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Description

Woman’s tunic; the front is heavily embroidered with multi-coloured designs on red-orange tie-dyed silk, and the back is made of plain red cotton textile. There are floral designs, mirrors and small pompoms over the entire surface of the tunic front. A large diamond-shaped panel of off-white embroidery surrounds the placket opening at the centre front. The placket and a narrow stand-up collar are made of plain light green silk textile trimmed with machine stitching. The armholes are trimmed with silk fringe. At the hem is a border of embroidered flowers and mirrors, finished with a edging of filmy blue and white braid. The back of the tunic is made of plain red-orange cotton textile; a strip of red cotton (16 cm) is sewn at the hemline. The embroidery is underlined with red-orange cotton textile.

History Of Use

This tunic is very similar in construction and design to a garment pictured on page 23 of Colours of the Indus. The authors call this type of garment a cholo.

Specific Techniques

Stitching techniques: buttonhole stitch; hem stitch; chain stitch; fly stitch. This embroidery style is called “pakka.”

Narrative

This tunic was purchased by William McLennan at Village Handicrafts in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1985 while he was on assignment for the Museum of Anthropology, which had a contract with the administration of Expo ‘86 to set up the Pakistan pavilion at the fair. The Museum purchased it, along with the other items in the 1098 accession, from McLennan in 1986.

Item History

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