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Description

Wall hanging or bed cover (roughly square in shape) made from four panels, of boldly patterned silk and cotton warp face ikat textile, stitched together side by side along their selvages. Designs are bright pink and yellow on white background (patterned silk warp, white cotton weft). Light blue selvages show at the seam lines. Each panel measures approximately 41 centimetres wide, and the textile has a slight sheen. The hanging or cover is edged on all four sides with narrow bias strips of machine printed cotton textile (multicoloured floral designs on black background), and is backed with plain off-white cotton muslin that has been pieced in many places. The ikat side is quilted onto the backing, using red-orange thread. There are some black, indecipherable markings on the backing. A 4 centimetre strip of unbleached cotton textile has been hand sewn to the backing along one edge.

History Of Use

May have been used as a bed cover (adiol) for a bride and groom, or could also have been used as a decorative wall hanging (pardah), curtain, room divider, etc. The use of cotton in the production of the ikat textiles used in this piece indicates that it was produced for a family of lower social status. The wearing and use of pure silk textiles were regulated by a strict code of conduct. Only persons of the highest rank could wear pure silk ikat. Persons of lower rank could, however, wear ikats made with patterned silk warp, but woven with cotton weft, as is used in the object. These textiles are called adras. The cotton weft forms a subtle horizontal ribbed effect that is easily recognizable. The production of ikat silks, which reached its peak in the 19c and declined rapidly in the early 20c, was a commercial venture, carried out primarily in urban centres such as Bukhara, Samarkand and Marghilan in the Ferghana Valley by various ethnic groups, such as Uzbeks, Turkmen and Tadjiks. Woven silks were widely distributed throughout Central Asia and were sold in local bazaars. The varied tasks required in the complex dying and weaving of ikat textiles were traditionally assigned to specific ethnic groups. For instance, Jews traditionally were assigned the task of ‘cold dying’ with indigo. The cultivation of silk was women’s work, done in the home. Dying and weaving were done by men; women could not work outside the home. The lives of Central Asian women therefore centred around the home, where colourful, lavish textiles played a major role in the rituals of daily life. The printed cotton textile used to edge this piece was undoubtedly produced in Russia, where there was a flourishing industry that produced printed textiles for the Central Asian market.

Narrative

According to Clarke Abbott of Tradewind Antiques, the person who collected this piece lived in Kabul in the early 1960s, doing ambassadorial work. He traveled widely throughout the area. He was killed in an automobile accident there, and no further information is available about him or his collection. The piece was subsequently acquired by Tradewind Antiques in Vancouver at an unknown date, and the Museum of Anthropology purchased it in 1984, when the business was liquidating its stock.

Specific Techniques

The sheen on the adras textile is made by applying a solution containing egg whites; the textile is then beaten with wooden mallets and pressed between flat stones to produce a shiny surface.

Iconographic Meaning

In the construction of the hanging or bed cover, no attempt was made to line up the design elements on the four panels to create a regularized pattern. This may have been done deliberately, as it was often the practice to purposely scramble the patterns when constructing garments and items meant for domestic use in order to confuse and repel evil spirits, which could become entangled in the mismatched patterns.

Item History

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