عتيق
Vintage
Suzani
Pillows
Suzani is a type of embroidered and decorative tribal textile made in Central Asia. Suzani is from the Persian سوزن Suzan which means needle. The art of making such textiles in Iran is called سوزندوزی Suzandozi Needlework. Suzanis were traditionally made by Central Asian brides as part of their dowry, and were presented to the groom on the wedding day. These hand-embroidered vintage suzanis are infused with the character that only comes from everyday use. Perhaps created by a bride-to-be to show her devotion to her betrothed and then in lean times bartered away to a traveling merchant for money or household necessities pulled from the depths of his donkey cart. The story of each of these suzanis is as rich as their colors, as intricate as the designs that cover their surfaces.
Suzani tells the enduring story of a mother's love for her daughter and the beautiful handcrafted dowry pieces that they laboriously created together for her wedding day to bring wellbeing into her married life ahead. When a little girl was old enough, she would be taught the art and secrets of embroidery and she would then set out to start creating her own dowry pieces. She would present them to her groom and his family on her wedding day. Beautiful embroidery work was very highly esteemed, and could earn women great respect in her new husband's family and in their community.
The important role of Suzanis through the ages was connected to the belief that magic forces were embroidered into their patterns. These motifs carried talismanic, protective and well wishing embroidered messages. Each motif used is there to bring joy, fertility, long life, prosperity, fruitfulness, good health, hospitality etc, or alternatively to keep the evil eye at bay and to ward off all evil from the home. These motifs carried talismanic, protective and well wishing embroidered messages.
Each suzani drawing came to represent the image of an ideal universe, where balance and harmony and the unity of magic and beauty in everlasting beautiful nature, were very important features. The magnificent floral designs are symbols and motifs from an Islamic paradise garden, from the ancient Persian concept of the Garden of Eden with its Tree of Life, as seen depicted in so many Persian silk carpetS. In every authentic Suzani, you will find a small deliberate fault or unfinished area, as a reminder that man is not without mistakes, and also expresses the dream of the mother that her daughter will be then be inspired to continue in the art of suzani embroidery and creation. Traditionally grandmothers passed on her family's embroidery secrets and own Suzani designs to a younger woman in her family before she died. Alternatively it was believed she would share her magical talents in a dream if it happened that she died too suddenly.
Suzani usually have a cotton (sometimes silk) fabric base, which is embroidered in silk or cotton thread. Chain, satin, and buttonhole stitches are the primary stitches used. There is also extensive use of couching, in which decorative thread laid on the fabric as a raised line is stitched in place with a second thread. Suzanis are often made in two or more pieces, that are then stitched together. Popular design motifs include sun and moon disks, flowers (especially tulips, carnations, and irises), leaves and vines, fruits (especially pomegranates), and occasional fish and birds.
The oldest surviving suzanis are from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but it seems likely that they were in use long before that. In the early 15th century, Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, the Castilian ambassador to the court of Timur (Tamerlane), left detailed descriptions of embroideries that were probably forerunners of the suzani.
Suzanis of each region have their own local very distinctive features, but many designs and motifs have become intermingled and merged between areas also, often making it quite difficult to identify exactly where some suzanis originate from.
Astral and solar symbols predominate in Tashkent and in Samarkand Suzanis, and have their roots in the ancient way of life of the nomadic and settled cultures of this area. The artisans believed that using these astral patterns provided the heaven's protection, and are connected with Zoroastrianism, the Sun cult and the ancient Fertility cult.
Antique rural embroideries are related to the art of the nomads and carpet designs from the ancient steppe art. As old cults and religions were replaced by new ones, astral symbols transformed into vegetative and floral symbols, as seen in Surkhandarya suzanis. Some of the designs in Bukhara, Nurata and Shahrisabz suzanis were influenced by the professional royal court carpet and mosaic tile designers of the Muslim rulers. They created intricate compositions with palmettes and meandering leaves, and blossoming branches of leaves and flowers with central moon or star motives.