Silk Ikat Coat
Appraiser
Maker/Artist from Central Asia
Date1866-1899
PeriodRussian Empire
Place MadeBukhara, Samarkand and the Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan, Asia
MediumSilk, ikat.
Dimensions146 x 125.7 cm (57 1/2 x 49 1/2 in.)
Credit LineGift of Jeffrey Krauss
Object number2019.1.1
On View
Not on viewLabel TextThis coat’s pinched waist indicates that it belonged to a woman. It is t-shaped with long sleeves and an opening to the front. The length of the coat usually goes to the knee or ankle. The padded coat, filled with cotton, was used in the winter to keep warm. The Ikat coat is lined with a trim in a two-strand warp or embroidery and added hand-stitched onto the coat to give the edges more durability and protection. The inside of the robe is composed of different recycled Ikat textiles or striped fabric so none of the textiles go to waste. The inside of this robe is stained from social gatherings such as parties. The exterior of the coat is plum-colored with white and blueish purple designs. Compared to other Ikat coats, this MAC example is a middle-range luxury item.
Ikat textiles flourished in Central Asia in the nineteenth century where artisans drew from traditions of their nomadic culture. It was an expensive commodity used for trade, gifts, and sometimes in women's dowries. Ikat was a way to show status as a piece of the garment the more a person has the higher their status was. The more expensive textiles had more colors and complex designs because they require more work and skills. By the mid-nineteenth century, Ikats were widely used by Central Asians in their everyday lives. Ikat comes from a shortened word mengikat, which is Malay for “to die” or “to bind”. The word abrbandi means cloud binding in Uzbekistan. The word represents the cloud-like blurred effect created when pre-dyed yarn or silk is woven together in slight misalignment of the dyed threads. In the nineteenth century artisans from the central Asian oasis experimented with designs that were reflected in their daily lives, nature, and shapes traditionally found in decorative objects in the region.
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