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Embellished undergarment in metallic straw – UAE

Local Name	Sarwal talli badlah
Object Category	Pants
Gender	Female
Date of object	2000 - 2005
Place Of orgin	United Arab Emirates
Region	Al Hir
Object Range	Asia, Qatar, UAE
Dimensions	Length: 102 cm Width: 40 cm
Materials	Silk
Technique	Machine Stitched Embellished
Color
Motif	Floral Geometric
Provenance	Purshased, Moza Obaid, Al Hir 2005
Location	Traditional Dress House, Al Shindagha Museum, Dubai, UAE
Status	On loan
ZI number	ZI2005.50099 UAE

Object History 
The metallic embroidery () on these underpants (, shirwāl), trousers featuring tapering ankles and drawstring closure of Central Asian origin. They disseminated in the Indian subcontinent between c.1st-3rd century BCE. Although exact period of its arrival in the Arab world is disputed their widespread adoption is confirmed from the 12th century.

) was created by a craftswoman known as Moza, born in the 1950s. She is a self-taught artisan who specialises in making intricate cords/braids ( ) and is heavily in demand for demonstrations at local and international craft shows.
In these underpants , shirwāl), trousers featuring tapering ankles and drawstring closure of Central Asian origin. They disseminated in the Indian subcontinent between c.1st-3rd century BCE. Although exact period of its arrival in the Arab world is disputed their widespread adoption is confirmed from the 12th century.

there are two cuffs () that Moza made perhaps at a lady’s request, but she didn’t take them back. This example was probably commissioned for someone but remained uncollected. Luckily, we discovered it in 2005 and purchased it for the Collection.
Though this is not a valuable silver () that can be melted down and sold in times of need, there are very few craftswomen alive who know how to create such intricate and beautiful cuffs ( ). These are usually individually commissioned to be included in a bride’s trousseau (zihbah), as a celebration of the customs and traditions of earlier days. Despite the lack of precious metals, they are expensive nonetheless, because of their rarity, mainly because of the time-consuming intricacy of making the design by hand.
Moza was a simple woman who never learned how to read or write. She was married to her maternal cousin at the young age of 13 and gave birth to 4 daughters and 4 sons. She learned the trade from her mother and aunts who all were skilled in metallic adornment () and face mask () making.

Object Features 
These underpants , shirwāl), trousers featuring tapering ankles and drawstring closure of Central Asian origin. They disseminated in the Indian subcontinent between c.1st-3rd century BCE. Although exact period of its arrival in the Arab world is disputed their widespread adoption is confirmed from the 12th century.

use full ()  silk fabric, rather than just on the visible lower parts, as is common on less expensive examples. The cuffs are embellished with a very wide intricate   composed of multi-coloured silk thread () with both silver and gold metallic thread ().
The , in the Emirati Arabic dialect, is the namesake of the cuffs on the underpants , shirwāl), trousers featuring tapering ankles and drawstring closure of Central Asian origin. They disseminated in the Indian subcontinent between c.1st-3rd century BCE. Although exact period of its arrival in the Arab world is disputed their widespread adoption is confirmed from the 12th century.

. It is generally composed of multiple lines of cords/braids/bands or ribbons ( or ), that are individually created by knotting together cotton (), silk , or synthetic () threads with silver, gold plated , or metallic () ribbons (). Resulting in over 40 recorded designs in varying widths, motifs, and intricacies, often named after the motifs depicted on them.
The decorative cuffs () are generally composed of the central portion () and side or edge (). The  is the larger middle part of the cuff and can include between 1 to 20 different cord/ribbon ( ) hand-stitched side by side. The centre is hemmed by the  , meaning edges. These form the rim or border of the central portion ().
The traditional basic style of cuff () includes a trim that sits between the central portion  and edges  in a () motif. The () motif is generally the lower edge and the () or () motifs decorate the upper edge. Every cord/braid is made separately and joined later.
The wider larger size cuffs are reserved for special occasions, while narrower smaller sizes are used for everyday wear or by the elderly.
In this example the  is composed of 9 cords/braids :
The top cord/braid is in black cotton thread  and silver ribbon , using a combination of  motifs, () and . The cords that follow are:
-Black cotton  and metallic gold motif.
-Orange cotton  and metallic gold motif.
-Black cotton  and metallic silver  () and () motif.
-White cotton  and metallic gold motif.
-Fushia and metallic silver  and motif.
-Green cotton  and metallic silver  () motif.
-Black cotton  and metallic gold motif.
-Black cotton  and metallic silver  and motif.
In this example, the  is composed of 5 cords/braids :
The top cord is black cotton  and metallic gold motif.
The cords that follow are:
-White cotton  and metallic gold    motif.
-Green and metallic silver  () motif.
-Orange cotton  and metallic gold  motif.
-Black cotton  and metallic silver  ()  motif.

Embellished undergarment in metallic straw – UAE

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