Prayer Arch Suzani

Starting at the 18th century and all the way to the beginning of the 20th century, suzanis were the most widespread  household textiles in central Asia. They were mostly made by women of one household preparing a dowery cloth for a bride to be. Each woman would work on one long panel on a drawn design. Once completed the panels would be stitched together lengthwise to form a large cloth to be used around the house as a bedspread, wallhanging or other utilitarian purposes. As each embroiderer pulled differently on the stitches and used different dyes, the registry was off and colors didn’t quite match, thus contributing to a certain vibrancy that is very appealing.

made of four cotton panels stitched together lengthwise and embroidered pretty much all over in couching stitch and chain stitch variants.