Catalog: Vintage Arts: Regional Art: Asian (258)

Living in the mountainous regions of central Afghanistan, the women make these embroideries throughout the cold and harsh winters. This textile measures 25 x 27 cm and is in excellent condition. The embroidery technique is cross stitch in silk thread on an apricot cotton linen background. Estimated age: mid to late 20th century.

This is an old prayer cloth from central Afghanistan measuring 35.7 x 35.7 cm. The embroidery technique is satin stitch in silk thread intricately worked on a fine cotton linen ground. These cloths are unique to the Hazara and used to protect the prayer stone from Kerbala, Iraq, which is a holy city of pilgrimmage to the Hazara and other Shi'ite Muslims. The terra cotta prayer stones depict the mosque and minarets of Kerbala and are traditionally brought back by pilgrims to be used during prayer, where the stone is placed on a small square on the cloth which the man touches with his forehead. The textile is in good condition but has some fading due to its age (early to mid 20th century).

A vintage choli from Pakistan, circa late 20th century. Hand embroidered in red and gold metallic thread on black chiffon to form abstract patterns. The choli is lined inside. Condition is excellent.

Measuring 14 x 17 cm, this tobacco pouch from Indus Kohistan is embroidered in extremely fine brick stitch, cross stitch and satin stitch in silk thread. The beaded tassled edges are typical of the embroidery of this remote region of Pakistan. Condition is excellent, estimated age mid to late 20th century.

Mirrors ("shisha") are extensively used in Afghan embroidery. The silvered mica or glass is attached to the fabric by means of stitched frameworks and encircling borders. By reflecting sunlight, mirrors protect the wearer from negative energies and evil glances. This child's dress front is densely embroidered in silk thread on a purple polyester ground, complemented in royal purple velvet on the reverse. The neckline and outside borders are fringed with dense yellow and orange beadwork with two silver amulets at the neckline. The embroidery technique is a very tightly worked ladder stitch, a hallmark of Pashtun embroidery. This textile is in excellent condition, and its estimated age is mid 20th century. It measures 31 x 32 cm.

Measuring 13.5 cm when closed, 30.5 cm when fully elongated, this charming beaded purse from Afghanistan was made by Pashtuns and is in excellent condition given its age (mid 20th century). Blue and white seed beads surround the edges, protecting the wearer from evil. The stitching technique is characteristic of Pashtun embroidery, with intricate ladder stitch and basma stitch, where the silk thread is taken parallel with the metallic thread, fastening it down at regular intervals. Condition is perfect.

With three inner compartments this vintage wallet from Afghanistan dates to the mid 20th century and is lined with red printed cotton and heavily decorated with woven blue seed beads which act as charms to avert evil from the wearer. Silk thread is intricately worked in ladder stitch forming volute motifs accented with gold metallic braiding on an ivory linen background. Condition is excellent.

This child's hat was hand-embroidered by Uzbek women living in northern Afghanistan. Depicting traditional patterns in vivid pink, green, bergundy and purple, it measures 6 inches (15.2 cm) in diameter and 18½ inches (47 cm) in circumference. The width is 2¾"(7 cm). Long and short stitch are solidly worked in wool thread and reinforced with machine stitching on a cotton base. Condition is excellent on the exterior, with some fraying in the interior. Its estimated age is late 20th century. The Uzbeks comprise about 9% of the total population of Afghanistan and are a major Turkic ethnic group in central Asia.

This is a dowry purse from Afghanistan, measuring 19.5 cm x 29 when open, 16 x 19.5 when closed. The embroidery technique is silk thread in button stitch with herringbone stitch and long and short stitch. Embroidered on a silk background with mica mirrors, a few of them missing, the purse is otherwise in good condition for its age (mid to late 20th century).

The traditional embroidery of Kandahar ("khamak" in Pashto) is exquisitely fine and extremely labor intensive. A piece such as this one may take up to three months to complete due to the exceptionally detailed stitching technique. This is a panel from a man's shirt from Kandahar province, Afghanistan, and dates to the mid 20th century. Measuring 38.5 x 42 cm, the fine geometric designs are densely embroidered in a mustard silk thread with discrete cobalt highlights. The relief effect of the monochrome embroidery is enhanced by pulled work in satin stitch, so densely worked as to almost completely cover the linen fabric ground. The use of the counted-thread technique makes it extremely difficult to stitch directly onto the fabric, thus the linen on linen ground. This textile is extraordinary for the precision of the stitching and the sheen of the silk, which is worked to attract the light in different ways to optimal effect. It is in excellent condition given its age. Enlargement #12 shows the textile from the reverse side.

A pair of vintage hand-embroidered make-up bags made by Pashtun nomads from Katawaz, located in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. Each bag is hand-embroidered in silk thread in a tight ladder stitch on a silk background, with some Bukhara stitching where the threads are held down with separate thread in a couching technique, and one bag featuring some small mirrorwork. One of the bags is lined with printed cotton fabric, probably from Russia. Both bags are estimated to date to the mid 20th century. See Bernard Dupaigne's book (Afghan Embroidery © 1996 Ferozsons p. 27) for similar make-up bags. Condition of each bag is excellent, with no flaws nor stains.

This is a dress panel made by Kuchi nomads from Afghanistan, with mirrorwork (shisha) and extensive beadwork. This textile represents the most common form of the amulet, the triangle. Decorative embroideries such as these are used as a protective element in central Asian cultures. The mirrors as shiny objects are incorporated into the embroidery and are believed to avert the evil eye, or reflect and hold its image thus absorbing the destructive powers. The beads trimming this textile also serve this purpose. Estimated age mid to late 20th century. 25 x 27 cm. Condition is good.

This is a wedding shawl from Indus Kohistan in the province of Pakistan formerly known as NWFP (North-West Frontier Province). Comprised of two large rectangular panels which are densely embroidered in floss silk thread, it is embellished with colored sequins, brass mirrors and decorative metal trinkets, with corded and beaded tassels on the outer edges. The bottom panel is fringed with white and red glass beads. Diamond and chevron patterns adorn the top band, which is executed in minute cross stitch (petit point) and satin stitch in bright pink silk thread. The shawl measures 150 x 224.5 cm and is in good condition, with only a few brass mirrors missing here and there. The reverse is lined with a printed cotton cloth. Estimated age: mid to late 20th century.

Meticulously worked in cross stitch in cotton thread, this yurt ornament (saye gosha) is from Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, where the Uzbeks form 10% of the population. The embroidered portion of this textile measures 19.5 x 20 inches, not including the wool fringes, which measure an additional 5 inches. The width of each panel is 10 inches including the fringes. Condition is overall good with one minor stain and some missing fringes. Estimated age: late 20th century. The reverse is lined with cotton cloth.

Measuring 18 x 18.5 cm when closed, this embroidered purse from Baluchistan is called a "bushkiri" and would be used for storing or carrying valuables and bridal dowry gifts. Worked in a delicate combination of satin stitch and brick stitch in silk thread, the embroidered patterns are medallion, diamond and chevron combined with continuous zigzag forms. Tassels, braided cord, plastic beads and metal-wrapped thread with the interior lined in red printed cotton. Condition is excellent, estimated age mid to late 20th century.

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. The inscription at the top reads "Turbah-i-Kerbala" in Dari ("soil of Kerbala"), referring to the holy and curative properties of the clay from Kerbala.

This vintage Pashtun beaded purse from the mid 20th century is embroidered in an extremely fine ladder stitch in silk thread on a dark purple polyester ground. The thread colors are mustard, violet and kiwi green. The purse is embellished with tiny blue seed beads on the edges which is a traditional feature of Pashtun embroideries. It is lined with red cotton fabric in the interior. Condition is excellent. Dimensions are 11.5 x 12 cm closed, 11 x 22 cm when open.

This child's hat from the remote valleys of Indus Kohistan measures 15 cm in diameter and 45 cm in circumference. Embroidered in an extremely fine tent stitch (petit point) and ladder stitch in acrylic thread, it features a beaded tassel and a horned amulet made of the teeth of a musk deer, believed to repel evil spirits. The hat is estimated to date to the mid or late 20th century and is in excellent condition.