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Embroidered underpants with silver - Oman

Local Name	Sarwal
Object Category	Pants
Gender	Female
Date of object	2015
Place Of orgin	Oman
Region	n/a
Object Range	Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain
Dimensions	Length: 105 cm. Width: 44 cm.
Materials	Silk Cotton
Technique	Machine Embroidered Machine Stitched
Color
Motif	Geometric
Provenance	Purchased by Dr. Reem Traiq El Mutwalli
Location	The Zay Zay: (Arabic: costume, Pl. azyaā’), a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period. Initiative
Status	In storage
ZI number	ZI500128b OMAN

Object Note
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.

) are part of a three-piece ensemble, along with the orange tunic (ZI500128 OMAN) and the green Omani overgarment (ZI500128a OMAN).

Object History 
On a winter’s day in 2015, Dr. Reem saw a group of female Omani performers at a function held at the desert winter camp of Sheikhah Hamdah bint Mohammed Al Nahyan, the maternal aunt to the late Sheikh Khalifah bin Zayid Al Nahyan. Dr. Reem was very taken by their dresses and ordered this three-piece ensemble from a woman who makes them in Oman, not thinking that one day they would form a part of the ’s Collection.

Object Features
These , 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.

pants are made from two materials stitched together. The upper fabric is in a soft cotton voile in black, adorned with white dots and small flowers with dark-green petals and white stems. The bottom material, which starts at the knee, is black silk featuring gold stripes, set a centimetre apart. In addition, in three places there are sets of short, gold stripes set between the longer stripes.
The , 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.

's decorative cuffs ( ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; tariq; badla; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in India and parts of the subcontinent.

) around the ankles are embroidered with silver buttons and geometric shapes in green and dark-brown thread formed with successive seams ending at the top in a zigzag. The garment is opened and closed by means of white zips at the ankle. A large piece of fabric was added to create a gusset () to give the , 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.

the required width. The waist is tightened by means of a modern elastic belt, instead of the traditional drawstring cords that were used in the past.

Embroidered underpants with silver - Oman

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