Islamic embroidery
Both the Byzantine and Persian Sasanian empires used clothing embroidered with designs including rather large human figures as well as animals, with effects comparable to those of modern teeshirts.
In cities such as Damascus, Cairo and Istanbul, embroidery was visible on handkerchiefs, uniforms, flags, calligraphy, shoes, robes, tunics, horse trappings, slippers, sheaths, pouches, covers, and even on leather belts.
[3] In the 16th century, in the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, his chronicler Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak wrote in the famous Ain-i-Akbari: His majesty [Akbar] pays much attention to various stuffs; hence Irani, Ottoman, and Mongolian articles of wear are in much abundance especially textiles embroidered in the patterns of Nakshi, Saadi, Chikhan, Ari, Zardozi, Wastli, Gota and Kohra.
The imperial workshops in the towns of Lahore, Agra, Fatehpur and Ahmedabad turn out many masterpieces of workmanship in fabrics, and the figures and patterns, knots and variety of fashions which now prevail astonish even the most experienced travellers.
[4]Embroidery offered symbolic protection for the most highly valued objects, including babies, household possessions and things with religious significance.
[8] A form of satin stitch present in the Bedouin societies of the Arabian Peninsula, sometimes referred to as khiyat al madrassa ("school embroidery"), was used for furnishings.
In Punjab, Phulkari (flower work) shawls were however daily wear for women in the countryside, while special ones, bagh, were completely covered with embroidery and were made by maternal grandmothers for their granddaughters' weddings.
[10] Chain stitch, which is adaptable and relatively easy to create, was used in Persia for Resht embroidery, with densely worked flowers and arabesques on felted woollen cloths.
[12] Cross stitch was used across the Middle East in Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Sinai to work wedding dresses with bold embroidery in red, with triangular amulets or carnation flowers on a black background.
[15] In Central Asia, Bokhara couching using continuous thread creates spectacular suzanis, hangings for wedding halls and bridal beds.
[20] Tambour work, a rapid form of embroidery using a fine ari hook instead of a needle, was one of the techniques used around Bokhara in Uzbekistan for suzanis.
[26] A dedicated workshop, the Dar al-Kiswa, was created in Cairo in 1817, which at its peak employed 100 craftsmen to make the kiswa and other textiles for Mecca and Medina.
[30] For example, the masnat (enthronement) cloths of Hyderabad, India were made of velvet, hand-embroidered with glittering copper thread forming gold- and silver-coloured flowers (formerly actually of those metals).
Embroidery is no longer the only way the young woman in Turkey or Baluchistan can secure her future by winning a husband; instead, she can aspire to a university degree and a career of her own.
Paine argues that attempts to reinstate traditional embroidery, as with schools set up in Istanbul and Salamanca, will inevitably fail once the necessary social environment that gave handmade artefacts meaning has collapsed.
In future, she states, embroidery will carry individual meaning, as in the West, and perhaps new social purposes, as with the politically significant embroidered dresses of the Palestinians.
