Object History
This beautiful Kochi tribal-style dress native to Afghanistan and Balochistan province in Pakistan was purchased from Show Place Auctions, in New York by Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli in 2021.
This dress was part of Late. Ms Nina Griscom’s wardrobe until her death in 2020. A famous American designer, model, television host, businesswoman and socialite who rose to fame in the 1980s, Ms Griscom (nee Renshaw) passed away in January 2020 at her home in Manhattan.
Object Features
A purple and pink dupioni silk women’s tunic dress in Kochi tribal style. The front of the yoke is embellished with a woven silk and woollen patch from the neck to the waist. The patch has thin parallel lines in yellow and purple alternately running parallel to one another with three rows woven in different shades of silk floss threads. The entire patch is separately woven and had been hand stitched to the dress.
The front yoke has talismanic style metal – possibly silver – appliqued border of small diamond-shaped and round discs with embossed floral motifs. It also runs down the placket slit with a large metal disc adorning the placket imitating a necklace. Four more large round discs accompanied with oval, and diamond-shaped pallets are appliqued over the woven yoke patch in the form of four flowers.
Usually, Kochi dresses have an oval heavily embroidered waistband attached to the back waistline, however, in this case, the patch is made of thin purple and yellow silk ikat fabric and is attached to the front of the dress. Instead of heavy bead work embroidery famously known as the (gul_i_peron) this waistband is embellished with a metal – possibly silver–corded ribbon trimming with a series of metal–silver–corded threads hanging in fringes with tiny blue plastic beads at their ends.
The side of the waist has different patches of fabric including a burgundy taffeta and a purple and yellow ikat similar to the waistband mixed with the plain dupioni used for the dress. These patches have been secured and embellished with rows of quilting style running stitch running parallel to one another.
The skirt of the dress has thick vertical pleats and is stitched along the centre with a thin pink strip of fabric, possibly a satin ribbon. The hemline has a broad border embellished with quilting style running stitch with orange cotton thread and floral and geometric motifs embroidered with shiny threads, possibly plastic, in an array of colours – blue, green, silver, gold, coral and purple. Accents of metal discs are appliqued at regular intervals adding another layer to its design. A similar design is also replicated on the cuffs of the dress, however without the metal discs.
It is important to point out that this example is very similar in fabric, style and embroidery to dresses worn under overgarments (athwab) throughout the Arab Gulf region attesting to the deep economic and cultural ties between these cultures.
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
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