NURATA REGION, UZBEKISTAN, 19TH CENTURY

Suzani, literally meaning "of needle" in Persian, refers to some of the most attractive inventions of Turkestan's traditional culture. Created by the women in what is today Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, suzanis were meant to embellish the interiors of homes and are found mostly among settled communities rather than nomadic societies. A suzani formed a vital part of a bride's dowry, and as such demonstrated a family's status. The communal task began with a professional draftswoman (kalamkesh) drawing the design on four to six loosely joined strips of homespun cotton. The lengths were then separated and embroidered by the bride's relatives. Once finished, the strips were sewn together, a process that accounts for the common irregularities along the seams, and colour variations in connecting strips.

Overall grid patterns are generally associated with suzanis woven in and around Bukhara (Franz Bausback, Susani: Stickerein aus Miittelasien, Mannheim, 1981, pp. 12-13). However, the sparse aesthetic of this example sits more comfortably with examples woven in Nurata region. An example of a suzani with a similar grid pattern woven on the border, with the same lattice formed of leaves serrated on one side only and yellow flowers, is kept in the Marshall and Marilyn R. Woolf Collection (Ernst J. Grube, Keshte: Central Asian Embroideries, New York, 2003, cat.no.11)