Object Note
Purchased along with another five similar pieces in the collection (ZI2018.500133 ASIA, ZI2018.500796 ASIA, ZI2018.500797ASIA, ZI2018.500798 ASIA, and ZI2018.500799 ASIA).
Object History
This garment was acquired through an anonymous contact on Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli social media – Instagram – platform. He was interested in Dr. Reem’s and The Zay Initiative’s endeavour in the field and offered to help. Not much is known about the person as he never revealed his name or met with Dr. Reem except he often travels between Dubai, UAE, and the south of Iran. He purchased six samples of these trousers and had them delivered to Dr. Reem via her driver.
Dr. Reem and The Zay Initiative would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the said stranger for his kind and charitable gesture.
Object Features
This is a pair of ankle-length orange printed tapered cotton trousers (shalvar). With a loose gathered waistline, it has an elastic fastening.
Traditionally worn by women of Bandar Abbas and Hormozgan areas in south Iran. These are usually worn with a loose shift (jama) of coloured cotton with a collar (gariban) and a rectangular black scarf (makna) made of thin silk or other sheer material by older women of the region.
The field is printed with repeats of two different floral motifs – a star-shaped flower and a long floral arrangement that looks like a bird in flight and a polka dot-sized circular ball motif in scarlet and crimson reds, blue, white and black. This particular print is a modern, more affordable, printed version of an embroidered fabric used traditionally in the Arab Gulf region, especially the UAE where it is known colloquially by (bu_tayrah).
The cuffs are embellished with thick metal foil (badlah), metal thread (zari) and sequin embroidered borders and strips of woven woollen ribbons. The outermost edging is embellished with golden badlah work on a crimson woollen base, followed by a plain green woollen strip, followed by another badlah strip in orange and silver over a red base.
The innermost strip is the widest with golden and silver badlah work in geometric design on a crimson base. The cuff ends with two layers of golden sequins embroidered with golden and silver metallic threads or zari which are further crocheted into scalloped edges embellished with red, blue and green plastic beads.
The cuffs have zip fastenings to loosen or tighten the trousers at the ankles according to the wearer’s convenience. The shalvar is otherwise unlined except for the cuffs which are lined with plain white cotton gauze fabric. A white strip near the waist has an Arabic script and what looks like a colour code or Pantone shades for reference.
It is worth noting that the name badlah for this type of embroidery is although the same across Iran and South Asia it is also sometimes commonly referred to as (khus_dozi) in south Iran.
It is believed that the term badlah is derived from the phrase ‘badal kinari’ – cloud lining – popular during the Mughal period in India as net or fine gauze silk were often embroidered with metal pieces giving them the look of clouds with bright lines around them.
However, upon crossing the Gulf and reaching the Arabian Peninsula the nomenclature of the embroidery changes to (talli / tulle_bi_talli), while the cuffs of women’s trousers which are detachable and could be changed are called badlah.
These embellished broad-cuffed shalvar are not just unique to south Iran but are equally famous across the Gulf in the countries across the Arabian Peninsula such as Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, and Oman. The quality of craftsmanship on this shalvar is so refined that it looks almost commercially produced in a factory, while in reality they are made at home by women of the region.
With cross-cultural lineages running deep between the communities living on either side of the Gulf, it is thus no wonder, that material culture such as this has found firm grounds on both sides.
Links
- https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/clothing-xxiii
- https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/clothing-COM_7759?lang=fr
- https://iranparadise.com/irans-traditional-dress/
- https://www.fantasticirantravel.com/iranian-ethnic-costumes/
- https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/clothing-xxvii
- https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/clothing-COM_7759?lang=fr#COM-10187
- https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/clothing-xxviii
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/techniques/knotting-and-netting/badla
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/individual-textiles-and-textile-types/daily-and-general-garments-and-textiles/
- https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/individual-textiles-and-textile-types/daily-and-general-garments-and-textiles/
Donate