Textile

About this object

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 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 back 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.

Iconographic meaning

Although the six panels that make up this piece are almost identical, patterns are not aligned. This may have been done purposely in accordance with the belief that the irregularities in the designs confuse any evil spirits that might inhabit the piece and cause bad luck. The embroidery designs on one of the tabs at the top of the piece are typical of Uzbek embroidery.

Physical description

Rectangular, multi-coloured silk ikat bed cover or wall hanging, constructed of six panels of warp-face ikat textile which have been seamed together with hand stitching. Panels are almost identical but differ slightly in small details. The panels have yellow selvages that show in the seams. The designs are large and bold; the predominant colours are red, purple, yellow and blue on a pinkish white background. The weft threads are bright pink, giving the piece an overall pinkish appearance. Loosely quilted by hand onto a backing of machine-printed red floral cotton textile, pieced with a loosely woven pale blue and grey cotton textile. Bound on all four edges with bias strips of purple silk textile. Five tabs of various designs have been sewn to one long edge; one is finely embroidered in a geometric design; one is made from cotton ikat textile; two are made from red and black striped cotton textile; one is embroidered with a curvilinear floral design on a dark red background.