Exhibition

Kaleidoscopic Dreamcoats: Central Asian Ikat Robes
Mull Gallery,
November 29, 2000 to December 2, 2002
Anne Bissonnette, Curator
  


  
Woman's Munisak Robe
Uzbekistan, city of Bukhara
Second half of the 19th century
Warp-faced plain weave silk warp, cotton weft ikat (adras, ishtope, or dagir)
Neck to hem: 46 ½"/118.1 cm
Cuff to cuff: 55¼"/140.3 cm
Kent State University Museum, Silverman/Rodgers Collection, KSUM 1983.1.901.


Abstracted floral, boteh (paisley) and comb patterns in green and pink, on a white ground. Red silk embroidery under the sleeves at the junction of the bodice and side panels and above the side slits. Padded and quilted vertically. Lined in red cotton with printed floral motifs and striped cottons.

 

Linings

  
Until the Russian invasion, most of the robe's edges and linings were made of ikat fragments and locally block-printed cottons known as chit. The most common traditional patterns applied with woodblock templates to mordant-treated cottons were a repeat of small floral or paisley shapes (1).

Most of the inner fabrics were as brilliant as the outer ones since they were visible when the wearer rode or walked. After the 1870s, Russian imports, often made exclusively for the Central Asian market, abounded. Other brightly printed manufactured cottons of Indian, Persian, French and English origin were also traded as luxury goods.

Many old but prized ikat robes were recycled as linings and are therefore much older than the outer part of the coat. Linings served to enhance the value and visual contrast of the robe.

* * *

(1) Kate Fitz Gibbon and Andrew Hale, Ikat: Splendid Silks of Central Asia: the Guido Goldman Collection (Lawrence King Publishing in association with Alan Marcuson Publishing, 1999), 14.

 

general information | collections | exhibitions | special events | group tours
membership | donations | press releases | museum store
ask the staff | care of clothing | dictionary of costume | site index
museum homepage |university home page | other links

Copyright © 2001 The Kent State University Museum. All Rights Reserved.