£ 2,400.00
213 x 160cm // 7ft x 5ft 3"
Ura-Tube ( now Istaravshan) and Khujand (formerly Leninabad) both lay within the Ferghana basin part of Sughd ( Sogdian ) Province Northern Tajikistan. The two are celebrated historical centres for suzani embroidery often referred colloquially simply as Uratubi. Both regions developed highly distinct, prized needlework styles that played a central role in Central Asian wedding rituals and dowries. In local tradition, the Ura-Tube suzani served specifically as the gandj—the sacred wedding curtain behind which the bride walked into her new husband's house to shield her from the evil eye. Otherwise large suzani decorated celebratory spaces and served as dowry.
Second half 19th cent
Ref 20188
