Object History
This colourful woman’s tunic native to the Kacchi district of Balochistan province in Pakistan was purchased by Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli at the Sharjah Islamic market (suq), recently named The Blue Souk – an outstanding market for antiques in the UAE – in 1997. It was eventually added to The Zay Initiative to enhance its collection.
Object Features
This is a typical woman’s dress from the Kochi nomadic tribes – also colloquially Kacchi – primarily from Afghanistan but also native to parts of Pakistan and Iran. It has a brown velvet skirt and an orange silk bodice.
It is heavily embroidered with (suzani) style embroidery in a variety of coloured wool using heavy (blanket_stitch) and (chain_stitch). It has been heavily embellished with tightly beaded ornamental elements or (gul_i_peron) composed of multi-coloured plastic beads on the (bodice_yoke)/(yoke) – front and back – and the sleeves. Apart from the beads and thread work, the dress is also embellished with an array of plastic buttons and coins of denomination of 25 p. that reads “Hukumat Pakistan” or Government of Pakistan in Urdu minted in Pakistan c.1991.
Apart from that, the piece has corded tassels with plastic beads in orange, blue purple, red and mustard with plum, green, red, black and purple woollen threads. The lining in the piece is mostly linen and cotton with quilted-style running stitches.
The sleeves are broad and loose also packed with geometric gul_i_peron beading embellishment as well as suzani embroidered embellishment in yellow, green, and red, and two different shades of blue, ivory and pink. The front opening of the yoke has hook and eye fastenings.
The back of the yoke has a printed woollen rectangular patch with pink floral and green foliage motifs. Small mirrors are sewn into the patch as embellishment along with floral and geometric motifs embroidered in shiny red metallic thread.
The hem of the skirt has a broad border in ivory wool and silver metal foil wrapped around the woollen threads and silver-coloured metal cords. It is further secured at the underside with a blue cotton fabric with quilting style running stitch that also serves as a lining to the embroidered part of the skirt thus preventing the embroidered materials from uncomfortably rubbing against the skin of the wearer as well as preventing the embroidery from easy damage.
The edging of the skirt is finished with a series of yellow plastic beading. It is a front-open girl’s / woman’s dress with a high waist. The back of the yoke and the underarms also have patchwork.
One side of the skirt has a pocket the edges of which are decorated with a broad band of beading, and suzani embroidered woollen trims with mirror work. The brown velvet skirt is splattered with a repeat of floral motifs executed with metal and glitter pasted to the skirt – a technique very famous during c. The 1990s throughout South Asia. The skirt also displays a distinct frill that is made by folding the fabric of the skirt and stitching it in the underside.
Interestingly, most of these dresses that are found in the West today are samples from c. 1970s Afghanistan. Although traditional women’s dresses of nomadic pastoral tribes, the flamboyancy of these dresses became synonymous with Afghanistan thus identifying the country to the west, especially during the hippie era.
Links
- Valérie Bérinstain, Mary Hunt Kahlenberg, Zaira Mis, Marcel Mis. Asian Costumes and Textiles from the Bosphorus to Fujiyama: The Zaira and Marcel Mis Collection. California: Skira, 2001.
- Suleman, Fahmida. Textiles of the Middle East and Central Asia (British Museum) The Fabric of Life. London: Thames and Hudson, 2017.
- Embroidery from Afghanistan Fabric, folios. Sheila Paine. Washington: University of Washington Press, 2006.
- Sukhareva, Olʹga Aleksandrovna. Suzani: Central Asian Decorative Embroidery. Samarkand: SMI Asia, 2013.
- https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/clothing-COM_7759?lang=fr#COM-10186
- https://trcleiden.nl/trc-digital-exhibition/index.php/dressing-the-stans/item/109-decorative-needlework
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-digital-exhibition/index.php/afghan-dress/item/72-hamid-karzai-and-afghan-unification
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-digital-exhibition/index.php/afghan-dress/item/74-baluchi-dress
- https://www.wearableheritage.com/gul-i-peron
- https://www.ancientbeadwork.com/gul-i-peron
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-digital-exhibition/index.php/afghan-dress/item/77-pashtun-dress
Donate