Embroidery on cotton.
This is the very first textile I bought, back in 1995 or so, and for at least a couple of years, the only one – in those days I was REALLY skint! In fact, I didn’t know such things existed – I was in this Indian clothes shop trying to buy something for my then girl-friend and I got chatting to the old lady who ran the shop and she showed me this item and told me that it had been in the collection of a museum in Afghanistan, but she supposed that they must be revamping their collections. I was a bit naive at the time I think, because given the Afghan politics of the time, I think it’s far more likely that it was looted – though I suppose there could have been a long time lapse between the museum selling and it coming into my possession – if indeed it ever was in a museum: who knows?
Anyhow, I love this piece, which I believe is late 19th century. I get the impression that the embroidery cottons, beads, mirrors and all must have been sent from Manchester or somewhere originally – I have this vision of pashtan tribeswomen using their skill and UK materials to produce a piece which ends up finding its way back to the UK - as usual, I know hardly anything. If anyone is, or knows someone who is knowledgeable about these things, please send them to my site to enlighten me!
Notice on the left that little design which I imagine wanting to be a camel but the seamstress presumably must make it ambiguous so that if someone accuses her, a good muslim, of being representational, she can always say – ‘camel, what camel, are you mad?’
Weaving these fantasies is half the fun…
