id: 287526 accession number: 2016.89 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.89 updated: 2023-03-22 03:05:11.575000 Suzani with floral sprays, 1800–1850. Central Asia, South West Uzbekistan, Shakhrisyabz. Cotton: plain weave, 6 strips; silk: embroidery; filling stitch: kanda xajol, occasionally bosma; outlining stitch: ilmoq; overall: 227.3 x 177.8 cm (89 1/2 x 70 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of John and Fausta Eskenazi in honor of Louise W. Mackie and in celebration of the museum’s centennial 2016.89 title: Suzani with floral sprays title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1800–1850 creation date earliest: 1800 creation date latest: 1850 current location: creditline: Gift of John and Fausta Eskenazi in honor of Louise W. Mackie and in celebration of the museum’s centennial copyright: --- culture: Central Asia, South West Uzbekistan, Shakhrisyabz technique: Cotton: plain weave, 6 strips; silk: embroidery; filling stitch: kanda xajol, occasionally bosma; outlining stitch: ilmoq department: Textiles collection: T - Islamic type: Embroidery find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 227.3 x 177.8 cm (89 1/2 x 70 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Islamic art rotation opening date: 2017-12-07T05:00:00 Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 7, 2017-October 29, 2018). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Ignazio Vok [b. 1938], Austria and Italy date: by 1994–2016 footnotes: citations: John and Fausta Eskenazi, London, UK, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 2016 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2016– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Six narrow lengths of handwoven cotton cloth were joined and then embroidered with vibrant silk thread to make this suzani. digital description: wall description: Embroidered textiles were essential items in dowries. This type, known as a suzani after the Persian and Tajik word for needle, suzan, were created by mothers and daughters who proudly displayed them during wedding festivities and special occasions. This is an especially striking example, probably embroidered in Shakhrisyabz, located south of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, during 1800–1850.

Suzani were made for numerous functions including the nuptial bed, curtains for storage niches, and wrappers for various dry goods. Floral and foliate motifs generally dominate as seen here, enriched with several shades of red and enhanced by the varied light reflections and colors of the silk thread. Possibly the motifs conveyed cosmological, apotropaic, medicinal, or fertility associations especially for married life.

Patterns were drawn in black ink on several loosely joined cotton cloths by a skilled family member or a professional. The cloths were then separated, embroidered individually, and reattached, confirmed by mismatched motifs where the lengths are joined. They are generally attributed to nineteenth-century production after sericulture was introduced in the Merv area around 1800. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Knorr, Thomas (editor) and Sager, Helen (editor) Textilkunst Der Steppen- Und Bergvölker Zentralasiens: Ausstellung, Gewerbemuseum Basel, 1974. Basel: s.n., 1974. page number: url: Gisela Helmecke. “Die ‘Buchara’-Stickereien Im Islamischen Museum Zu Berlin.” Forschungen Und Berichte 23 (1983). page number: pp. 118–129 url: https://doi.org/10.2307/3880946. Čepeleveckaja, Galina L. Susani Usbekistans: Ein Beitrag Zur Technik, Ornamentik Und Symbolik Der Usbekischen Seidenstickerei. Berlin: Schletzer, 1991. page number: pp. 7-75, illustration 11 url: Vok, Ignazio, and Jakob Taube. Suzani: a textile art from Central Asia: Vok collection. Oberhaching, Germany: Herold Verlagsauslieferung,1994. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no 19 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2016.89/2016.89_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2016.89/2016.89_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2016.89/2016.89_full.tif