Man's or Woman's Chapan or Khalat Robe
Uzbekistan or Afghanistan
late 19th to early 20th century
Warp-faced plain weave silk warp and weft ikat (abr, kanaous, or shabi)
Collar to hem: 52"/138.1 cm
Cuff to cuff: 71¼"/181 cm
Kent State University Museum, Silverman/Rodgers Collection, KSUM 1992.55.13.

Dovetailing triangular geometric motifs in grayish-pink (ground color), yellow, raspberry, purple and blue. Decorative embroidery in a border row of diamonds on the collar, front openings, hem and wrists. Yellow, purple, pink and green embroidery above side slits. Padded and quilted vertically. Lined in Russian cotton with red leaves and branches on a white ground.

Worn by both men and women, the chapan robe, also known as khalat, was a lightly padded t-shaped outer robe of silk or cotton. Standardized in cut, the robe could be made in a day. After the customer chose a fabric, the proprietor of the workshop at the bazaar or a seamstress (tikvuchi) working at home would cut it with a knife and complete the sewing (1). As is the case in most robes, the seams usually followed the selvage edges and very little fabric was wasted. With economy paramount, the absence of precise matching between the main panels or in the wide trapezoidal wedges forming the side panels resulted in dynamic, rhythmic and unpredictable results (2).

A special tailoress (düsanda) prepared the cotton for padding, and stitched it in place (3). Winter coats were often padded and quilted, but still allowed freedom of movement for walking, riding and sitting on the floor.

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(1) Several authors mention the cutting of the cloth with a knife. Jack Lenor Larsen, The Dyer's Art: Ikat, Batik, Plangi, (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1976), 229. Kate Fitz Gibbon, "Ikat: Costume in Central Asia," Ornament 21, (Fall/ Summer 1997-1998): 58. Johannes Kalter, ed., Uzbekistan: Heirs to the Silk Road (Thames and Hudson, 1997), 229.
(2) Larsen, 179.
(3) Kalter, 229.