Object History
This pink silk girl’s tunic dress was gifted by Mrs. Laila Athari, a distant relative of Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli, for The Zay Initiative collection on her visit to Dubai in 2016. Mrs. Athari had acquired it as a set with a matching pair of trousers in the 1990s as a part of her bridal trousseau. Unfortunately, the trousers had long worn out and discarded.
Object Features
This is a peach pink silk girl’s tunic dress (kamiz/qamis) of (satin) weave with cap sleeves and front and side slits. It has heavy embellishment in the front executed through embroidery and (appliqued) using silk floss threads, beads, sequins, braided satin ribbons, and braided silk cords in shades of pink and ivory featuring arrangements of floral motifs.
Usually worn over a pair of trousers (salwar) this kamiz has a V-shaped neck with a front opening and a metallic snap fastener. The hem around the front slits and fall are embellished with a thin ivory satin ribbon twisted and appliqued, with small beads at regular intervals.
Similar hemming is reflected around the neckline and plackets as well as the edges of the sleeves. A variety of embroidery styles are incorporated to embellish the field of the piece such as (chain_stitch), (blanket_stitch) and (satin_stitch) on flat as well as raised surfaces, as well as (French_knot) and (Peiking_knot). Certain raised areas are created by appliqueing braided ribbons on the fabric and then covering the ribbons with silk floss threads in satin_stitch and blanket_stitch embroidery.
Only the front of the piece is embellished while the back is plain. The piece is completely unlined and has been created with a combination of machine and hand embroidery and stitches.
The combination of embroidery styles, materials, and colours suggests a possible Parsee origin. Parsees were originally people from Iran of Zoroastrian faith who migrated to the subcontinent in multiple phases starting from the medieval period up until the late 19th century.
As primarily an entrepreneurial and trading community they have always had close ties with the Far East, especially with China through the Silk Road. Their bond was not deterred despite their migration to the Indian subcontinent. They settled around the port cities of present-day Gujarat, India from where they gradually spread all across the Indian subcontinent especially the bustling metropolises with access to ports like present day Indian cities of Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Pune and Karachi in Pakistan, with strong roots still in Gujarat.
Links
- Coleman, F. M. “Typical Pictures of Indian Natives.” Time of India 1897.
- History of the Parsis, Including Their Manners, Customs, Religion, and Present Position. Dosabhai Framji Karaka. Macmillan and Company, 1884.
- Ganesh, Kamala. “Intra-Community Dissent and Dialogue: The Bombay Parsis and the Zoroastrian Diaspora.” Sociological Bulletin, vol.57, no.3 (2008): 315-36.
- http://www.jstor.org/stable/23620804. Accessed 12 June 2023.
- https://world4.eu/parsis/
- https://world4.eu/parsee-school-girl/
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Parsi
- https://www.indianetzone.com/43/parsi_costumes.htm
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