Description

This Uzbek silk ikat robe dates to the second half of the 19th century.

The size and proportions would suggest that this is a woman’s robe, or Munisak. Its flamboyance is due to its bold patterns and the wide range of colours: apart from the (undyed) white, there is a strong pink, a paler secondary pink, yellow, two shades of blue and a strong green and dark purple.

The fabric was made in a warp-faced ikat weave with a silk warp and a cotton weft. The binding on the interior edges of the robe is from a different, bias cut silk ikat fabric (see additional image). Pale purple, white  and light blue silk yarns were used for all the edge finishes, including the cuffs.  Russian printed cotton lining completes this beautiful coat in very good original condition.

For further reading on ikat weaving, including aspects such as the tailoring of coats, see Krody, Sumru Belger, Colors of the Oasis. Central Asian Ikats. Published on the occasion of the Murad Megalli Collection at the Textile Museum, Washington DC, 16 October 2010 – 13 March 2011. This publication also contains a robe with a very similar design: catalogue no.88 is dated to the 1860s and ascribed to “Samarkand?” (ibid., p.256).

See also on this website  https://www.christopherleggeorientalcarpets.com/products/view/uzbek-silk-ikat-coat/.

An exhibition in Paris held in 2023 was highlighting, among other objects, these beautiful garments: Sur les Routes de Samarcande – Merveilles de Soie et D’or was on show at  L’Institut du Monde Arabe until 4 June 2023 (see also https://www.imarabe.org/fr/expositions/sur-les-routes-de-samarcande-merveilles-de-soie-et-d-or?_gl=1*9ut72r*_up*MQ..*_ga*NzA3NjE2ODI1LjE2Nzc4NTQ0MDA.*_ga_8SQYJBHGHK*MTY3Nzg1NDQwMC4xLjAuMTY3Nzg1NDQwMC4wLjAuM ).