printed fabric from Ivanovo. Extremely fine silk thread in mostly satin stitch, in various shades of yellow, green, purple and brick red, forming small, regular chevron patterns in diagonal across the entire surface of the purse. A white plastic button serves as a closure...

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 man's wrist band from Afghanistan, hand-embroidered by Lakai Uzbek women, probably from Kunduz province. Circa 1970. Solid embroidery in cross stitch with hooked motifs. These motifs, their colors and repetition, are common in the embroideries of Tajikistan and Sukhanderia in southern Uzbekistan. The embroidery features buttons and beaded tassles on both ends. The tassles are bound together by metallic thread. The Lakai Uzbek cross stitch is rather larger than in the Hazara embroideries...

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. Condition: Excellent...

A small khalta (pouch) in cross stitch from Kunduz province, Afghanistan, hand-embroidered by Uzbek women of the Lakai tribe. Circa 1950. It measures 5 1/2 x 8 inches without the beaded tassles; with the beaded tassles, 7 1/2 x 9 inches. The bag is lined inside with red cotton, and the outlines on the exterior are embellished with tassles and white glass beads...

A child's cap from Indus Kohistan which is part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as NWFP). Some of the finest embroidery of this region comes from the area between Patan and Komila, where small settlements beside tributaries of the Indus produce embroidered costume and small bags worked in minute cross stitch and tent stitch. This cap with its beaded tassle is very typical of the region in its use of pompoms, buttons, white beading, and incredibly fine petit point stitch in silk thread...

Embroidered purses ("bushkiri") are used by the Baluch to store and carry valuables and bridal dowry gifts. This little purse is embroidered in extremely fine satin stitch, brick stitch, and ladder stitch in silk thread, forming interlocking lozenge and chevron designs. Condition: some wear throughout. It measures 10 x 18 cm when opened, 9.5 x 10 cm when closed.

This hand-stitched cupola-shaped hat is called a doppi and features satin, herringbone and cross stitch in cotton thread. It has a pink cotton tassle on the side and a braided string at the top. Diameter: 20 cm; circumference: 52.5 cm. Condition: Excellent. Mid to late 20th century.

This Pashtun textile measures 35 x 35 cm and is embroidered in silk thread on a purple polyester ground. Two mirrors are sewn on as accents in each of the two 14-pointed stars. The embroidery technique is a tightly worked ladder stitch, typical of the embroidery of Katawaz. Condition: Excellent. Estimated age: mid 20th century.

Living in the mountainous terrain of central Afghanistan where the cold and snow isolate entire villages for months, the minority Hazara women have developed a terse embroidery style of cross stitch and interlocking eight-pointed star motifs to produce their dowries. This textile from central Afghanistan is embroidered in silk thread on a plain weave cotton linen background. The top right corner is left unfinished, part of this textile's understated appeal...

A finely embroidered textile from Afghanistan made by Hazara women, measuring 12 inches by 13 inches. Embroidered in silk thread in mostly filling stich and satin stitch on a white cotton linen background. Although the embroidery designs are geometric and simple, it is the constant change of color on each of the embroidered panels that animates this prayer cloth ("mohr posh"). Late 20th century.

This attractive hand-embroidered purse from Bamiyan province measures 10.5 x 21 cm when opened, 8 x 10.5 cm when closed...

A hand-embroidered Pashtun nomad purse from Katawaz (Ghazni province) with blue glass beads. Blue beads are considered amulets against the evil eye. Pashtun women, whether settled or nomadic, love rich and beautiful embroideries that shine. Women embroider - for themselves, on their festive costumes and headgear - and for their children and their husbands. Women embroider, not only from pleasure and duty, but equally as a statement of their value and of their love for their husband and childre...

An old prayer napkin from Afghanistan, measuring 10 x 11 inches. It features very fine stitching characteristic of Hazara embroideries - satin stitch on a white linen background, in silk threads (yellow, blue, orange, green and red). The embroidery on the reverse side of this textile is exactly identical to the front side. Estimated age: early to mid 20th century. Condition is excellent except for some minor stain on the reverse side, displayed in the last photo.