Catalog: Vintage Arts: Regional Art: Asian: Central Asian: Textiles (217)

A Kuchi dress from Afghanistan from the second half of 20th century. The dress bodice has a front slit with button closure, and dense silk embroidery adorns the bodice, sleeve ends, and bottom hem. The embroidery is mostly satin stitch, with ladder stitch and herringbone stitch on black cotton. The embroidered sleeve bands and bottom embroidered band are 2 inches in width. The printed fabric is cotton, with small turquoise, yellow and red motifs on a black background. Condition of the dress is overall excellent, except for small sections where the embroidery has worn thin, mostly around the neckline, sleeve bands, and bottom hem band. Bodice: 11 3/4 x 15 1/2". Bust: 20" (armpit to armpit). Waist: 17". Hips: 32". Sleeve length (armpit to sleeve hem): 23". Shoulder to sleeve hem: 28 1/4". Shoulders: 4 1/4". Bodice front slit: 4". Sleeve opening: 19". Total length of dress: 53". Bottom hem of dress: 98".

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. Filling stitch is used on the flap to produce a diagonal design which is set inside another row of satin stitches in white. The background cotton fabric is almost completely obscured by the embroidery. This is a simple yet complex piece of embroidery. It measures 4 x 4 inches when closed, 4 x 6 1/8 inches when opened.

In mostly satin stitch and cross stitch in silk thread, this piece measures 45½ x 36½ inches (115.6 x 92.7 cm). Saye goshe are an Uzbek V-shaped fringed hanging used to decorate piles of quilts when they are stored during the day. The blazing colors on this textile depict traditional Uzbek motifs with stylized pomegranate flowers. Still living in yurts, the Lakai Uzbek have perfected the interior decoration of their homes. The yurt is embellished with bands, cushions and covers for the bed linen which is folded against the walls during the day. The Uzbeks have preserved the traditions and embroideries of Central Asia. Condition: Excellent. Age: Second half of 20th century.

This is an old textile piece from Afghanistan, circa mid 20th century, made by Pashtuns from Ghazni province. It is a child's dress front. The textile features traditional motifs in cross stitch, silk thread in yellow, green and blue on a cotton background. There is metallic braiding appliqued on the sides and metallic silver couching at the top. The side tabs at the bottom are executed in herringbone stitch on a white cotton background. The piece is trimmed with blue glass beads at the collar (blue glass beads are traditionally used to ward off evil), and multi colored beads down the front and at the bottom. Traditional Pashtun dress yokes have a yoke under the neckline from which long panels of fabric flow. Sleeves are typically wide, and they wear matching cuffed pants (shalwar) underneath. The garments are decorated with embroidery at the yoke, the bottom of the sleeves and the cuff of the pants. When a garment wears out, they remove the embroidered areas and re-use them in a new piece so that their progeny may share some of the original outfit. The back side of this piece is a red printed cotton. It measures 12 x 21.1 inches (30.5 x 53.6 cm). Condition of the textile is excellent.

Measuring 10¾ inches x 16 inches, this child's dress front is from Jaghori in Ghazni province. Estimated age is mid 20th century. The embroidery is amazingly precise, fine cross stitch in silk thread, while the back is a pink printed fabric probably from Russia. The edges are adorned with metallic Bokhara couching and a gold braid that frames the overall design. The bottom tabs depict rosettes in silk floss in satin stitch on white cotton. Condition of this piece is almost excellent, but there is some fraying at the shoulder hems.

The Mangal are one of the largest and perhaps the most powerful and influential Pashtun tribes, residing mostly in Southeastern Paktia and adjacent Khost provinces of Afghanistan. They are renowned for their independent nature and a long history of resisting British forces, central and provincial governments, Soviet army, and even fellow Pashtun Taliban militia. The Mangal tribe also reside in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, and Waziristan, in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). This child's dress yoke was made by Mangali women and is composed of very thick bergundy silk thread embroidered in vertical bands of heavy whip stitch on a cotton background, with traditional tribal patterns in solid stiches. It measures 11 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches (28.6 x 29.8 cm). Condition is excellent and dates to the early to mid 20th century.

This child's dress front in cross stich from central Afghanistan dates to the mid to late 20th century. It measures 11¾ x 18 inches (29.8 x 45.7 cm). Traditional Hazara pieces (the smallest ethnic minority group of Afghanistan), like Pashtun pieces, have a yoke under the neckline from which gathered, long panels of fabric flow. Sleeves are normally wide, and they wear matching cuffed pants underneath. The garments are decorated with embroidery at the yoke, the collar, the bottom of the sleeves and the cuff of the pants. When a garment wears out, they remove the embroidered areas and re-use them in a new piece, so several generations might share some of the original outfit. This yoke features various diamond motifs in bright pink, yellow, green, maroon and blue in cotton floss embroidered in cross stitch. The neckline is an intricate pattern of densely embroidered metallic threads against a blue satin background. The back is lined with red and blue cotton fabric. This piece features an amulet on the bottom front, embroidered in metallic threads, placed there to protect against evil. The condition of the textile is excellent.

A man's shawl from Waziristan which is part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, considered to be outside Pakistan's four provinces. Circa 1920s. The Mangal tribe who inhabit Waziristan actually straddle the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This textile is very complex, composed of a black woven cotton field and silk ends, with silk embroidery in between. The combination of black cotton ground and silk is used to vivid effect. The piece measures 87 inches by 51½ inches (221 cm x 130.8 cm). The silk threads are in bergundy, turquoise, mustard yellow, white, black and blue. Only the black background is cotton, the rest of the piece is woven silk. Warp-faced, embroidered, supplementary weft, and hand-sewn techniques are all visible especially in enlargement #10. This textile is comprised of two pieces stitched together at the center with yellow thread. Condition: Excellent, just a small spot on the front that may appear faded but this is from decades of wear.

A vintage textile in silk thread from northern Afghanistan, probably from Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh or Tashkurghan. Circa early 20th century. These kinds of textiles were made for domestic use. The back is lined with print fabric, most likely from Ivanovo, a town northeast of Moscow. The textile depicts floral designs around three central rosettes composed of long and short stitch enclosed by linear and curvilinear borders in satin stitch. The background is a bergundy colored cotton. The piece measures 17 1/2 x 37 1/2 inches. Condition: Very good, showing normal wear for its age. No significant stains.

Saye qosha is an Uzbek textile used to decorate piles of quilts when they are stored during the day. Two rectangles of cotton solidly embroidered in cross stitch with multi-colored hooked motifs, sewn together to make a V-shape. Fringes along the bottom in alternating green, bergundy, yellow, red, purple, and white. In their colors and repetition, these motifs are typical of the embroideries of Tajikistan and Sukhanderia in southern Uzbekistan. The length of this embroidery is 25 inches from each upper top edge to the V, for a total of 50 inches. In width, the embroidery measures 10 1/2 inches on each side of the V, including the fringes. The back is lined with red cotton. Condition of this textile is perfect.

A densely embroidered pillow cover from Hazara district in Pakistan, circa 1950. This pillow cover was made for a wedding. Curling horn and star patterns are typical of the embroidery of the Hazara district, resembling both in design and technique the phulkaris of Punjab province. In this district it is typically accomplished from the reverse - the designs are outlined with one running stitch, then the outlines are filled in with another. The characteristic phulkari stitch of closely placed, parallel threads resembles a satin stitch. In shades of pink, purple, green and yellow floss silk on a white cotton background, with covered button enclosures on all sides and yellow tassles on the corners, this lovely piece measures 16 x 32 inches. Condition is perfect, with no holes, stains, nor fraying.

This is a tobacco pouch from Indus Kohistan in Pakistan, probably from Kolai or Palas Valley. Circa mid 20th century. It is embroidered in an extremely fine, solidly worked brick stitch in various colored silk threads on a black cotton background. The outer edges of the bag are embellished with beaded tassles. One side of the purse features zigzag motifs, the other, interlocking diamond motifs. The purse also features a little string that tightens the purse at the top and is used to hang the pouch from the huqqa (water-pipe). The pouch measures 10.8 x 12.1 cm; including the beadwork, it measures 14 x 20.3 cm. Condition is perfect.

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. Cross stitch is typically chosen for motifs set in the angles around 8-pointed stars or in designs with sections of embroidery in contrasting colors, in which the same motif is repeated in various colors, as seen in this purse. The stitches seen in Lakai embroideries are rather larger than the Hazaras' very precise cross stitching. In this case, the design is the same repeating motif, a lozenge embroidered in dynamic color contrasts. The attached string measures 25 inches. This little khalta is in excellent condition (i.e., no fraying, no holes, no stains nor fading).

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. In this piece a hooked motif is embroidered in different colors and repeated in five separate panels to highlight the contrast in color. It is in excellent condition and measures 2¾ x 34 inches when measured from end to end with the braided string and tassles; without the tassles and string it measures 18½ inches in length.

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 children. Traditionally, girls in Afghanistan were taught to embroider from about the age of seven, first following their mother and then other local women. This piece measures 6 x 11¼ inches (15.2 x 28.6 cm) when fully opened and features gold couching and whorl-like designs in herringbone stitch on a red silk background. It is estimated to be about 40 years old.

Living in the rough mountainous terrain of eastern Paktika and over the Pakistan border in Waziristan, the women of the Mangali tribe wear these leggings for protection. Loose, baggy trousers are tucked into them, and they are re-used until they wear out. Very thick bergundy silk thread is worked in horizontal rows on the top in cross stitch, and on the lower part in vertical bands of heavy whip stitch. Geometric patterns are superimposed in random coloring. The leggings are lined in purple cotton. Each legging measures approximately 19.7 cm x 27.3 cm (7¾ inches x 10¾ inches). The dark, heavy appearance of these leggings is transformed by the light touches of color which, though set in rows, appear haphazard. This pair of leggings is in excellent condition. Estimated age: Circa 1960.

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. These purses are used to hold treasures, with smaller versions made for kohl. 6 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches when opened, 5 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches when closed.

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. Strong geometric patterns have been embroidered in satin stitch in bright colors. Though the patterns are stiff and regular, showing no individuality, the constant change of color, and particularly the white beaded fringes and embroidered borders, animate it. It is a very delicate and subtle piece, measuring 23 x 23 inches (58.4 x 58.4 cm).