Object History
This beautifully embroidered and colourful woman’s traditional robe or (khalat) 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 (yatak) style khalat in plain ivory cotton with heavily embroidered embellishment. The absence of a distinct collar in this yatak is a sign that it was made for women.
The field of the yatak is constructed of plain ivory cotton adorned with heavy (suzani) embroidery in a range of colourful threads including blue, yellow, red, and peach. The hemline of the yatak is embroidered with a series of flowers arranged in a row. The field of the yatak has floral arrangements including large stylised (paisley) with one side of the front opening mirroring the other.
The lining of the piece is constructed of three different fabrics. The primary lining is in printed cotton with blue and green tiny floral motifs while the sleeves are lined with ivory plain satin and the borders are of cotton (adras) in green, (crimson) red, yellow, and ivory.
The border lining is further secured with (butterfly_chain_stitch) in blue thread which also acts as an embellishment. It has slits on two sides to enable ease of movement and riding.
A Central Asian robe or khalat like this is very common around the old Silk Road. It travelled through India and Iran to the Middle East and through Ottoman Turkey as far as Russia and Romania.
In medieval times richly decorated robes or khalat were given as honorific gifts in India a tradition that was borrowed and continued by the British through the Colonial times when khilat a derivative of khalat was used as any gift of money or goods bestowed by the British East India Company.
Thus, it is fascinating how the connotation of a word that was originally loaned from the Arabic word khil’ah meaning honorary robes changed in Central Asia and referred to any robes. However, when the Central Asian loan word khalat reached South Asia its connotation changed back to the meaning of the original Arabic word.
Similarly, the word has been borrowed in modern Russian to mean any robe, while in Romania a derivative halat is used for garments such as smocks, bathrobes, and dressing gowns.
Additionally, the Yiddish and the Ashkenazi Jewish community use another derivative khlat which refers to loose long coats with (shawl) collars. It is also worth noting that these Central Asian long loose robes were often made of or had lining in silk (ikat) fabric also known as (adras) or (atlas) in Central Asian and Uyghur Turkic respectively is sometimes classified as cloud or (abr) in Tajik as the patterns are reminiscent of the iridescent reflection of clouds on the water.
Usually, silk was cultivated by every household in Central Asia, however, the silk yarn dyeing industry was primarily dominated by the Jewish community of Central Asia.
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://rjohnhowe.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/christine-brown-on-uzbek-clothing-part-1-the-lecture/
- https://rjohnhowe.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/christine-brown-on-uzbek-clothing-part-2-material-in-the-room/
- https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000130205
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/regional-traditions/central-and-inner-asia/suzani
- https://asiasociety.org/central-asia-political-history-19th-century-present
- https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/clothing-COM_7759?lang=fr#COM-10186
- https://www.internationalwardrobe.com/lexicon-2/der-mantelchapan-in-usbekistan-2/
- https://www.internationalwardrobe.com/lexicon-2/der-mantelchapan-in-usbekistan-2/
- https://www.textile-forum-blog.org/2023/01/on-the-roads-of-samarkand-wonders-of-silk-and-gold/
- https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/200304/splendid.suzanis.htm
- https://craftatlas.co/crafts/suzani
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