Description

Nurata Suzani

Origin:
Central Asia, Uzbekistan

Dimensions:
242 x 150 cm

Age:
Ca. 1800

Estimate:
18,000.00 - 22,000.00 €

The open composition, delicate style of drawing and subtle palette identify this suzani as a typical piece from Nurata, a town north of Bokhara. Although the field design appears simple at first glance, it is a sophisticated combination of two complementary layers that assume equal importance in the composition. One way of reading the design is as two parallel rows of small closed diamonds containing light-blue star-shaped blossoms at their centres. Their tips are linked by circular, star-shaped and fan-shaped blossoms while thin horizontal spirals, each bearing a large fan- or bell-shaped flower, protrude into the intervening spaces. In a second reading, it is perceived as a composition of three horizontal rows of large open diamonds containing the spirals as their central designs while the smaller diamonds fill the intervening spaces. In the border, green lancet leaves form a sequence of diamonds enclosing star-shaped blossoms and fan-shaped carnations. When publishing the suzani in 1987, Herrmann pointed out that the design is related to Ottoman embroideries, explaining that this is due to political and cultural links between the Emir of Bokhara and the Ottoman sultan’s court in Istanbul. – Signs of age and wear, backed with canvas.

Published:
HERRMANN, EBERHART, Seltene Orientteppiche 9. 1987, no. 91 *** VOK, IGNAZIO, Vok Collection. Suzani. A Textile Art from Central Asia. (Text by Jakob Taube) Munich 1994, no. 25