This remarkable suzani is completely embroidered using the basma stitch, long strands are first laid across the fabric surface, and they are secured with short couching stitches that are normally aligned diagonally. This stitch is especially effective for covering sizeable areas, and leaves no background fabric showing.

The pattern with sun disc, flowers & pomegranates in stunning in an unusual combination of colors of ebony, tobacco, maroon, magenta, lioness yellow, and tangerine silk embroidery.

Suzani, named after the Persian word for “needle”—were used as bedcovers, prayer mats, rugs in yurts, and blankets to wrap goods for moving. For centuries, women stitched together long strips of cotton and embellished them to form blanket-sized panels that became the workhorses of nomadic households in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and other Central Asian countries.

Because suzanis were so fundamental to a home, girls worked from a young age with their mothers to craft them for their trousseaus. Often an especially beautiful suzani was chosen as a wedding canopy to protect the newlyweds during their first forty days of marriage, when lore had it the couple was especially vulnerable to the evil eye.

88” W x 95” L